Sunday Sentiment

Golden Crowned Kinglet

I found this golden crowned kinglet dead in my yard.

This tiny olive gray bird has a yellow crown

 surrounded by black on his head.

The male has an orange patch in his crown.

 They eat insects, insect eggs & spiders.

He would have been welcome here.

 

 

Woodcock Walk

I attended a woodcock walk which was hosted by a local park.

I learned some neat facts about these strange birds

and the naturalist brought along some mounts of the bird

so we could see them up close.

The woodcock is a stocky bird

 with a long slender bill & large eyes.

Its black & brown speckled plumage is perfect camouflage 

as they probe in mud looking for earthworms.  

 

 

IN the Spring, the male woodcock does aerial displays

 at dusk & dawn.

 He flies upward in a spiral as high as 500 feet,

 his wings twittering, 

then descends in a zigzag,

 diving pattern until he lands near a female.

 

 

He has a peculiar "peenting" call which I was able to capture on this video.

 

We did see one aerial display,

 but as you can see from the video, 

it was too dark to film.  

 

Crocus in the Morning

Early Spring flowers are blooming.

The first of the wildflowers,

 the tiny Harbinger of Spring.

Simba-in-the-Box

Seems my parcel doesn't quite fit.........

Sunday Sentiment

Busy Day

Yesterday my oldest granddaughter had a day off from school

and my daughter & I decided to make it a fun day.

 We headed east and checked out the Crystal Arch in downtown Anderson, Indiana

Next we ate lunch at the Lemon Drop, a 1950's diner.

 We sat at the counter, spinning on the stools,

 eating toasted cheeseburgers & sipping chocolate cokes.

 They gave us lemon drops too!

 Just a few miles away is Mounds State Park, so off we went.

Outside the Nature Center is a dugout canoe for the kids to check out.

And a children's sensory garden as well.

Inside where lots of animals,

 such as this box turtle peeking out from under a log.

And this whiskered catfish.

 

We took a short hike along the river.

Where even a 1 year old can appreciate nature.

Our last stop was Good's Candy Shop

for ice cream!