MOURNING DOVES bring back memories. Was born and raised on a hilly farm in southern Indiana, life was good, but harsh. Remember setting on the front porch with my Grandmother , after supper, she said "Listen to the Rain crows" will rain soon !!. Our heritage is German, don't know if this a German name for doves. Back then, some 70 years ago, it was a rarity to see doves. As I write this blog ,there is 10 feeding outside my window. Thought for the day....Have a good 2009 and may all people find peace.

Red Fox on early morning hunt....Once or twice a year I see a quick glimpse of what I think is a fox. The remote camera caught this one several times in the last 2 weeks. Usually at the edge of the pic or out of flash range, resulting in very low quality. So ,why not bait in the right area, whatever it takes to get the pic.

BLUE JAYS in an ice storm. Interesting to look at the feather structure under unusually conditions. Note the head-on shot of the 1st. pic exhibits a different feather pattern than usual. Maybe to retain warmth.

Images from remote camera in shade garden. Wild turkeys scratch for food after a dusting of snow. Deer forages for food during an early morning morning snowstorm. Flash highlites the snow flakes.

SHADE GARDENS attracts a lot of wildlife. Started to clean out about 3/4 acre, of a southern exposure hillside,several years ago to create a shade garden. My idea was to plant shade-loving flowering plants, however the deer started to use it for a food plot. So I just planted it in grasses and mow it every month. I left 3- 50 foot circles of original brush as animal and bird habitat. Recently the wild turkeys seem to like this area . Have mounted the wild game camera in this area for the winter. The area contains a lot of small trees, white ash, white oak, red oak popular ,elm ,black walnut,red cedar ,red bud ,native flowering dogwood ,persimmon ,catalpa and black cherry. This blend give a lot texture and color thru the spring and fall. Note the black camera on the foreground tree.

White-breasted Nuthatch is a small song bird of the nuthatch/creeper family. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill and strong feet. Seeds form a substantial part of its winter diet, thus it is a frequent visitor to my feeder. Nuthatches talk a lot,a sort of grunting chatter. I photograph from a blind about 7 feet away ,and even with my bad hearing I can still hear the chatter. Has a tendency to go down a tree head first.

Red-bellied Woodpecker ready to leave it's perch. A medium sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. We have a nesting pair,has raised an offspring this year. Its name is somewhat misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on its head, with a tinge of red on its belly. This a male (with red from beak to the nape) , they are very noisy and have a tendency to take feed from the feeder and store it in the bark crevices of near by trees. Many hours can be spent watch ing this bird.

Coyote working 3rd shift....Have not seen a coyote in our meadow for 2 yrs. Just purchased a wild game camera ,as an extension to my wildlife photography. The game cameras are usually strapped to a tree in a remote area to monitor animal or wildlife behavior.The IR beam senses motion and /or body temperature that triggers the shutter,thus 7/24 observation. This photo was taken at 3:53 am; 10 minutes before, a raccoon was recorded in the same place. 10-06-2008

Feeding Wild Tom Turkeys .... Several months ago ,I noticed 5 male turkeys were hanging around my meadow area. One day I had some stale bread, so I took it out side for wildlife feed, the 5 turkeys were hanging around ,so I sailed the bread toward them,they came running to eat it. Next I put shelled corn in a plastic bucket, shook it around to make noise, an they came running.Recently I saw a flock of turkeys in the same area ,got my corn and plastic bucket ,shook it and they flew away,WRONG TURKEYS. Pics show how close they get and size of them,note the beards.( feathers protruding from the middle of chest)

NORTHERN CARDINAL with bad hair day. Was photographing song birds today, when this cardinal came by to have a snack, the wind was gusting to 18-20mph,turning his head ,the wind caught his top-knot ,standing it straight up. For the next hour,I did not see this happen again,thus it must be uncomfortable to them. Anyway, I find this interesting.