Saturday was a good day to relax and shoot birds

Later that day the wife decided a ride in the country would do her good, so off we went to Evergreen Lake and Lake Bloomington. A lot of birds and a few animals spotted , but the camera and camera man was too slow to get the good pictures hoped for. A trio of deer posed quietly for me, no fear of being shot in the Spring, especially a klutz with a camera! Then Gull Island was populated with tired gulls resting. In another part of the lake the gulls were zipping everywhere. Between the two lakes we spotted at least 8 blue herons and 2 hawks and a first for me a Golden Crowned Kinglet. I couldn't get the Kinglet to stay still long enough to focus my camera. Here are the posing deer and gulls.









Not being one to sit around the house all day, I took off over to the White Oak Pond to see what kind of ducks were present. I found a Killdeer walking the banks. Then a Canadian walking on shore. In the choppy water was a ringed beak gull along with a pair of mallards and a yet unidentified duck?









I have a few starlings and grackles I would love to shoot with a real gun, but today was more a shoot with the camera day. Out in the back yard were a couple of birds and and a hungry squirrel. The bungee cord feeder makes it fun to watch the squirrels work for their treats! The red colored bird is a finch, and the other bird is a a young Junco up close.

In House Bird Motel - Owner dusts out the flying creature

I think our friendly back yard birds are beginning to take our hospitality a little too far! This fall we had a Rose Breasted Nut Hatch that found its way into our family room at least twice that we know about. Who know how many other times it secretly found it way in.

Tonight I hauled out a few left overs to the birds including a couple grapes that would have been tossed and a bunch of breading from WalMart's chicken livers and the left over fried potatoes. Since I didn't want to waste energy I decided the garbage could be taking out at the same time. Passing through the family room I heard a fluttering sound. The first chore was to get the garbage and leftovers out and then find out what was making the noise. Coming back in I search high and low until the cat pointed to the bird sitting on a small lamp like a decoration. I had left the outside door open to give an exit to whatever was making the noise, but the bird just took comfort in sitting on the lamp. Probably keeping nice and toasty as the lamp was lit with a small wattage bulb.

The cat while desiring to get to the bird is also a bit lazy, and maybe a little blind, so it just stayed underneath the birds perch. After a bit the bird flew toward the window and back to the top of the lazy bow chair. It was now time to find a way to get the bird outside. I decided to open a top window in case the bird flew back toward the window as it wasn't to eager to try the door. In the closet was a extending dust mop which could reach about 6-8 feet. With it fully extended I approached the bird from the side and "zowie" out the window the bird flew!.

In case you are doubting this saga I was able to get a few pictures of our resident Dark eyed Junco sitting on the lamp.

Spring is a Coming

The back yard has been jumping this afternoon! Doves, Starlings, Black Birds, Downey, Blue Jay, Cardinals, House Sparrows along with the those pictured below. Yes, the pesky squirrels have been chasing around too.


This Carolina Wren certainly enjoys the nuts!



The ever present Starlings have cluttered the yard and feeder, no pictures of them as today I see no beauty in them. However, the black birds have decided to visit today and they do have a little flare.




Not to be outdone our often visiting Red Bellied Wood Pecker has a few nuts and enjoys the tree limbs.





This winter we have had many Dark eyed Juncos feeding out back, here are a couple pictures one with the Song Sparrow.




Spring is just around the corner and some of the birds are beginning to migrate into our area. I couldn't resist taking numerous shots of this Song Sparrow, in fact two of them were noted in the backyard foraging for food under the feeders.

Winter Visitors

As you can see a very pretty Female Northern Cardinal was braving the snow and cold to feast at the bird feeder.





Here are more visitors chowing down in February of 2008.

A Lion's Love

A friend from Texas that has a animal shelter sent this to me today. It is a neat story. A positive in a truly negative world.


Several years ago this woman found a sick, malnourished lion cub in the jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. Then she made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. Here's a video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time:

Click on "A Lion's Love" under Favorite Links to view the video. I don't always get the video so an alternative link has been provided. You will need to click on the Amazing Hug wmv.

Hip Replacement Surgery

This has been a rare week. Started out with the wife going to surgery on Monday for a total hip replacement. A surgeon new to the area brought to Bloomington-Normal the minimally invasive technique and expertise from the San Francisco area. The wife has been have a lot of trouble with pain in the left hip for quite some time and in fact the xray's have indicated bone on bone in both hips.

Since she had Polio at about age 6 with multiple surgeries to get her able to walk looking toward a total hip replacement was not a priority. It was Jane's physical therapist that suggested the new doctor in town that came from California and had a totally new technique to this area. Last fall we visited with him and go a shot in the hip to help with the pain, at that time he explained the surgery procedures. As we listened to his explanation and description of the procedure we became more convinced that this might be a good solution to the problem.

Having had Polio the muscles had been greatly effected and one might say deteriorated to a a certain degree. While us normal people (those not having Polio) find that exercise stretching and manipulation helps to develop the muscles, those who had Polio and were effected do not recover from over use of their muscles except by resting the muscles. It is as if the tendons and remaining muscles have worked overtime to achieve normal exertion and therefore they have lost the elasticity to recover.

The standard total hip replacement requires that the muscles and tendons be cut in order to insert the new hip joint. In Jane's case crutches would have been almost impossible to use and non weight bearing is the prescription until the muscles begin to heal. This new procedure has the doctor moving the muscles and tendons to the side and then after insertion moving them back in place. With this procedure the pain is usually lessened and the recovery time is hastened. Plus the next day immediate weight bearing is encouraged.

Jane had the surgery on Monday afternoon getting to her room about 5:30pm. The next morning she had been gotten up to sit on the side of the bed and then to place weight on the repaired joint. Physical therapy began on Tuesday. Wednesday she had two sessions of PT and OT (Occupational Therapy). Wednesday at noon she went up 4 stair steps and then down four stair steps twice. Thursday another double PT and OT sessions including getting in and out of bed and practicing for getting in and out of the bath tub shower. Thursday night she made it home and walked from the van to the family room and up one step. After resting and being served Chinese food she transversed the final 5 steps to the main level of our house.

Considering all of the muscle problems from before the surgery, which remain, the progress has been amazing! The live in nurse has been getting by pretty easily. He has even been able to sneak off to buy food and do chores.

Now the nurse has to go down in the basement to change the kitty litter, not one of his favorite chores.