Fall is Almost Here

Fledgling Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee


Juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird
I got a kick out of this pose...he was really checking us out. The adult RT Hummingbird that had dominated the feeder all Summer has gone South. I guess this little guy decided to stay and fattin' up a bit more.


Wild Sunflowers along the lane where we walk each evening.


I love this quaint log cabin style nestbox.

Milkweed Tussock Moth

This fast-moving guy had quite the plummage! I haven't figured out what species he is yet. You can research with me by clicking the the "butterfly and moth" link in my sidebar. I did some research and found out that this species of caterpillar is a Milkweed Tussock Moth.

Watercolor Pencil Lilies

This is my first try at painting with watercolor pencils. I did this rendering of one of our pink Lilies that I photographed this Summer. I liked the control of using a pencil, but could brush over it with water to get the painterly effect. The next subject I'm going to try is from a photo I took of a Semipalmated Sandpiper at the wildlife refuge.



Young Cardinals are visiting the feeder now. We still have Chickadees, House Sparrows, and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds.

Chaplin Nature Center

Migrating Monarch

Beautiful wild grasses.

The Arkansas River in the background.

I loved the purple color of these wild grasses.

State flower of Kansas, the Sunflower.

My husband and I decided we'd better check out another local place for some birding so we visited the Chaplin Nature Center. It has nice walking trails and we took the one that heads down to the river. It's about a mile hike. Well, we saw a Great-horned Owl flying away and a Great Blue Heron flying away down the river. It was almost dusk, so we couldn't stay long. We need to go again and allow ourselves more time. On the way back to the parking area we were rewarded with seeing a doe with her two fawns. The fawns still had their spots. She didn't see us right away...I tryed to get a picture...but all I managed to do was scare the "dickens " out of them.

End of Summer

Killdeer

Great Blue Heron

pictures by cindyzlogic

It's the end of Summer in Kansas. The Spring birds, like Robins, must have migrated South. My husband and I took one of our Grand-daughters to a local lake to enjoy the last day of Summer for her. She would be starting school on Monday. The lake is known as a good birding spot as well. I saw a couple of different Terns, I think one was a Least Tern. I saw it through small binoculars, it looked to have a black & white striped head. It was perched on a buoy. Another larger Tern flew at it and took the Least Tern's spot on the buoy. It looked to have an all black cap. I checked the field guide and can only deduce it was a Forster's Tern. We saw 3 Great Blue Heron's, several Canadian Geese, and lots of Killdeer. I love these little Plovers! An hour before sunset there were a dozen or so Killdeer together. They would stand in a certain way, then bob their heads like they were hiccupping. They seemed to be doing some sort of ritual of which I would have no clue.

Lastly, and the most exciting for us, was finding a Belted Kingfisher. I took some pictures, but he was too far away for a decent photo with my camera. We watched him for quite some time. When we first spotted him he had a fish in his beak. It took him awhile to work on swallowing it. Then he dived into the water about 4 more times, but came up empty. He then flew closer and perched on some power lines. He seemingly came closer to check us out. We also got a chance to hear his call...very different. We have never seen one of these birds before!