Tuesday

Down the road from our house near a neighboring farm is a pair of Killdeer. They are forever running alongside the road, and I'm sure they have a nest someplace close, but I have yet to find it.

One of my blooming African Violets.

Of course the Dandelions are popping up.

A shot of the "Llama" trail. It's going to need some light yard work. Lots of downed branches from the high winds we've had all winter. We save them for starting fires in the wood stove. Speaking about the wood stove, we had to fire it up last night. All day yesterday a cold North wind blew, and the outside temp never got above 33º, and last night it dropped to 15º. I'm sure I've lost all the lilacs, but the apple trees might be OK. The buds are just beginning to show.

Not too many pictures of the House sparrow, but I think if you look closely this little gal does have some interesting feather colors. Not many birds right now on the feeders. The ever present Grackles, Blue jays, and lots of Goldfinches.
Have a great day.

Week-End Goodies

Traveling to the recycling center this morning we got behind an Amish farmer driving this wagon with his kids on board, and carrying some farm machinery

Down on the creek trail a cute little Nuthatch scurries upside down on a Willow tree limb.

Down farther on the trail this Woodchuck was surprised to see me and headed for his burrow.

Also on the creek trail I checked on our wild apple tree, and the apples are looking really nice. I can't believe the deer haven't been sampling them yet.

Near Lake Erie the Concord grapes look good too. Yum, yum!

Searching for some Monarch caterpillars, I came across a Milkweed beetle, and a daddy long legs spider.

Here is a good view showing the difference between Barn Swallows on the left , and Tree swallows. They must be migrating. This past week there have been hundreds in the evening flying over the corn fields.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Sunday

These are a few more pictures from the trail we walked on Thursday. The covered bridge crosses a small creek, and there are lots of pretty flowers.

Even the water in this creek is so low. 

Someone does a nice job with the landscaping.

The wild grapes are getting some purple color too.

As in previous years, there just haven't been many Butterflies, and after all the hot dry weather we've had, I resorted to enticing them myself with some cantaloupe rind. Here is a Red Spotted Purple butterfly that spent several hours here.

I was even lucky to get a side view.

At the same time a Question Mark Angle-wing butterfly showed up.

Of course there were plenty of these ugly flies too, but you have to admit it does have pretty colors. It reminds me of the movie "Racing Stripes"

A Grey Catbird stopped in the back yard and began scolding Azrael..
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Just Stuff

I was finally able to get down to the creek trail one afternoon and found the trail filled with dried mud, and lots of downed branches and small trees. The water has been so high so many times this Spring, we haven't even had time to m0w down there. Anyway this Grackle was thinking about taking a bath, but saw me and took off. Then a Green Heron flew down the creek and landed almost out of site.

I did see some deer feet prints in the mud. A neighbor saw a bear near our property a few days ago, and I'm always looking behind every tree now...

Our son plowing up some of his yard. The granddaughters want to raise pumpkins, LOTS of pumpkins to sell this fall.

On the upper trail this groundhog nibbles 0n some grass.

Our neighbors cow had this calf just before we drove by.

The temperature reached 92 deg. here today. I really don't like the hot weather, but it could always be worse. At least it's not snowing up a blizzard, and besides it dries my clothes in record time.

An afternoon walk

Before we take a walk on our trails, we were out watching trains early Tuesday morning and I spied this Eastern Bluebird high up on a telegraph wire.. I tried to coax him to my house, but didn't have any luck. Then on the way home we saw this Easter egg tree.

These Crocus are in my front yard.

Along the road blooming is the Coltsfoot, one of the earliest wild flowers to show it's faces. I have very fond memories of my Dad mentioning every year that "The little yellow flowers are out". If you look closely at them, they have quite thick stems.

At one of my peanut butter feeders, a female Hairy woodpecker comes for a snack.

On the Llama trail are some fungi growing on an old beaver stump. Speaking about beavers, we had my game camera set up on the beaver trail for 3 days, but didn't see any. Now I moved it behind the house where I saw deer tracks.

We've had the first of several days of beautiful weather. Tomorrow we're going to try searching for beach glass. Have a grand day yourself.

I woke up at 5AM and looking out the bathroom window saw this Raccoon under one of my feeders. They were here too the night before and pulled down the feeder and ate all the seed. I fixed it up again and now like last year have to take it in at night. I don't know why this picture is so grainy..... After I got dressed I took a walk on the creek trail. You have to get out early to see the good stuff. This is the sky at 6:30AM.

Entrance to the llama trail is all mowed and look pretty spiffy.

I can't get enough pictures of my Lilacs this year. They are so beautiful and fill the air with the most wonderful fragrance. Sunday night another freeze is expected. I'll try to cover them again.

Now onto the creek trail where the sun is just beginning to peek through the trees.

I also saw this Solitary Sandpiper searching in the creek for food. It wasn't very afraid and hung around for a while.

The beavers are building another dam again. Each time the water gets high it washes it away. They never learn.

Just as I neared the end of my walk on the creek trail I noticed a movement on the other side. It was Grandpa Snapping turtle. I think I have seen this bad boy last year in the same area and he is huge. I'm sure he measures at least 10" across, and possibly 15" in length. He was very busy looking along the bank for something to eat, and never saw me.

It won't be long after the weather warms up and the sun gets stronger, that his shell will be all moss covered.

The wind was really picking up, and I thought it might rain, so I hurried back to the house. This Cardinal was high up in the tree singing his heart out despite a bad hair day. LOL

Have a wonderful rest of the week-end and stay safe.

This post was written Tuesday night when it was quiet and a few stars were out. Now at 05:44 on Wednesday we are having blizzard conditions with high winds again. Welcome back to winter.

On a recent drive we saw this pair of Canada geese relaxing on Findley Lake. There was a small section of open water,and they were the only birds there.. This Cardinal showed up this afternoon under one of the feeders. I haven't had many birds lately. Not sure why, but today I was over-run with sparrows.

A lonely Chickadee was opening a sunflower seed.

My goats Honey-Bun and Savannah were out enjoying a rare couple hours of sun.

I managed a walk on the Creek trail this afternoon, and saw lots of branches down from the high winds we've had the past few days. The Creek trail had been almost entirely under water too, and the trail is left with mud and ice. This shot is of the weeds and grass on the ground covered with a very this sheet of ice.

A puddle that isn't frozen with ice on the sides.

In the morning a flock of Crows showed up at our burn pile. We always put something out there for them to eat. They are very spooky and will have one or two of their buddies up in the trees as look-outs while the rest eat. There is a multi-colored one in this batch, and although I don't recall ever seeing any like it, I'm sure it is a juvenile. It resembles all the juvenile Grackles that were here earlier in the Fall.

This will be the last post for 2008! I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. My New Years resolution for 2008 ( and I made it simple cause I don't do resolutions) was to take at least one picture every day, and I have kept my promise! Some times I over did, but I sure had fun along the way. I think I'll try again this coming year, and maybe to improve on my images.

If you are partying tonight, please take care. We want everyone back in 2009! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!