A Little Catch-Up Note

Hello everyone,

It's been awhile since my last post. Life keeps me busy. I hope all of you are fine and that life is treating you well.

Thank you so much for all of your kind comments and good wishes. Not much has changed here.

We try to fit in bits of time to visit local nature areas that are close to our home. An hour or two here and there can yield some wonderful surprises and I can't think of a better way to unwind and relax.

Spring seemed to last for much of the summer months here with a lot of rain and cool temperatures. It seems like we've only had a couple of weeks of warm weather, and already the weather is cooling off and we're seeing the beginning signs of leaves changing colors.

A few pictures to share with you. (You can click on the pictures to see them larger.) Above, I believe is a young Tree Swallow.

A Mockingbird perched in a tree would occasionally call out with the most wonderful series of sounds. I could listen to these birds for hours.

Eastern Cottontail. I saw a lot more of these this year than I normally do.

This is Swamp Rose Mallow. These blossoms can be as large as eight inches across. I'd say this one was around six inches. A beautiful blossom.

One day I looked up toward the sky and I was surrouned by birds in every direction. I couldn't tell what kind of birds they were, but I wondered, with a flock this large, if they were getting ready to migrate.

Canada Goose - never a shortage of them!

Queen Anne's Lace gone by

This is some kind of a wild Sunflower that grows in woodland areas and scrub. Some of the flowers towered over my head at around six to seven feet high

One day I stopped by this pond and saw about 30 Egrets - both Snowy and Great Egrets

Watching them was like watching a ballet. Graceful birds

A flower gone by. Blow on the puff and make a wish.

This was a path I walked one day. I liked the shadows and light

Frittilary Butterfly on a butterfly bush.

Red-Tailed Hawk
This was a special treat. We happened upon her one day as we were driving by. She let us get very close. You can read a little about Veronica here: http://www.indianacountyparks.org/happenings/FOPNewsletters/NewsFOP2009JulyAugustSeptember.pdf

A view down at Silver Sands Beach. A duck in the water swimming down a canal

Seagull with a shell

Grasses

Spider web

Ornamental Crab Apples

Bumble Bee on Goldenrod. The orange spots on the bee are sacs filled with pollen grains.

More wild Sunflowers

And a Snowy Egret taking off. Love the "painted" feet.

Well, that's all for now.
Take care.

'Til next time.