Saying good-bye to the purple martins

 I love the variety of birds that come to our home!

Bluejays

Red-bellied woodpeckers

Orioles - Baltimore male, female and male orchard oriole

Red-winged blackbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, female and male

Great egret and great blue heron

And of course, the ever present Canada geese.

Here they are on parade.

Interesting "birds" eating the birds' food.

We are so blessed to live in this neighborhood where all these birds (and many more) show up!  One of our favorite birds are the purple martins!  Sixteen years ago, when we moved here, our neighbor had a purple mountain house and he convinced us to put one up too and increase the colony.  We got us a house and we have been hooked since!

Each year we follow purple martin sightings on-line.  And I keep my eye open to the skies.  As soon as I saw the scouts, Allen put up our purple martin house.  This was in early March.

The scouts quickly found the house and were ready to settled in.  I found an interesting article about the scouts:  

https://gadnr.org/out-my-backdoor-scouts-are-here

It wasn't long before the rest of the colony arrived. 

Spring was here.  The trees began to bud.

But we also had a random snowfall.

Wonder if these birds were cold?

We enjoy these birds March through August.

Al has to be a good landlord, kicking out the sparrows that do not belong.  He has to monitor it continually, cleaning out the sparrow's nests.  They can find another place, but the purple martins need this apartment as they depend on us.

Look at these babies!!

I've seen a few hawks around.  Here is a purple martin chasing a Mississippi Kite.

Every August, usually between the 7th and 12th, our purple martins begin meeting up with other colonies of purple martins in Wichita and roost there at night.  During the day, they fly back to our home and then back to Wichita for the next night.  And then one day, they all are gone, flying across the Gulf to Brazil.

This year, we were gone visiting children/grandchildren during that time.  We were sure we would just miss out on the migration.  But, they were still around!  In fact, there were a couple of babies who had not left the nest yet.  The adult birds and other grown babies would go to Wichita, but come back during the day, encouraging the babies to try to fly.  They would swoop around and around the house.  "Come on!  Try it!  We don't want to leave you behind!"

I was so happy to be privileged to see those babies take their first flight!!  Hurray!  Hope they would be strong enough to make the journey!  Hoped they would miss Hurricane Ida!  Surely God gives them innate knowledge about the weather?

We went to Wichita to find the roost.  They change location each year and we call around to see if anyone has seen where.  This year, they were close to the airport.

Good-bye, purple martins!  See you next year!!  I was so glad the babies weren't left behind.

One day, the Lord will call us Home.  Are you ready?  Don't be left behind!  

(See Matthew 24.)  

Quick trip to Wisconsin

Jill and I got back to Kansas and had one day to rest up.  We went to church and then Jill was able to go out with a long time friend.  

Allen and Sophia came back from Arkansas Sunday evening.  (Our granddaughter, Emeri, who lives in Arkansas, had been to camp in Wisconsin with Soph.  After camp, they both went to Arkansas to spend some more time together.)  

Allen had gone to Arkansas to help Josh put a lap pool on their deck. 

Here they are below celebrating Sophia's birthday a little early.  Allen then came back home with Sophia.  Al remarked that he was really sore and tired.

Monday morning early, we said our byes to Al, then I took Sophia and Jill back to Wisconsin.  We drove through the Flint Hills, because WHY NOT?   We LOVE the Flint Hills!!

We decided to stop at a Walmart to pick up our lunch, rather than at a fast food restaurant. 

As we were getting close to Des Moines, we decided to make a stop at The Cheesecake Factory and we got a cheesecake to share!  Jill and I took turns driving.  We needed to make the trip all in one day.  

This is a barn that we always look for that is close to Platteville, Wisconsin.  I was driving and Jill was reading when we passed it and it had fallen down!!  Flat!!  I wished I'd pulled over for a picture!   Next time...

We made it by 8:30, in 13 1/2 hours.

When we got there, Claire showed me a fort she had made.

The next morning, I was reflecting on Psalm 1.  I had memorized this in gradeschool in the King James version, which was about all there was available in those years.  

Blessed is the man

That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners,

Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord;

And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

That bringeth forth his fruit in his season;

His leaf also shall not wither;

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so:

But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Here it is in the Living translation and maybe makes more sense for some:

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, 0r join in with mockers.  But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.  They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.  Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.  But not the wicked!

They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.  They will be condemned at the time of judgment.  Sinners will have no place among the godly.  For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,

but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. 

 I came across this that I really liked:

We took a walk around the block.

I was rather tired and when the girls went shopping for school, I stayed back and napped.  

Claire shows me her school supplies.  

I called Allen and found out he was not just sore from the work in Arkansas, he was actually sick.  As I talked with him off and on during the day (he'd not gone to work) I decided that maybe I should go home.  He wasn't doing so good.  And I wasn't feeling the best either.  I had hoped to stop to see my cousin in Mountain Lake, Minnesota, but cancelled that.

Wednesday morning, I visited the new school where Claire would be going and where Jill would teach music.  I think they will both really like it!

I said goodbye to the girls and Kobi.

I got to Madison when Jill called to tell me I should take a different route as there were storms headed right to where I'd be going.  Hail, possible tornadoes.  That's Kansas weather!  So, instead of going southwest on 151, I headed straight across Wisconsin from Madison to Prairie du Chien.  I had hoped to get a picture of that barn, but not this day.

My detour added a couple of hours.   Although I ran into a little rain, I missed the storms, so that was good.

Pulled into a hotel at Des Moines just as it turned dark, then finished the trip uneventfully, the next day.  I was glad to have gone home and be there for Allen.