Around the house

Walking the dog this evening it took us to a bridge over the creek about 1/4 mile from the house. This shot is looking down from that bridge. Near the edge of the bridge I spotted this baby mouse. I sure don't know how he got there, and his future doesn't look so good.

Fields and fields of spent dandelions.

Back at home I was walking on the creek trail when I heard this humming above me in the trees. Now I'm wondering if the Hummingbird's nest is nearby. I'll keep an eye on this area. I've never seen a Hummingbird nest.

A family of Canada geese disappear into the tall grasses.

My favorite Eastern Bluebirds were here this morning in our back yard and checking out the box. Later in the afternoon we put up a brand new box since the old one is falling apart. Let's hope they come back tomorrow.

We're still enjoying these warm days. Tomorrow might spawn a t-storm in the afternoon, but till then we're happy campers.

Weekend Reflections

Driving around the lake can be a great place to spot reflections. The boats are all put away for this year, and they have begun to lower the water level for winter. I posted this one on Watery Wednesday, but thought it was worth another look.
Thanks to James at Newtown Area Photos for hosting this meme. Click on his site at

http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com/ and you will see lots more Reflections.

Be sure to check out my regular Saturday post below.

Pymatuning State Park Part #2

Here are some of the rest of the pictures from Pymatuning State Park. Of the Carp, some reach over 2 1/2 ft. long.

Plenty of hungry mouths.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.Big hungry mouths!

Mrs. Mallard looking quite pretty. The water looks like satin...

The onlookers wait their turn.

Some get a bit anxious.

Some have a messy take off..

I took lots more, but these are the best of the group. I took pictures of some old buildings on the way down. Of course we saw a train too, so there are shots of that and some of a Pheasant farm we passed on the way. Then there is Saturday and Sunday. I don't know when to quit! LOL Oh my it's a good thing I'm not buying film! I got pictures of some absolutely awesome clouds this evening. Check back later to see them.

Have a great week.♥

Mostly for the Birds

OK, I hear them! I finally hear them coming, BUT I can't see them. Drat ! I run to get my camera, but after a few minutes the Whoo, Whooing gets fainter. It's a large flock of Tundra ( Whistling ) Swans. They are flying so high, and way above the clouds on this overcast day. I have never gotten any photographs of them, and I'm always listening. I have heard them plenty of times, and only seen them just a few, but never any pictures.

This close up of the Mourning Dove just proves what a kind looking face it has. The male Downey woodpecker is having his breakfast.

This Blue Jay was on "High Allert" There has been a Cooper's Hawk in the neighborhood.

Another Blue Jay stopped by for a peanut. The lighting for this shot wasn't very good.

I took this photo on a ride we took yesterday morning. The sun was out, and it is supposed to rain for the next few days, so we were out enjoying the nice day. I think this picture looks like the Swiss Alps..., but they're really clouds.

Some neat reflections in the water of little pine trees.

More reflections. This is a private pond, and we often see lots of wildlife here, but nothing today.

I guess that's all for now. It's a really dreary day here. The temp. is 42º, raining, and very windy. Have a wonderful Thursday, and get out and take at least one picture.

Good Morning all. It's cold, wet, and dreary here this morning. The day will probably deteriorate throughout,and snow in on the way for tonight.
Continuing our search for beach glass, we tried another area. This one has tons of flat rocks all rounded by years of tumbling in the water. Lots of shapes.

Even a few wet leaves still with some color.

We came upon this huge rock(?). It does appear to be man made of rocks and concrete, but who knows. Anyway there it was all by itself right near the water's edge.

Plenty of driftwood around too.

Leaves riding on the water, not really going anyplace.

Here is one of the birds I was telling you about. We saw at least 10-15 of them laying on the beach. They appeared to be unharmed, and had not been there very long, as there was no decaying, and why this particular spot? Gary thought maybe they got caught in fisherman's nets, got thrown back in the water, and then washed ashore. I consulted my Sibley, and they look like young Common Loons, but I'll let you decide. Any help will be appreciated.

Here is another one. They do have large webbed feet, although I didn't get a good picture of that part.

Back on the previous days adventure at Barcelona Harbor, New York, is the Sea Lion. The Sea Lion is a Replica of a late 16th Century British Three-Masted,square rigged Sailing Ship. It was built in the same way they built ships in the 16th Century. It was a several years project, multi person project headed by Earnest Cowan of Mayville , New York. It was commissioned on Chautauqua Lake in 1985. Local residents, businesses, and foundations contributed most of the labor, materials and money for the Sea Lion. After a legal battle, the Ship was sold in 1992 to the Buffalo Maritime Society. It was taken on a journey from Chautauqua Lake to Barcelona, New York where it was towed to Buffalo, New York. It operated in Buffalo until it sank in 1999 in Lake Erie. Some super local divers headed By Sam Genco and other local people raised the ship in 2000. It was towed back to its new home in Barcelona New York.

More of those round rocks. I've not seen any rocks like this only around Lake Erie on the southern shores.

There were lots of little waterfalls in this area.

Plenty of Seagulls following us around looking for treats, and I didn't have any...

Small pieces of wood, and the ever presence of trash.

Gull footprints.

Hope I wasn't too wordy today, but sometimes I take so many pictures, I just have to share them with you all. Have a wonderful Sunday.

Steelheads are running!

Today began really foggy again! From the weather folks we hear it probably will be the last warm day for a while, sooo we decided to head out to Fairview, Penna about 30 miles from home to see the running of the Steelhead trout. It's an annual happening when the trout swim upstream from the Lake ( Lake Erie) to their breeding grounds where they were born to spawn. In this case Trout Run is a special stream created and watched over by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. There are 3 man made waterfalls on the lower part of the stream. Each is higher than the previous one. The last is about 3 ft. high. The fish coming in off the Lake try to swim up this stream, that isn't very deep, and try very very hard to jump these waterfalls to gain access to the next area, and hopefully to reach a deeper section of water in which to spawn. BUT- the fish can not jump the last waterfall, but they don't know this. Therefore they remain in the last pool. Beginning next Wednesday and continuing till February. the Fish commission will net the fish, and there are 1000's of them, take them to the hatchery, and milk the eggs from the females. The eggs are then fertilized. The parent fish is then released unharmed back to the Lake. The eggs are hatched, and when the fish reach fingerling size they are released in the stream where the parents were. They think this is their home, and will then eventually make their way out to the Lake. When they reach maturity the process begins again, and the fish will swim up-stream to "spawn" just like the ones before them back to where they were first released..
This is the last waterfall, which is too high for the fish to jump. Fishermen aren't allowed to fish the stream, but they are in the Lake where the stream enters. This man was having a good day. He told us he had caught an 11 pounder yesterday. Also the fish have to be 15" before you can keep them. Some of them will reach 2 feet long! They are brown on top and silver colored on the bottom.

Here are the guys and gals fishing out in the Lake elbow to elbow. There must have been 60 or more in this one spot.

100's of trout all swimming against the current trying to get upstream.

This fish was huge.

More fish on their last trip. Many will die of exhaustion.

Here's one that made it over the first falls.

I'd better let you go, and hope I haven't rambled on too long. I'm just fascinated by the whole process. Lots more pictures from our beach combing days searching for beach glass to follow in the next few days. We found some dead birds on the beach, and I think I need help ID-ing them.