Bird Walk

I read in the newspaper that there would be a walk for birdwatchers this Saturday morning.

I woke up at 5:30.  It was going to be a beautiful day for it!

I drove to the museum where we were gathering.

There were enough people to form 2 groups.  

One group took off to the north and my group went east.

The trail is 1/5 miles long and is just north of the college.

I really do like this trail!

 Even before we were out of the parking lot of the museum, our guide was hearing bird calls and telling us which birds were making the calls.

The birds would be so high but our guide could easily tell them by their shape and by their call.

We heard a starling imitating the sound of the western meadowlark.

I'm a novice.  So I have a lot to learn.  There were some in our group who were even more "novicer" than me, but it was so fun to learn together!

 Here are some pictures that I cropped to be able to see the birds.

 I was the only one with a camera.  I don't know that it did much good to bring a camera along.  They are so hard to catch!


They flit and fly so quickly.  Couldn't get it in focus soon enough!

 As the trees leaf out more, they will be almost impossible to see.

 

 We were supposed to keep any talking to the minimum.

I'll have to come back some time and explore this path that we didn't take.

Home of a wood duck

We met the other group coming from the other way.

When asked what bird had this nest, we were told that this was a squirrel nest.

He said that nests made of twigs and leaves are generally squirrel nests.

Hmmm.  I thought they lived in holes in the trees.

Our guide heard 27 different species and we saw a few of them. 

Here is the list of what he wrote down.
Mallard  1
Blue-winged Teal  12
Double-crested Cormorant  4 (flew over just before the walk started)
Turkey Vulture  4
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  2
Eurasian Collared-Dove  2
Mourning Dove  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker  11
Downy Woodpecker  3
Blue Jay  4
American Crow  2
Purple Martin  4
Black-capped Chickadee  9
Tufted Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  22
Brown Thrasher  1
European Starling  23
Louisiana Waterthrush  1
Chipping Sparrow  1
Harris's Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  18
Red-winged Blackbird  3
Common Grackle  5
House Finch  2

It was probably more a bird - listening walk than a bird - watching walk!  Ha!

I learned several knew things, like that the brown thrasher mimics calls by 2 repeated sounds whereas a mocking bird repeats it 10 times in a row.

When we got back to the museum, we saw a display of various birds' nests.

 and were served drinks and birds nests treats!

Early Easter

We had an early Easter with the family this weekend.  Adam's brother is arriving from Wisconsin this week and will be here over Easter so Jill's family would be busy next weekend.

 We decided to meet at Mom's so we could just wheel Dad over from his room at the home across the street.

I went over on Saturday and took over most of the food and the Easter baskets for the children.  

The grounds at the home was just gorgeous!

 A beautiful day!

Sunday morning began quite pleasant, but storms were expected.  They rolled in shortly after church with rain and hail, but it was short-lived.  But along with that storm, the temperatures dropped so it was quite chilly by the time we got together.

The children received their Easter baskets, filled with goodies.  Coloring pages of the resurrection of our Lord - the real meaning of this most glorious day!, packages of bug shaped crackers, and of course, a chocolate bunny!, new stuffed animals, ....

I sent a package of goodies to my Arkansas grand kids too since they couldn't be here.

 

Silly Aunt Mindy! 

Time for the egg hunt!

Of course, we put some eggs in obvious places for Claire.

The older girls had to look a little harder.

 Counting how many she has found.

Time to eat!

The girls wanted to go back outside.

 Who lives here?

 The girls are so happy after they are fed and are playing outside!

The rest of the family was watching the Masters Golf tournament.

That sounded good to me.  The temperatures kept dropping and it was getting so cold!!  I believe I was the one who was more bothered by it.  The girls could have kept playing.  But they didn't complain - too much.

 

My heart is so full to know that Christ came to this earth to save, to rescue.  He conquered death!  His love is overwhelming to me!

I love the pictures of this book - Peter's First Easter by Wangerin.

I put it out on my coffee table at this time of year.

I serve a risen Saviour,

He's in the world today;

I know that He is living,

Whatever men may say;

I see His hand of mercy,

I hear His voice of cheer,

And just the time I need Him

He's always near.

He lives, He lives, 

Christ Jesus lives 

today!

He walks with me and He talks with me

Along life's narrow way.

He lives, He live, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives:

He lives within my heart.