Spring Babies, A Visit to the Zoo and Visitors~

Hi everyone, I hope that this post finds you doing well and enjoying your days.  Our Spring has come on like the heat of Summer and dragging hoses around to water and mowing with a power push mower which takes me 5 hours on a good day to mow the 2  1/2 acres, finding out that my new lawn (the section that was fenced off for our three Long Coat German Shepherds) that has taken over a year to finally thrive has Brown Patch Fungus Disease and I am battling that, along with watching my grand-daughter a couple of days a week, my time the past three weeks has been quite busy.  

Busy is good though...right :)  

The top images are of my Poppy plant that I purchased several weeks ago, only to have the weather be so unstable outside, I was forced to keep it inside under a grow light and finally last week took it outside and what a lovely blossom and a few more on the way~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after    you have read the narratives~

I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:

http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

Saturday's Critter

Anni at:

http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 

I'd Rather Be Birdin'

 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin' 

   

Maggie's  MOSAIC MONDAY

https://normandylife.blogspot.com/

 Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global 

   http://communalglobal.blogspot.ca/

& 

Stewart for:

http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

My daughter Brittany and I took grand-daughter Maci to a local antique market last week.  I loved those chairs, but walked away without them~ 

Our youngest dog Svetka will turn 2 on the 27th.  She enjoys life to the fullest and we so adore and cherish her~

Yikes...I was so happy to get to meet Eileen Hildt Wise and her husband Michael a couple of weeks ago.  They were on vacation and came right by my exit and we got to spend some time together over lunch in my little village.  Many of you will know Eileen from: 

                                                 http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

   Saturday's Critter

Our Carolina Wrens have used a nest box at our front door for many years to both Winter over in and raise young.  This year they set a new all time record... 11 young Wrens came out of the nest box over a three day period last week.  They were some of my first birds to bring me into the birding fancy~

11 young Wrens above and one of the adults below~

For over 25 years of the 36 years we have lived here I have had Bluebird boxes up.  No Bluebirds ever until this season and I was so delighted.  We have had Carolina Wrens use the boxes, Chickadees and House Wrens but this was such a wonderful surprise.  I only checked the box once a week.  First there were 3 lovely blue eggs, then only two hatched.  They were about two weeks old and one evening everything was quiet and I whispered goodnight little Bluebirds.  The next morning everything had been pulled out...that means nothing more than Raccoons...that is what they do and I was quite upset.  I plan to make some kind of changes before next season, that will give them a better opportunity to be successful~

Some of my flowers~

We have a pair of Red Foxes down the lane and this season they have had 3 kits.  They are taking away much of the young from other wildlife around here which in some ways has been difficult and then I have to realize this is the way that it is~

Two of the three kits above and the parents below.  

This was a heartbreaking night for me as the female killed all three baby Groundhogs, born to my favorite brown runt Groundhog that was only a year old this season~

Last weekend I was running errands between our county and the next county over when I came upon a female Red Fox and two kits playing in the lane I was driving down.  I couldn't believe the timing as I had decided the last minute to take a new route that I had not driven in years.

Our local Red-Shouldered Hawks have 2 eyas on the nest this season and they are doing great.  They have a couple more weeks before they will have fledged.  I am so hoping that things continue to go well~

The hen takes up a large space on the pretty small nest~

The hen flew over me on her way to meet up with her mate to chase off an intruder of a Red-Tailed Hawk already being mobbed by the local Crows~

The Crows also have two young ones on the nest and they are so much fun to observe~

The Bald Eagle nest that I have visited the past 4 years and have spend hundreds of hours there...see last post that I wrote about it on May 3.  The lady who owns the land that the trees is actually on has been so kind to allow me to see visit once in a while since the Rosewell Estate was sold.  She too has now placed her home on the market and so it appears this truly shall be the end of the wonderful times spent there.  There had been two eaglets, but one of them fell from the nest and so this single beauty has been a real favorite for me this final season~

An adult brings in breakfast for the single young one~

We had visitors on Tingsgrove a couple of weeks ago, two of which were new for me.  The Swainson's Thrush and a pair of Summer Tanagers.  I got some nice shares of the male, but the female images were very dark.  

We also had a Great Crested Flycatcher make a lower to the ground appearance than when I have seen them in the past~

I took grand-daughter Maci to the Louisville Zoo this week and we had such a lovely time.  It was the perfect weather for it too~

She went on the Carousel, and she got to feed the Giraffes~

We saw Warthogs~

Cranes...look how beautiful and then how funny ;)

We saw Gorillas~

And Meerkats~

The Elephants have a new feeding net that they were enjoying...one of them will have a baby in coming months~

The Rhino is all alone for now while awaiting a new one to finish out it's quarantine from another Zoo~

One the grounds of the zoo were many Canada Geese all proudly showing off their young Goslings.

It has been a busy time as I said earlier and a three weeks since I was last able to post.  I have missed you and so I want to hear what you have been up to and will be visiting as many of your blogs in coming days as possible.  

Take care, stay well, stay safe, be blessed~