CRANE MIGRATION:
Was outside this afternoon, catching up on late winter chores and I heard a sound like a raspy woodpecker. Looked up and saw a long thin line of migrating birds. they were cranes, estimated about 100 to 150 of them, ran inside and found my camera, got one picture as they fly fast. Assume them to be Sandhills heading for their winter home in Texas. they were flying south-west. Some research indicates , they have an anatomical peculiarity, the windpipe is long (about 5 ft.) and is coiled within the hollowed keel of the breast bone somewhat like a french horn. Thus allowing for the loud long distant calls. Note the broad view and the closeup view, cranes fly with neck outstretched.

T.C.Steele State Historic Site (Indiana).......Took a day trip to Nashville ,IN yesterday and visited this historic site. A true pleasure!!!. Steele bought this 211 acres in 1907, to be used as his homesite as well as his artist studio. Steele a leading Indiana painter ,both portait and Impressionist ,made many visits to the Indiana University campus. Photos .... View of yard in front of home .. Autumn Wisteria bloom on an arbor

COPPERHEAD CREEK GEODE -KY....Found this geode on a friends property near Berea Kentucky. This one has a reddish cast, which may contain Ferrous compounds. Geodes are voids in sedimentary rock,that are filled with mineral laden ground water,after many years, form either crystal or solid interiors. i.e A small cave.

CECROPIA MOTH LARVA......The larva feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs but mainly on cherry,plum,elderberry,apple,box elder and willow. Found this one near my flowering cherry. The legs or feet reminds me of miniature elephants hoofs.

TRANSFORMATION PROCESS...... Found this larva attached to a sign post in my yard. Thought it was a branch from the walnut tree,but upon closer examination it was a worm doing transformation. Amazing !!!!!

ODD COUPLE........It's unusual to see a buck and doe together this time of year. They are at the salt area every day and seem to be traveling together. Are they last years twin fawns ? Sometimes I see spike bucks and small does together,but this guy has quite a nice rack. Again doe is thinner than usual ,buck seems to be in better shape.

FIRST FAWN of season..... This the first fawn of the season that has visited my salt area.By now the remote camera should have picked up many young. The mother is in very poor shape. Don't understand with the lush foliage why some deer are so thin. Not much corn or soybeans in the immediate area. Note the extreme long face of mother and fawn.

Lunch for Squirrel....Never thought of grey squirrels eating anything but nuts and my bird seed, but this one likes mushrooms. I shoot a lot of what I call common wildlife pics, but this one rates near the top!!!!!!!. Cute little guy or girl ? Data...f3.3 at 1/125 sec. ISO 160 ,Exposure bias +0.3 step , 648 mm (35mm focal length)

WHITETAIL BUCK & DOE......Have not seen any large bucks this year,however this am.saw this big boy at the salt block. Got my camera and started out on the upper deck , just as I opened the sliding door,he was gone like a shot. This is about 125 yards. Pic shows the size difference between avg. doe and the buck,keep in mind that he was standing about 10 inches deep into the salt pit. O'yes the remote camera recorded him.

SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY.......

FOUND THIS ONE on my Daisy patch. Seemed to be drying out. Coloration on the wings appears to be bluish- green rather than white. Lucky timing. Did not stay long...

Moth or Butterfly ? Was walking through my meadow and noticed this insect extracting nectar from this small white flower. Have observed a lot of butterflies, but this one was different, looked like a large colored fly. About 3/4 to 1 inch in size. If anyone knows what this is ,let me know. Thanks

Second year buck...We seem to have more bucks visiting ,our salt block ,this year than before . Also they are very thin for this time of year.The natural habitat is being rapidly reduced by housing and less crop production ,that limits food supply. We still have several hundred acres , natural hill-valley areas available, but a hundred acres have disappeared in the last 5-7years. It appears to me that the more bucks born, is natures way of ,over time, limit deer population. Since I use a game camera to monitor my salt block, it will be interesting to see how the population unfolds,over the next few years. My game camera yields approx. 50 to 70 photos/day

Brown Thrashers....Have had a pair around our meadow for several years,but I have not seen them as close together as this photo. Family Minidae....often called "mimic thrushes", excellent singers,strong legs and longer tails. Sexes look alike, member of the Mockingbird family. Notice the tail positions, guess you could draw a lot of conclusions from the attitude. Gorgeous birds !!!!!

Blue jays at tree feeder...Even though these appear to be a pair, their is still feeding status. Both tried to eat at the same time, but Mr. Mean Guy had to eat first, or is it the other way around? Waited about 1.5 hours to get this shot. Data:f/3.3 at 1/160 sec, ISO 160, shutter priority, 35mm focal length..648

Macro of Wild Turkey wing feather......Thinking about the little turkey poults, that are about the size of half a tennis ball and just as fuzzy,within one growing season, produce a structure that is able to lift them off the ground, is amazing!!!!! Sometimes during the summer, I find feathers in our meadow and stick them in the brim of my straw hat. In the fall I will have 8 to 10 various species of bird feathers in my hat, the old timers used to say," Another feather in my hat". Don't know orgin of this saying. Anyway, nature is most interesting!!!!! Approx. 5X macro

Blue jay at feeder.....This time of year the blue jays are crazy feeding their young, going from daylight to dark. It appears we have 3 pair nesting close to my feeder area. During this time of the year , they tend to very quiet,also somewhat slimmer. Having kids is tough work.

Ordovician fossils from Little Jamison creek. In the spring , after the winter freezing and thawing, I like to spend time, in the creeks on our property,looking for fresh fossils, that has just been washed out, by spring rains. Several million years ago,this area was covered with shallow seas,which contained forms of life. This life ,through normal process, at least ,the more solid parts , was buried in the sea floor,after they died,an was preserved and became fossilized. REF....Geology/ A survey of earth science by E.W. Spencer

MACRO..... Sycamore Seeds..... Interesting to look inside the round spiked fruit clusters of dried sycamore. Hair seem to be spring loaded to eject seeds from the fruit balls. Hairs are then used for the distribution of seeds ,on air currents. At least, those are my thoughts!!!! . These seeds are approx. 10 mm. in length.

Macro....Small blooming plant.... Was walking around my yard today, noticed this very small plant. I got down on my knees to observe it,an for some reason was amazed at how delicate it was. Most of the time ,I like most people, would have just walked over it or on it. Noticed several in this area, so I gently lifted it and the roots can out of the ground all in one piece. Flower is less than 1/8 inch in diameter, note several bud balls to the right. Don't know what the plant is,but I guess that doesn't really matter, it's NATURE at its best.

Digital Camera Preset Modes.....Never even looked at presets on any camera; they were for amateurs. Well, I could be wrong!!!!! Was having some trouble ,stopping motion at ISO 800,even with the shake control on. So as a last resort get out the manual. Found a HIGH SENS. preset, ISO 3200 ,good for 4x6 pic size. This deer was looking in the window at me,so I took a couple of shots. Whereas the image lacks sharpness and shows pixelation, I found it interesting (kind of art-like) especially, inside the ears. Picked up veins above the eyes and the buttons on the head. f8.0 at 1/1600 sec, 432mm (35mm focal length) . READ those Manuals !!!!!!!

WHITETAIL DEER in freshly mowed meadow.....Every year I try to mow off my meadow in very early spring. Last year I cut a portion of it in October, leaving a small circle of it standing over the winter. Last week I mowed the small circle patch. The natural grasses had caught a lot of leaves, that created warmth, thus new green tender shots started to grow. The deer don't miss much.

Photo-Study of Wild (hen) Turkey head/neck . Are they a handsome bird? More on this subject latter,

NEW THOUGHTS.....See turkeys every day, sometimes when alarmed they fly immediately,sometimes they run. What triggers the thought pattern or is it instincts? They seem to be very good at running and seem to resemble the dinosaur-birds, neck extended and very good balance , for an out of balanced body. What about the non-feathered heads,like the VULTURES, rather small head to control such a large body, Why??? . Appears to be a very smart,at times ,has excellent memory at least to remember where to find food, had a feeding stump,for the turkeys, dug out the stump and they returned to that precise spot for 3 years. On Nov. 6, 2008 blog,I was feeding turkeys by hand, these guys disappeared,until last week , when I saw one standing in my meadow, went outside to throw away some table scraps,with a similar feeding hand motion,and the tom came running. Went up on the upper deck,so he could see me better and made similar hand motions ( no food ) he also came running. Assume he recognized hand motion with food,processing information or just instincts ? I don't have any idea!!!!!

still doing research.

LOOKING EYE TO EYE with a WILD TURKEY. Beginning to use my blind again ,to get some close-up photos , of these guys.

RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE waits it's turn at the feeders this icy cold day. Have several breeding pair.

Southeastern Indiana Coyote....The middle of April 2007 ,photographed this good looking coyote going through my meadow. Don't see them very often, usually they are very ragged and skinny. Coyotes range through-out the US,Canada and Mexico,and have accumulated to human civilization much better than it's grey wolf cousin. Typical packs consist of 6 closely related adults, yearlings and young. Coyotes reach their full growth in one year, whereas wolves reach full growth in the second year. Coyotes can dig their own burrows ,but usually take the burrows of groundhogs,at least in our area. Territorial ranges can be up to 10 miles around the den. Reports indicate 50 to 70% of pups do not attain adulthood. Reference.......Wikipedia

Male turkey position in a " gobble". In the spring ,during the mating season ,male wild turkeys respond to a quick,loud noise with a gobble. Some times when a thunder storm is approaching,I hear turkeys responding to the sound of thunder. My great granddaughter's voice , also receives a response. Photographed this guy in the middle of a gobble. Spring of 2008.