A Normal Backyard

2011-09-16T10:36:00.000-06:00

This past week we have had several visitors to our Normal Back Yard. Many creatures roam the creek banks not far from our house and it is not unusual to see rabbits, geese, opossums, raccoons and a multitude of birds of various kinds. One of our overnight visitors was chewing on our new ice cooler which we have placed on our deck to store bird seed and nuts which are used to feed the many birds including our woodpeckers. However, chewing on the ice cooler was not enough, this creature was moving the rather large cooler about the deck and tipping it over to open the lid and allow the peanut bag to be raided.

Determined to get this rascal I set a live trap to catch the creature. But before the creature was caught a young skunk decided that the apple in the trap was just what they wanted for a late night snack. Now the problem was what to do with a trapped skunk. I called a friend of mine that had lent me the trap and asked, "Now what do I do?" He happened to be bear hunting in Canada and along with him was a professional trapper who passed along tips on what to do. The last thing my friend told me was to be sure and video the release of the trapped skunk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOwN7_pdbNo

Please note that the video has a lot of bounce and views of the actual deck. Please also note that the person taking the video does appear to run into the family room when she thinks the skunk might be excited or loose. To her credit she does provide great commentary!

April 21, 2011 Lake Bloomington and Evergreen

2011-04-22T13:29:00.003-06:00

Took the ground hog we trapped out to a safe new home. After we dropped off the ground hog we headed west and found these Vultures and ducks.

Pictures from the back yard Apirl 19-20, 2011

2011-04-22T13:15:00.004-06:00

April 2011

2011-04-19T13:30:00.004-06:00

Birds are returning to the old Normal Back Yard!

May 12, 2010 ANBY view of the Birds

2010-05-18T14:08:00.003-06:00

House Wren entering the Milburn House. Bird house left to us when neighbors moved.

Gray Catbird

2 White-crowned Sparrows along with a Male and Female Rose Breasted Grossbeak and a Downey Woodpecker chowing down on the nuts.

White-crowed Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Male and Female Rose-breasted Grossbeak Male is the bright one and the female brown

Black-capped Chickadee

Male and female Rose-breasted Grossbeaks

May 16, 2010 Just the friendly confines of ANBY

2010-05-18T13:57:00.003-06:00

Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting

Red-bellied Woodpecker hanging out.

Red-bellied Woodpecker sparing with a Grackle.

Back yard visitors May 10 and 11th

2010-05-18T13:41:00.004-06:00

White-crowned Sparrow

Gray Catbird a member of the Mockingbird family

Black-capped Chickadee

Two Black-capped Chjickadees

White-crowned Sparrow

May 6, 2010 at Merwin Preserve located NE of Lake Bloomington

2010-05-18T13:20:00.002-06:00

Wild Turkey at Merwin Preserve

Eastern Kingbird at Merwin Preserve

Saturday at the Normal Back Yard

2010-03-14T20:57:00.003-06:00

Random pictures of visitors to our back yard. Included are Black Capped Chickadees, Dark Eyed Juncos, White Breasted Nuthatch and not to be left out one of our resident squirrels posing for his picture.

I am ready for PIZZA!

2010-03-12T16:08:00.003-06:00

Nothing beats hunkering down to a tasty Grady's Pizza! Umm Good!!!! Andy and Peter this one is for you guys! Too bad they don't deliver to California or Iraq!

Ah the weather is much warmer today!

2010-03-12T15:56:00.004-06:00

Sparrow, Downey Wood Pecker, Black Bird with that purple/blue tint, and one hungry squirrel!

Squirrel ala crystal light

2010-03-12T15:38:00.002-06:00

Frosteria the squirrel braving the inclement weather to grab a bite of corn.

Sparrows in the snow

2010-03-12T15:32:00.003-06:00

Sparrows, Doves and Downey Wood Peckers stopping by for a bit of refreshment on a cold winter's day.

Winter enters with lots of Snow!

2010-03-12T15:27:00.002-06:00

Our California bird house covered with snow (lower picture), the bird feeder holds a lot of snow too!

2010-03-12T15:18:00.004-06:00

A Wren visits this winter.

Winter 2009 has arrived and so has a Predator!

2009-12-09T13:44:00.009-06:00

Our Predator of the day was a swift Cooper's Hawk that found a chubby sparrow to use as a snack. I was at the computer and her the wings flapping just in time to look up and see the hawk grab the sparrow in mid-flight and head up into the tree. As I got my camera the Hawk decided to find a more stable place to use as it's table. The first picture is after he had devoured the sparrow and was then inspecting a nest in the same tree. You have to look carefully to see the hawk and the nest.

Winter or not this Northern Cardinal found the comfort of the feeder away from the wind to chow down before bedtime.

This beautiful Nuthatch appeared at the feeder and posed for this picture.

Pesky as the squirrels are, they are in-genius in finding ways to get to nuts. This one would leap about six feet from a fence post to land on the baffle and grab the hanging nut holder to keep from falling to the ground. Then it did all kinds of contortions to feed from the nut holder.

2009-09-30T11:52:00.002-06:00

Cardinal and a sparrow chowing down.

Beautiful cardinal with a ruffled comb.

A prim female Rose-Breasted Grossbeak

Male Downy Woodpecker having at the nuts.

2009-09-30T11:22:00.002-06:00

I had to whittle this hole a little bigger to fit in here, but it serves me fine now.

A fine spot I have picked for this cool fall. What a view!

What is that over there?

This is a nice neighborhood.

Wow, what a nice roof!

Mom and offspring feeding at the nuts

2009-09-22T10:16:00.005-06:00

This is a video form August 2009 in which I was able to catch a Red Bellied Woodpecker that frequents the neighborhood feeding one of its offspring. In an earlier post you were able to see the offspring eating alone at the nut feeder.

The Deck is coming soon!

2009-09-14T09:40:00.007-06:00

The first picture gives you and idea of what the pre-deck area looked like. Then the progress thus far with about 2/3 of the flooring installed and still to come the railings and ramps to allow Jane to more easily access the back yard with her scooter.

Drive out and around Evergreen Lake - Comlara Park

2009-09-12T12:18:00.005-06:00

Before the drive I captured a picture of an immature red bellied woodpecker

Blue Jays a plenty

2009-05-12T14:06:00.002-06:00

For a day or two the Blue Jays seemed to dominate the back yard. They can be ornery but these just seemed to want to eat and drink before moving on to another destination. As you can see their coloring is bright and beautiful and nothing like their song and high pitched screeching.

2009-05-09T19:19:00.010-06:00

First Baltimore Oriole visiting this year and this is our first female, where is the male?

Male Downey and House Sparrow sharing the nuts.

Indigo Bunting back again to the feeder.

Wren visiting looking for a place to sleep.

Chipping Sparrows

House Finch

Male and Female Grosbeaks at the feeder.

2009-05-01T11:56:00.010-06:00

Two new birds spotted in our Normal Backyard this week. The Red Headed Woodpecker and the Spotted Towhee. Our backyard has been full of bird activity a lot of House Sparrows, Starlings and black birds. This week we have also had the Red Breasted Grosbeaks migrating through and earlier the White-Throated Sparrows.

Red Headed Woodpecker

White Crowned Sparrows

Female Red-Breasted Grosbeak no red just brown and white unlike the male with a bright red breast.

Gold Finches So pretty and what a sweet melody they sing

Spotted Towhee

Indigo Buntings - The male is molting to adult plumage

Yesterday's Pictures

2009-04-13T05:07:00.004-06:00

Couple of pictures of Chipping Sparrow's in the back yard

Gold Finches attracted by Thistle Seed and new feeder

Can't keep the Cooper's Hawk from scanning the bird feeder, today he was a little slow and missed the chow.

House Finches love the new feeder too.

Carolina Chickadee stopped for a bit of seed.

The Red Bellied Woodpecker hangs around the neighborhood going on two years.

Just one of our Downey WoodPeckers that have stay with us for nearly two years.

As you can see the entry way has been chewed out by the local starling population. I guess they don't have Starlings in California where this bird house was created.

Sherry Regina Shickle - Home with the Lord

2009-02-04T19:53:00.003-06:00

This afternoon I received word that my sister, just two years younger than me went home to be with the Lord. Sherry had colon cancer and it had gone into the lungs which made breathing very difficult. Last week Kentucky was hit by a snow storm that took out electricity to many and her apartment was one of the many without electric. This allowed her to enter the hospital where she did get a little relief with pain killers and removal of fluid. Yesterday she was moved into a nursing home as the care needed was greater than the family could provide. God saw fit to take her home. It was her wish not to enter the nursing home and it seems God granted her wish to not be stuck in a nursing home.

Sherry and I were the closest in age of the six siblings. We shared many experiences as we grew up. I liked to collect baseball cards and she liked to chew the gum. We both liked Pepsi, but she drank it warm and I had to have it cold. In the summer she wore sweaters and I T-shirts. Being only two years apart we almost always were in school together Irving Grade and Junior High School, I went Kindergarten through ninth grade and she Kindergarten through seventh grade. I got to go to the new Bloomington High School and she spent two years in the old high school called Bloomington Junior High School. Then my senior year she was a sophomore at the new High School.

We attended the same youth group activities and had many of the same friends. It was the fall of 1964 and both of us headed off to Bob Jones University for college. My brother-in-law and dad drove us down to Greenville, SC. Back in those days there were no Interstates and only limited four lane roads. The trip to Greenville was at least eighteen hours and winding narrow road through the middle of the Smoky Mountains was the most direct path. Sherry landed a job in the administration building as a telephone operator and I go to drive all over campus in a laundry truck picking up dirty linen.

I still marvel at that both of us were able to attend this college in spite of the fact that we were poorer than church mice. I had no idea how I was going to pay my tuition or dorm fees. I remember that I had $100 in my pocket when I arrived on campus. I am not sure that Sherry had that much money and know that she didn't have any money to pay her tuition or dorm fees either. Somehow she survived two years and I made it for one and one-half years.

In August of 2008, my oldest sister passed on leaving me as the eldest of the tribe, today I feel much older as my second sister has gone home.

It is reassuring that God makes no mistakes. He has appointed a day for each of us to meet our Maker and today was Sherry's appointed day. It is probably good that we don't know our appointed day, but it can be comforting to know that by placing our faith in the redemptive power of Jesus's death, burial and resurrection we can be assured that when our life is over we will be with Him in a place far better than even this beautiful earth in which we live.

I am reminded of a story about a doctor that had to give bad news to a older gentleman that his life was drawing to and end. The man asked the doctor, "Doc, you are a Christian, tell me what will I find on the other side?" The doctor was not sure how to answer the man and finally answered that he had no idea. As he spoke these words there was a scratching on the office door. He went to the door and opened the door and standing on the other side was his dog. As he turned back to the older gentleman he realized the answer to the man's question. The doctor then stated, "This is my dog, this is the first time he has been to my office and has never been in this room before. My dog never knew what was on the other side of the door, but he did know that his master was there and therefore he had no fear because he trusted his master. You too can know that on the other side of life awaits the Master and you need not fear."

Was the Visitor a UFO

2009-02-03T20:36:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had another visitor land on the fence post outside our window. The wife saw it first and as I reached for the camera the wild thing took to the air and out of view. It was certainly a predator as the size and fact that all the other birds vacated the back yard feeding center. This did not seem to be our Sharp Shin Hawk as the coloring from a quick glance was more gray in the back and less white in the front. I have heard of at least one Merlin around the area and my first guess would be a Merlin and the second a Dark Morph.

Our feeder has seemed to attract a lot of Starlings this Winter. Early this morning we had quite a few Juncos flitting about with a few House Sparrows intertwined. Later today the Crows surrounded the back yard but fortunately they didn't raid the feeder or stay around long.

The snow was a real surprise this morning, guess I should learn to watch the weather more frequently so that I won't be wake up to the unexpected.

Pictures from the missed months

2009-01-19T11:39:00.006-06:00

Not sure what this squirrel wanted, but think maybe it missed it mark and landed on the screen. Took awhile to figure out how to get back to the garage roof.

This heron was hanging out at the South end of Evergreen Lake, trying to hide from view, it finally got out from behind the tall grass and trees and was able to take the picture.

The rest of the pictures are random shots of visitors to our Normal Back Yard.

A new posting for a New Year

2009-01-13T21:21:00.006-06:00

My last posting was August of 2008 and then I took a long vacation! It seems I got a little lazy and a little busy at the same time. I decided to retire on September 30 of 2008 and had a lot of work to get done before I left, so many hours spent getting things caught up at work. A week of vacationing with the grandkids in Georgia in October and another week over Thanksgiving kept us busy. We all know how busy Christmas can be so it is now the 2009.

I think my last posting talked about the hawk returning and today he made another vivid visit. This time he caught and devoured a Starling. You saw the pictures above and a video showing the action is below. The video is graphic. As an update the pacemaker is working and I am enjoying retirement. I especially enjoy Wednesday and Friday afternoons as I am able to bowl with other Seniors. As the young kid on the block at 64 I get the privilege to bowl with both men and women from 65 to 93 and they bowl pretty good!

Going at a different pace

2008-08-17T20:50:00.002-06:00

The last six months have been a struggle as my congestive heart failure was beginning to show itself present. Since 2001 I have had this CHF condition but I have, as the doctors stated, "been well compensated". Late in June I realized that the time had come to switch doctors and find out what more could be done. I selected a doctor and my wife called for an appointment. I think she was afraid that I would never get around to calling. The receptionist told her that it would be the next Tuesday before she could get me in, but if it was an emergency another doctor in the office could take me the next morning. I told my wife I could wait until next week. The next morning I woke up and decided the Emergency Room might be a good place to visit. The wife reminded me that I could get into to see a doctor that morning and I agreed to go.

By 11am I was walking out of the medical complex having had all kinds of blood tests, EKG, Xray and sonogram of my heart. Even had an appointment to see a cardiologist, first time since 2003. By the end of June I had seen the cardiologist and had a stress test and heard a recommendation for a Bi-ventricular Pacemaker.

August 7, 2008 I had the Bi-ventricular pacemaker and ICD implanted in a 24 hour hospital stay. It didn't come to soon! By Friday the 8th my wife had received notice that her aunt has passed away and the funeral would be Monday in Northwestern Illinois, then I got phone call that my oldest sister in Avon, Indiana was in the hospital and not doing well. The first test of the pacemaker was taking place and it had only been implanted about 20 hours. Sunday we spent the day driving up to Northwestern Illinois for a Monday funeral. While I probably shouldn't have been driving I drove the final half of the trip. The darn seat belt crossed the shoulder just above the incision and certainly made the trip a little less comfortable.

Monday morning as we were getting ready for the 10:30am funeral, I received another telephone message that my sis had passed away. This Friday and Saturday we had the visitation and funeral in Indiana and today I spent the time in church and resting.

God certainly has perfect timing! The pacemaker has been working fine, I have had the energy to make the three hour trips to two funerals and back. I really doubt that I would have been able to endure the stress and travel with out this new devise.

Thus I have entitled this posting "Going at at a different pace"

The pictures above are a few photo taken since my last posting. The hawk was a visitor this afternoon.

Where have you been Danny Boy, Danny Boy

2008-07-20T09:21:00.007-06:00

Kids! This is a real windmill! It is located in rural Eastern McLean County.

My dad use to tell the tail of him climbing the ole windmill on the farm they lived on when he was young many times, but his favorite was when he took his sisters shoes up to the top.

Andy, here is a little green from the country side just for you to enjoy while you are in the desert!

Windmills gone modern! Not just one but a field of Wind Turbines creating electricity for McLean County.

Bambi I and Bambi II along side of the road and cornfield near Evergreen Lake.

Bambi I or II posing for its first picture. Probably a female as I had to take three pictures before it decided I had finally got the right one.

Bambi I or II finding the safety of Mom, but still standing out in the road.

In a different field a six point buck stands guarding the herd. Now you hunters know that they do exist! This buck is about 90 yards into the field, thanks to telescopic lens.

The field with the buck and does at normal distance.

Even the Immature Carinals are visiting. This are up close and personal poses just outside the window.

The sparrow visit the backyard, don't believe this is a common sparraw, but once again the software is lacking and I keep forgetting more and more.

Friendly visitors to the Back Yard

Lot's of good food on the menu here in Normal!

I would like to get to the berries on the ground, but you keep wanting to take my picture! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

A Wild June and July brought a couple of Blue Jays and even a couple of youngens!

Robins were also bring their young out for their first pictures as we see an Immature Robin

Probably a Red Headed House Finch, I got a new computer and need to reinstall my Guide to Birds Software again.

Thanks to all those who serve and have served on this Memorial Day.

2008-05-26T15:06:00.003-06:00

Dwarfed by the Hostas this bird appears to be looking for a shady place to hide.

The Catbird has been hanging around visiting the orange, bird bath and feeders.

This White Breasted Nuthatch has been making good use of the nuts, being careful to share with the Downeys and Red Bellied Wood Peckers, even the starling and Grackles.

A Hummingbird made it back this year, but only stayed a few days. Being here at the right time and in the right place allowed these pictures.

Odds and Ends pictures

2008-05-15T19:51:00.002-06:00

How is this for standing on one leg, one of our Female Rose Breasted Grosbeaks.

Now look what this lady will do to get a meal! That is sticking your head in there.

Cat Bird on the orange.

Woody looking out for his nuts!

2008-05-12T18:36:00.002-06:00

Red Bellied Wood Pecker

2008-05-12T18:20:00.002-06:00

How not to keep a yard green

2008-05-11T16:59:00.003-06:00

The wife has been wondering what was eating her Hostas? I think now she knows. I saw a new bird visitor to our back yard, but had to run to the car to get the camera. When I got back the bird was gone but Freddy the freeloader was having a snack.

Um!!! I love Green!!!

First try at a video!

2008-05-11T16:26:00.006-06:00

Our Red Bellied Wood Pecker showed he really wanted the nuts and neither Starling or Grackles were going to move him. I missed the real fight earlier, they were holding onto to each others beaks! This picture may give you a idea of the intensity.

Lots of bird activity this week

2008-05-10T09:11:00.012-06:00

It is test time for you visitors! I think these are warblers, but I am lazy and tired and don't want to look them up in the books. Besides, I get confused! Any help on what birds are in these four pictures?

A Baltimore Oriole hung out for a couple of days. Sure liked the orange on our make shift oriole feeder. Last week we bought this squirrel feeder for a dollar. Nice to see the squirrels not getting into a squirrel feeder!

Momma squirrel hanging out in the trees finding bedding for her new nest!

More color and variety! Blue Jays, House Finch, White Crowned Sparrow.

From Doves sunning themselves to the Red Bellied Wood Pecker eating nuts to the Female Cardinal and White Throated Sparrow, variety and color appear outback.

The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are visiting again this Spring, probably on their way North. Last year they stayed about a week until a Hawk decided to visit our feeder for a tasty lunch.

Sunset at an elevator near McLean with a front hanging in the West. Pictures taken about one minute apart.

Colorful Spring blooming trees from Normal.

Momma Duck and the little ducklings on Sugar Creek Near Ewing Park.

2008-04-27T19:02:00.008-06:00

Our Red Breasted Nut Hatch hanging upside down, how do they swallow upside down?

We have two Carolina Wrens hanging around the back yard this Spring.

The red head is the Male and the Female is plain House Finch.

First CatBird of the the Spring followed by a Male Downey, a Black Cap Chickadee and then a White Throated Sparrow.

The Cardinals were out this weekend, and in full bloom. Is that a mod style on the female or a bad hair day?

April Visitors

2008-04-22T18:36:00.003-06:00

April showers bring May flowers, but various birds appear too! Here is a selection of a few visitors in April. The White Throated Sparrow is one of the prettier sparrow.

Visiting Carolina Wren

Red Bellied WoodPecker

Pesky Squirrel being stymied this time!

White Throated Sparrow

Rose Breasted Nut Hatch

House Finch

Go Away Grackels! Where is the Sun and Spring

2008-04-12T10:12:00.003-06:00

The birds and squirrels have been out in abundance this past week. This morning a rabbit visited our back yard. We use to have many rabbits in the neighborhood, but they have been rather scarce the last few years.

Of the six or seven squirrels we have one that almost seems human. I continue to seek ways to keep this squirrel out of the bird feeders and he/she continues to find a way to gain entrance. This morning he was not only in the feeder but sitting on top of the seed bin. The feeder tray is at least four feet off the ground and this squirrel leaps up and grabs hold of the edge and pulls itself into the feeder. I have given it the name of Rascal. At first I could yell out of the window, "Rascal you get down!" and down he would go, but now he just glances up at me as if to say "come and make me". To get Rascal to leave the feeder requires going out the door and taking several steps toward the bird feeder.

The grackles are beginning to annoy me as they tend to hog up the feeders and chase off the the more wanted birds. I switched to a mixture of safflower and deluxe mix seed but still have them. Last night I switched to just safflower seed to see if that will discourage them from coming. I will let you know if this works.

This week we have had the usual Downeys, Blue Jays, Cardinals, House Sparrows, and plenty of Doves. Yesterday a couple of Fox Sparrows appeared and we have had a couple of Song Sparrows, and Chipping Sparrows. The Gold Finches are beginning to return, not as pretty as during the summer they are bright yellow and this beautiful color is slowly coming back from their duller winter colors.

Maybe the sun will come out for a few days and warm us up a little, might even get rid of the winter blues that have seemed to hang on so long this spring, it is spring isn't it?

Saturday was a good day to relax and shoot birds

2008-03-25T15:03:00.005-06:00

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

2008-03-18T17:48:00.004-06:00

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

2008-03-16T15:56:00.006-06:00

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

2008-03-07T20:25:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-07T08:36:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-01T12:19:00.002-06:00

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.

February Already!

2008-02-07T09:16:00.000-06:00

What craziness happening with the weather! Warm almost Spring like weather and then we get blasted with snow or sleet or rain? Late Sunday afternoon I was driving to a budget meeting at our church an notice light flicker. It was more or less snowing at the exact time so I thought it might have been car lights reflecting or traffic signals flickering. As I parked at the church it happened again, this time I was sure it wasn't any of the above reasons, so I begin to wonder if it was my eyes. When one of the deacons came in he began talking about the lighting. I was relieved to hear that others had experienced the same thing and it wasn't my eyes or imagination.

Life has been pretty hectic since our after Christmas trip to see the new grandson. I was able to get a new squirrel baffle and get it installed. Since I needed a screw driver it only took me an hour to get my Christmas gift of a set of new screw drivers out of the plastic container. It is nice to see what you are getting in the set, but the plastic is unforgiving and you almost need a tool to strip the plastic. After two slight finger cuts and an hour of effort I was able to release all of the set pieces and place them in a storage bag which was included.

We have at least one squirrel and possibly two that had learned to negotiate the old baffle on the bird feeder. They would actually use the baffle as a spring board to flip backward and grab the top rail of the feeder to crawl up and feast. This new baffle has them perplexed! They craw up, slide down, circle the feeder a couple times and then repeat the process looking for a method to reach the feeder. My wife and I get a small amount of pleasure out of watching them seeking to circumvent this new squirrel baffle! Well, maybe a little more than small pleasure!

The backyard has been filled with snow and not is almost a pond after the snow melted and the rain. I am surprised that ducks haven't landed. Our neighborhood bunny rabbit has really grown. It is larger than our cat which is getting bigger everyday. We are still having the Downy Woodpeckers visit daily and the nuthatches are frequently around. Many doves and snow birds (Juncos) and in the last two weeks we have seen a lot of starlings. The Red bellied Woodpecker also has been visiting.

One of these days life may slow down for a few more pictures to be taken.

San Francisco Air and Water Show

2008-01-29T11:50:00.000-06:00

I haven't been taking pictures for a while, been too busy, but a friend forwarded a really neat web site with many great pictures of this Air and Water Show in San Francisco.

2008-01-11T20:07:00.000-06:00

Well Gram and Pop drove to Georgia after Christmas to see the new Grandson. Here is Patrick Reece Shickle the newest addition to the family.

Here is a pathetic squirrel! He has been visiting the back yard, wonder if he is going to make it through the winter? Got to be cold!

On our way home from Georgia we when through the southern tip of Look Out Mountain. Little did we know that The Grand Canyon of the East existed but we crossed a bridge in Alabama and found this beautiful stream with a rapids. Turning off to get some pictures we found The Grand Canyon of the East on the Little River. Here are a series of pictures taken from the twelve miles of winding road.

Sunday December 23, Snow gone but a visitor comes.

2007-12-23T16:49:00.000-06:00

Sunday afternoon and the Bears and Packer are playing on TV. The Pack is getting beaten bad by the Bears and everyone is amazed. I decided to fill the feeders with bird feed and nuts. It is very cold and windy. Once inside I decided to check out the other scores on the computer and occasionly glansing to see if any new birds were visiting. Suddenly a rap on the window and I turned to see what bird had decided to visit the glass window and noticed a large bird fly up toward the house and land in our Sumac tree/bush. One other Chistmas day we had a Hawk visit and sure enough we have another one, this one a little more brazen as it was close to the house.

The first picture shows it with its back turned and you are able to see the tail. I am guessing it is a a Sharp Shinned Hawk as opposed to the Cooper Hawk. It does appear to be immature. I was able to snap off a few more pictures which were zoomed in more and the hawk obliged by turning around to face me. Look down to the lower right corner close to the house.

Out Back One more time

2007-12-23T16:43:00.000-06:00

This is a decorated Christmas Tree at the Medical Center out back. Not only the the workers at the center decorate the tree with lights, but God decorated with His natural snow covering.

Our one Flicker made it out for a bite of nuts.

Our Wren couldn't resist the new treats/

More Winter Scenes from the Normal Backyard

2007-12-23T16:32:00.000-06:00

This is our Snow Bench, not many people have one of these, see how the snow has accumulated and nearly covered.

The Snow Bench with the water bucket and Bird Snow Bath.

Even the Feeders had snow covered roofs.

A day after the big snow this pictures shows a drop sparkling from the snout of the water bucket as the snow began to melt.

December Ice and Snow Storms, every week end

2007-12-23T16:15:00.000-06:00

Winter arrived last week and did we have snow! This Junco sitting on a limb, yes somewhere under the snow is a limb.

A Winter scene from the family room computer chair.

Even the Doves were struggling to dig deep into the snow to find food.

This Squirrel hanging out as snow covered nearly everything.

Another Winter scene outback.

November in Normal

2007-11-30T15:53:00.000-06:00

The more hearty birds are hanging out this November in our backyard. Here are few of them for your view pleasure.

This Wren sharing nuts with the Downy Wood Pecker.

Here are a couple more pictures of the Wren at various places in the back yard.

Our Downey shares the nuts with this Red Breasted Nuthatch.

This silly squirrel! I think it might have been a little chilled, but it almost looks like it is be punished. Maybe it's mother said "Go to your room your bad squirrel!" Look at how he has his nose to the tree limb, he was there for quite a long time.

The Junco's are usually ground feeders, but this one decided to pose for a picture on the remains of a rack formerly used to hold a water tray.

The female Northern Cardinal hustling up some grub for her self.

This male Northern Cardinal maybe standing guard for the female or just resting to let the food digest a bit.

The White Breasted Nuthatch is a little larger than the Red Breasted seen above. We have a couple of each of these birds. According to Jeannie at Wild Birds Unlimited "the nuthatches are the Winter equivalents of the ever so active Summer Humming Birds".

Bald Eagle

2007-11-27T12:00:00.000-06:00

Most of us have to work, some of us older ones wish we didn't have to work, but sometimes being at work provides delight. Like today, I was about brain dead when I looked out the window which faces north. What appeared to be a long distance away was a bird, in fact it appeared to be a rather large bird considering the distance. As this bird struggled against the wind in its southward flight I could see that it was indeed a large bird. Then it would catch a draft and soar upward in a circle. I was expecting to see a Turkey Vulture as we have many of these in the area. As it continued to approach my view point I was excited to see this magnificent bird with a white neck ring and the flayed feathers. What a beautiful sight to see a Bald Eagle from my work window! The camera was at home, but I am sure I wouldn't have gotten a clear picture as the Eagle soon passed the viewing sight and only the memory survives.

Thanks Giving Day

2007-11-22T10:25:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of activity since my last posting. The road trip to Georgia in my wife's red van took us twelve hours each way, but the sights were beautiful down and back. Then catching up on missed work and seeing the dentist and doctor and training of Office 2007 doesn't leave much time for anything else.

The Normal Back Yard has quite busy this morning. I was able to get out and fill the feeders during a quiet time, lifted the ice off the bird bath leaving fresh cold water and even putting up a few ears of corn for the squirrels. After I cleared out of the way the birds and squirrel descended upon the meal place before them. Today we had plenty of sparrows, both White Breasted and Red Breasted Nuthatches, Male and Female Downey Wood Peckers, a lonely Flicker, Doves, four to five squirrels, a Blue Jay and a few Cardinals.

I have been told that a hawk has been frequenting the backyard off and on for the past couple of weeks. The wife has seen it but been unable to capture a picture. The birds certainly scatter when the hawk is present.

The inside of the house is smelling of baked chicken and ham with baked beans and dressing. It was hard to eat just a bowl of Heart Smart cereal this morning with all of these smells penetrating the homestead.

Here are a few pictures taken since we returned, some even this morning.

One of the many Nuthatches hanging around.

Here are a couple pictures of the Northern Flicker that has been visiting.

One of several Red Breasted Nuthatches

At the feeder is a Gold Finch and a White Breasted Nuthatch

What a boring yard with out the squirrels performing tricks to get the corn.

Here is a Male Downey Wood Pecker on one side and a Red Breasted Nuthatch on the other side of the nut feeder.

The Male Downey Wood Pecker love the nuts

And once again the Red Breasted Nuthatch hanging out.

Georgia and back in a little over four days

2007-11-07T20:47:00.000-06:00

Went to Georgia to visit the Georgia Peach this past weekend. As you can see she has intense eyes.

Here she is a princess, as luck had it we viewed Cinderella a couple of times.

Dad's a Bears Fan, so like father like daughter.

Chipmunks abound down here and they are cute.

Now this is a rat and they abide down here too, to many in fact.

Georgia has its share of Nuthatches, saw 6-7 feeding one after another.

This appeared to me to be a Savannah Sparrow, but thanks to Matt Fraker who is great at giving me helpful advice when I run into the wall it is more likely a Song Sparrow. As Matt says "This is a good picture of a tough sparrow. It looks to me like a Song Sparrow -- longer tail, chest smudge, and general coloration. Although this Song is lighter and sort of gentler in tones than most of the ones here, most savanna's will be richer in these lighter tones, with a fine even chest streaking, and usually more yellow (and this can be REAL yellow) right by the beak." Isn't it nice to have experts to call upon!

Back in Normal we see a few of the many Gold Finches eating the thistle seed in our back yard.

Here and There in the USA

2007-11-07T10:54:00.000-06:00

Butterfly's in Tennessee

Ducks at Lake Nic-Jack in Tennessee

Marly at home in Georgia

Birds around the back yard

Two Doves hired to provide decorations for the chair.

Fall colors are beginning to show

2007-10-28T12:29:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday afternoon the wife and I ventured up to Lake Bloomington and Evergreen Lake area. Some of the trees had changed to their beautiful fall colors while other were waiting for cooler weather. Here are some of the pictures taken of the trees.

2007-10-15T18:17:00.000-06:00

Another wild weekend here at the Normal Back Yard! Saturday afternoon the cat, Spook, was going crazy meowing in the family room. She often does this until she gets fed, so I assumed that she wanted new food. I finally got out the the family room and put new food in her bowl, but she was all over the furniture from one end of the room to the other. Then I spied the problem! On the window blinds was a Red Breasted Nut Hatch which had somehow gotten into the house. It would fly back and forth from window to window so I decided to open the back door and let it fly out, but the bird just wasn't interested in going out the door. The bird then flew onto our ceiling fan, it was not running, when the idea came to lower the top window right in front of the bird, and out it went!

Squirrels have been unusual too! Found one in the bushes by the garage and even had one jump up from the ground to the bird feeder platform.

This Robin is very unusual. At first I thought it a rare find, then finally realized it is a Robin. Look at the unusual eye marking, much whiter than usual, and the bill is black on top and yellow on the bottom. Not sure if this is immature or freak of nature. I do love how the robins love to bathe!

Here are a few more back yard visitors from this week end. Not necessary in order, but a Blue Jay, couple of Cardinals, Gold Finches, and a Thrush.

Thanks to all for the support during this time.

2007-10-06T10:58:00.000-06:00

We have pets for many different reasons. Some want the faithful loving pet because of their unconditional love, others the comfort of having someone with which to share the house. I am sure that other reasons exist but these are probably the reasons that more people choose to have a pet. We seldom think of the heartache of the end times when we decide to bring one of these creatures into our home.

These loving pets bring so much enjoyment into our lives, along with an element of nuisance. I had a Blue Healer named Molly, which one of my sons insisted that we get so that I would have a dog. I didn't want a dog, but somehow we were convinced that a dog was important for old people. Why they would make you get out and walk and exercise. They also did other things that messed up the yard and more than likely you would end up stepping into.

Molly was great friend, she was always up for a walk, she always wanted to play ball. The great thing about playing ball with her was that she always brought it back to be tossed one more time. It did get rather sloppy after awhile and washing my hands later was always a must. Molly loved to find squirrels and every time we walked she would check the tree for the squirrel scent. She was so good at finding them that I learned to never doubt her judgment. It was one of the most difficult days I faced when after sitting up with her and entire night and realizing that neither of us could rest because she couldn't find any comfort from the pain that the time had come to give her the rest and comfort she deserved for all of the loving time she had shared with us.

It was toward the end of Molly's life that Ninja came to stay with us. Once again the same son prevailed upon us to take this loving dog that just didn't quite see eye to eye with other dogs. Fact is she often wanted to dominate the other dogs and biting them was just a part of the domination. Molly soon learned that Ninja could be aggressive and tended to stay away from her. Ninja for all her aggressiveness never was aggressive with people. The first time we took Ninja to see our granddaughter we were concerned as the granddaughter was at the age of liking to mess with the dog. Ninja was impressive, she tolerated the tugging and pulling and when things got to bad she just ran away and kept moving until she was ready for more "fun".

When another son left for Iraq he decided to bring us a kitten that he obtained. I was quite worried that Ninja was going to kill this kitten on the very first day. This kitten, Spook, didn't know enough to be afraid of the dog and Ninja didn't quite know what was happening in her house. It took about three days of the kitten chasing the dog before the Ninja decided that maybe Spook was her baby. Since then Spook and Ninja have gotten along as well as a mother and daughter, maybe better than the human ones.

We had taken Ninja to the vet over a year ago and found that she had heart problems, then a couple of months ago she begin to gain weight as the fluid began building upon in her stomach area. About a month ago the vet told us than we should be thinking about the future and that putting her to sleep was a good option. We struggled with this for a couple of weeks until the discomfort was clearly beginning to effect Ninja.

I don't know what the normal mind does in circumstances like this, but my mind said "How can you take this loving dog into the vet and have her put to sleep? Won't you feel like you are betraying her love and devotion?" That was a tough load to handle, but reason and assurances from the vet and staff that this was not only a humane thing but the right choice allowed us to make the decision.

After she had been injected with a sedation drug which would cause her to go to sleep ,but not permanently, she heard a couple of pups whining outside the door, she struggled so hard to get to them, but the effects of the sedation drugs had begun and we somehow got her back to the blanket and to lie down. When the vet came in to inject her and stop her heart I had to leave.

No more dogs, at least for awhile! The memories of Molly and Ninja are still sweet and clear in my mind so I will savor the memories, then maybe be tempted, much later.

Thanks to those that posted condolences!

Dan and Jane

More tribute to Ninja

2007-10-05T14:55:00.000-06:00

Ninja was always good with the granddaughter, as you can see they got along pretty good while visiting in Georgia.

Here Ninja is having her ears inspected or something like that.

More of granddaughter and Ninja

Chasing squirrels, rabbits, possum, ground hogs, rats, mice or any type of rodent or animal that moves was what Ninja was all about. Here she has decided to jump into the brush to chase a few pesky rodents.

Tribute to Ninja

2007-10-04T16:58:00.000-06:00

Today is a sad day in our life here as our Normal Back Yard is missing a key ingredient with the passing away of Ninja our dog. Ninja battled congestive heart failure including the inability to get rid of fluid which built up on her heart and lungs. It is never easy to have a loving pet put to sleep, but a time comes when the suffering of the animal must be put into perspective and we must deal with our emotions and erase the suffering from our pet.

I didn't want Ninja, but my wife couldn't see her going anyplace else, so we adopted her and she joined Molly our Blue Healer. Ninja soon dominated the house making sure to put Molly in her place by grabbing her around the ear and neck and making sure that Molly did not touch her food. Ninja continued this with our cat Spook, not biting but surely growling anytime Spook got too close to the dog food.

Ninja last week included getting out of the fenced in back yard and going for a late night stroll around the neighborhood, going to Evergreen Lake and Lake Bloomington with me and even going down to the shore line of Lake Bloomington to wade in the lake water and look for whatever. She went with us on most in town trips and enjoyed the riding in the car. This afternoon, the wife took her out back and encouraged her to chase the squirrels. While she would give chase, she didn't make it too far before she was out of breath.

While we questioned our decision, it was the right time for Ninja as her quality of life was deteriorating quickly.

Here are a few pictures of Ninja

I received an email from my cousin just this morning. It speaks of a little girl and the loss of her dog and someone from the post office and how they reacted. Enjoy this story.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.

She dictated and I wrote:

Dear God,
Will you please take special care of our dog, Abbey? She died yesterday and is in heaven. We miss her very much. We are happy that you let us have her as our dog even though she got sick. I hope that you will play with her.

She liked to play with balls and swim before she got sick.

I am sending some pictures of her so that when you see her in heaven you will know she is our special dog. But I really do miss her.

Love, Meredith Claire

P.S. Mommy wrot e the words after I told them to her.

We put that in an envelope with two pictures of Abbey, and addressed it to God in Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith stuck some stamps on the front because, as she said, it may take lots of stamps to get a letter all the way to heaven, and that afternoon I let her drop it into the letter box at the post office.

For a few days, she would ask if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch. Curious, I went to look at it. It had a gold star card on the front and said "To Meredith" in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith took it in and opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers, "When a Pet Dies". Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God, in its opened envelope (which was marked Return to Sender: Insufficient address)

On the opposite page, one of the pictures of Abbey was taped under the words "For Meredith." We turned to the back cover, and there was the other picture of Abbey, and this handwritten note on pink paper:

Dear Meredith,
I know that you will be happy to know that Abbey arrived safely and soundly in Heaven! Having the pictures you sent to me was such a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. You know, Meredith, she isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me - just like she stays in your heart – young and running and playing. Abbey loved being your dog, you know.

Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets so I can't keep your beautiful letter. I am sending it to you with the pictures so that you will have this book to keep and remember, Abbey.

One of my angels is taking care of this for me. I hope the little book helps. Thank you for the beautiful letter. Thank your mother for sending it. What a wonderful mother you have! I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I am in heaven but wherever there is love, I am there also Love, God, and the special angel who wrote this after God told her the words.

As a parent and a pet lover, this is one of the kindest things that I've ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is some very kind soul working in the dead letter office. I just wanted to share this act of compassion.

Author Unknown

Upper and downer kind of day

2007-09-26T10:49:00.000-06:00

This morning started out pretty good with many birds flocking to the bird feeders. I even went out to refill the feeders and had a surprise visitor. It seems a chickadee decided that I wasn't so big and scary so it landed about three feet from me and appeared to watch what I was doing. It flitted away and back several times as if I didn't exist.

Plenty of birds were chowing down when a hawk of unknown type swooped down toward the feeder and off into the trees chasing its lunch. One small wren took off in rapid flight and smacked into my viewing window with a lot bang. Sorry to report it did not make it, not a lunch for the hawk just another window kill.

Kind of sours the day.

Sunday Afternoon at home

2007-09-23T14:46:00.001-06:00

Added two new hanging rods to the bird feeder this afternoon. Squirrels will have a difficult time getting to these. Have had the Downy and the Wren visit this afternoon.

The next two pictures are of the Gray Cat Bird that has been hanging around for a few days. What a sleek looking bird!

Gaula a Belgian Malinois is a new visitor to our house. This dog will be trained by my son to search for explosives. This is high spirited dog with lots of drive, but she has great personality, a real sweetheart.

The Cardinals around the neighborhood are slow to mature and are colorful if not like their parents.

This Carolina Wren has visited off and on this summer. Really likes to flit about, but today it was out in the open more than usual.

The Gold Finches have been active too, not exactly pretty like many of this I have seen this summer, but maybe it is getting ready for winter.

Saturday Night at Lake Evergreen

2007-09-23T14:38:00.000-06:00

The Sun was setting and driving westward was blinding. Here is a picture showing the sun, the bright white is the sun and the yellow the glow around the sun.

At least three Heron's were resting at the Lake prior to sunset.

Saturday and plenty of activity

2007-09-22T21:01:00.000-06:00

Today was a active day in the Normal Back Yard! The wife turned on the lawn sprinkler and plenty of birds came out to enjoy the water as it drifted through the air. Even the Humming Bird was seen darting back and forth to absorb a few drops of the refreshing water. One problem with the sprinkler running is that my camera had a difficult time focusing. I think the many drops of water confused the focusing so that most of the pictures turned out pretty out of focus.

Todays visitors included a new species, at least new to me, sitting on the cloths line was a Alder Flycatcher. Of the two pictures only one was recognizable, and it was not worth posting. Included in my count today was the Gray Cat Bird, Red Breasted Nuthatch, a Wood Thrush, 4 robins, 2 starlings, 6 Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, a couple of Purple Finches, several house finches, and of course the Humming Bird.

About 5pm we took Ninja, our dog for a ride in the county. Ninja loves to go for rides and since we don't expect her to be around too much longer we have been doing what our Vet suggested, spoiling her. We drove out north and east of Carlock enjoy the beginning of fall colors and much harvesting that was happening.

Since I always like to take my camera we ended up at Lake Evergreen and found three herons enjoying the south end of the lake. Since I left the camera in the car, pictures will have to wait. The deers appeared to be gone from all of the usual southern and western spots, but as we headed over the spillway toward Interstate 39 we found several groups of deer, probably 25-40 in total. Since I wasn't expecting to see these deer in these locations I didn't get any pictures.

Well as I get older my memory lapses and tonight another lapse. I forgot the Downy Wood Pecker, they are so commonly seen that I skipped them in my bird list above and of course the many sparrows that often cover the bird feeders.

What's new is the neighborhood?

2007-09-20T18:21:00.000-06:00

The black thing on top of the chair is our cat Spook, the cloth on top of her is part of the chair cover. Now how many cats do you know that can cover them self before taking a nap?

Todays visitor is a Red-Breasted NutHatch. This one came down to the bird bath for a little drink.

A couple of pictures of a few of our female Rose-Breast Grosbeaks.

An finally a couple more pictures of our Humming Birds. Still hanging around.

A new visitor

2007-09-18T13:31:00.000-06:00

A new visitor Saturday was this Gray Catbird. Since I had never seen one before, I asked our friendly Vet to identify for me. I would guess this is a young bird.

Two Gold Finches sharing the same feeder. The bottom one is immature as you see the colors are rather dull.

Even the Starling likes nuts! Often thought of as a pest and ugly, this Starling is a neat looking bird.

Clearly a immature Gold Finch

This Dove was out early Saturday morning in the cool of the day. It's feathers are puffed up and sat on top of the feeder for quite awhile. I would label this picture as "Guarding the Feeder".

2007-09-15T13:15:00.000-06:00

The immature birds make it difficult to identify at times. These next four are of Northern Cardinals.

This is a Gold Finch that found the thistles.

Now are these sparrows? immature Grosebeaks? or maybe even Cow Birds?
Of course, the longer leaner pictures are really squirrels.

Pictures from the week of September 9-14

2007-09-15T12:21:00.000-06:00

The three Humming Birds are still hanging around. They hang out a lot in the back yard, but occasionally head to the front yard. At least one of them might have mental problems as it keeps trying to get juice out of our purple plastic flowers. Here are a few more pictures from the back yard feeder. Since it is getting cooler, I don't know how long they will stay around.

While I was uploading these pictures, one of the Hummingbirds hovered outside my window moving to within a foot, nice view, but on the phone and no picture. I was a little afraid it was going to dive into the window.

Getting toward the end of summer

2007-09-09T16:21:00.000-06:00

Lazy summer afternoon, but plenty of activity in the ole back yard. While I didn't get a picture I had nearly fifty birds at the feeders at one time. Of course, that includes the ground feeders underneath the feeders. Yesterday and today I caught fleeting glances of an American Red Start but unable to get a picture. Below are a few of the many pictures taken.

I think this bird sitting on the fence is saying "I think it time to sit over here out of the way of that nasty Blue Jay."

The old water bucket has collected a few leafs from last fall, but the Wren doesn't mind.

One more pictures of one of the Hummingbirds

This squirrel was hamming it up, think it was saying "Take my picture, I am cute!"

Just a sample of many at the feeder, but at times this group would be considered small.

This squirrel found a good sunny place to rest and watch all of the activity.

The young Cardinals are out, look at their colors. Look a little sickly, but they are just immature and will one day be beautiful like mom and dad.

Could this be the "Lonesome Dove"

As I go out front to the corn flowers this finch nestles among the plants looking for the delicious seeds.

More random pictures

2007-09-04T19:09:00.001-06:00

Young Robins can have a beauty all their own. The butterfly, squirrel and humming birds all add to the beauty of the Normal Back Yard.

Random Pictures from Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-04T19:00:00.000-06:00

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-03T07:12:00.000-06:00

It is Labor Day Weekend and I am sitting at the computer posting to this blog. I got up around 7:30am, rather late this morning for an old person. My dad would have said it was very late as he was usually up at 5:00am. I never quite understood why he got up so early with nothing to do but watch TV or putter around his house and yard. Any way the humming birds were out an about flying back and forth from the front to the back feeder. August is the time that the migrate South for the Winter and I have been fortunate enough to have at least three that have stayed with around here this last week. They are so interesting to watch.

The other birds are finally arriving for breakfast. I have spotted 2 grackles, 2 blue jays, several sparrows, a robin a couple of squirrels and out behind the fence the groundhog was making his way back to his burrow under the garage. As I was writing our rabbit ventured in looking for food.

Our dog Ninja has Congestive Heart Failure and last week was in A-Fib. We tried to treat her with medication as prescribed by the vet, did you know that they actually use some of the same meds that people use. Anyway, she had what was considered a low dose and her heart rate dropped like it should, but it went down to 80 beats a minute which would have been fine if she were sedated. I guess the normal rate for a dog is closer to 120 beats a minute. Today I will post a couple of pictures of Ninja so that my sons and their families in Georgia and California can see her.

My newest daughter-in-law told me before she left for California that I should take Ninja for car rides to keep Ninja happy. Well, yesterday Ninja and I went out west of Bloomington-Normal. Took my camera with and stopped along side of the road took a few pictures.

This picture was taken through the sunroof on my Dodge. I thought it was a "corn fed" dove, in any case it seemed to be watching over the corn and bean fields.

My wife has been using some of my pictures to create birthday and anniversary cards. Since a lot of the pictures are birds and butterflys she doesn't think they do well on cards for men and boys. So I found a field with 4 horses and took a couple of pictures of the horses. The horses were not too cooperative has they gave me more hindsight than picture views.

Hummers, Black Caps and the Wet Look

2007-08-23T20:14:00.000-06:00

Monday afternoon the Hummingbirds came a visiting our back yard. We now refer to them as the Hummers. Most of this week we have been entertained by their antics. One will come to the feeder and then fly off high into the tree, then the second Hummer will come to the feeder only to have the first one dive down and try to chase the second one away. This happened frequently this week.

Here is one of the pictures, hard to catch them sitting still.

This Black Capped Chickadee made a visit to our sunflower seed feeder and you can see the seed in its beak.

Out back at the bird bath a Robin looks kind of sporty with his wet head look. Seems like back in the 50-60tys some of the guys had haircuts like this.

After the fund of chasing around the back yard it was time for the Hummers to drink the sugared water for more energy. This time they parked a little longer for the picture taking session.

Friday Night on the town

2007-08-17T20:29:00.000-06:00

We traveled to Funks Grove tonight to see the birds at Sugar Creek Nature Center on our way back home we saw a couple of police cars do a U-Turn a few minutes later another police car whizzed by heading South. As we started to get onto the Interstate the Southbound squad car had done a U-Turn and headed North. My wife commented that it was like watching the Keystone Cops. As we neared Bloomington we saw flashing red lights ahead of us. Since the police cars had red and blue lights we assumed it was probably an ambulance or fire truck. As we got closer we noticed smoke and a glow in the sky on the West side of Bloomington. Off of Market Street we found the police cars and the source of the smoke. These are a couple of the pictures I took from the scene.

Wife found this squirrel reclining as he ate, kind of relaxed don't you think?

While at the Sugar Creek site we were able to enjoy at least three hummingbirds. Getting a little dark at the time and they move pretty quickly but a couple of the photographs turned out so here they are.

2007-08-15T14:01:00.000-06:00

Monday August 13, 2007 on the southeast edge of Comlara Park about 8:15pm the sun was beginning to set. The first three pictures are taken from a higher point than the last five pictures. The time is also closer to the 8:15pm. The final five pictures were taken a few minutes earlier from a lower point and trees closer in background.

This butterfly landed about 10 feet away from my window. The zoom lens did a good job capturing this guy.

A trip to Comlara Park brings us by several caged peacocks, this one didn't want to spread its tail. Starting to get dark that night so the pictures is a little dark.

This deer tried to hide in the woods, the picture is a little grainy, but it was somewhat dark in the forest and the sun was beginning to set.

Sunday afternnoon in August 2007

2007-08-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

This and other Wrens have been busy out back this past few weeks. Sometimes they have an annoying buzz that sounds like locusts, but they are neat to see.

Here we have a male Cardinal, bright red.

This is a house finch, notice the red coloring, not all over the body like the male cardinal.

At the feeder, the female cardinal and the wren share a bite to eat.

This is an up close and personal picture of a young sparrow.

Do you suppose that this Gold Finch is praying?

As you can see the female cardinal has her own beauty, but not as glitzy as the male.

This Downy has obtained a sizable nut.

Just another view of the Downy

Even the Downy and the Sparrow share the nuts.

Look what showed up tonight!

2007-08-01T19:25:00.001-06:00

Usually the ground hog doesn't appear when I have a camera ready. Tonight he was here bright and early and pretty close. I think he saw me in the window, but he wasn't in any hurry to leave until I tapped on the window and he made his exit.

This is what you get in the HOT month of July

2007-07-30T18:31:00.000-06:00

July has been a boring month for bird watching. Well seeing the same birds everyday isn't quite as exciting as I would like. It has been interesting as I watched the antics of the animals in our back yard. Robins love the sprinkler and bird bath! Some almost drown them selfs in the bird bath, others love to walk through the sprinkler. Yesterday one of our Downeys got caught by surprise as he tried to get a few nuts. He wasn't expecting the sprinkler and quickly flew off. He did return later and endured the sprinkler this time.

Here are a couple pictures of the cardinals, not the St. Louis Cardinals, these probably could play better.

Our dog, the mutt, certainly know how the shed hair. The wife is brushing Ninja and then you see a good part of the dog on the ground.

The sparrow and the Downy sharing.

This squirrel just can't figure out how to get to the nuts. The squirrel baffle has baffled the nutty squirrel!

Even the moths have to land, and this picture is from about 15 feet through the window.

Two robins at the bird bath, believe the younger is receiving instruction on how to properly bath, but he isn't buying into the idea.

I learned that sparrows like nuts too!

Two Doves posing for a picture.

Young Robin showing his colors.

Swallow Tail Butterfly

2007-07-18T13:08:00.000-06:00

My wife tells me this is a Swallow Tail Butterfly. If she is wrong let me know so that I can tell her, if she is right you can ignore.

Front Yard July 18, 2007

Touching Story

2007-07-16T12:46:00.000-06:00

If you want to see what a gifted artist is doing to help family's that have lost young men in the war in Iraq, please click on the link to the right. I am sure your heart will be touched.

Birds and Bees and Butterflys

2007-07-05T16:02:00.000-06:00

Three of the B's come from my front and back yard early in July 2007 and the final B comes from Evergreen Lake.

Bumble Bees love the nectar.

And on this flower the Bee had a visitor, bright and pretty. Lower left of Bee.

Wrens are so fast it is hard to get their picture with out blurring.

Blue Sky? Sky around Evergreen Lake about 8pm on the 4th of July.

Mom and Pop Northern Cardinal discussing something very important.

Front yard Butterfly looking Good!