The Day Began With a Cattle Crossing Last Spring~

On April 26,  The husby, myself and our 2 Long Coat German Shepherds had stopped for coffee and croissants, and were not sure whether the rain would clear out so that we could take the dogs to the park. 

En route, and traveling up Covered Bridge Road, I spotted a lot of people gathered in the cow pasture at Foxhollow Farm and a couple of police vehicles were coming up behind us. 

I asked Bill to please pull into the driveway so that I could find out what was going on, as I had just missed this crossing over once before, and if at all possible, I did not want to miss this one...

The very kind manager and landowner said that I would be welcome to photograph the event, and even with a falling misty rain, I found it all quite interesting to watch.

The photographs did not exactly load up in order, but you can still get the just of what was going on. 

The cows did not want to lose their babies in the run and the calves that did get lost, were bawling and trying to get to their mom. 

It did not last long and all of them were safely across the highway and by the time the last of the cattle had crossed, the first ones were already enjoying their new green pasture~

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

I will be linking up with Mary for:

Mosaic Monday

at: 

  http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.

&

 Eileen for:
Saturday Critters

at:

http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

As well as with 
Stewart at:

   Wild Bird Wednesday

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

One Sunday morning, I drove a little bit farther out into the countryside, just for a different kind of ride into church. 

I was glad that I did, as there was an immature Bald Eagle soaring over...beautiful as well as perfect timing.  

The Red-tailed Hawk was just a little bit further down the road from where I had seen the Bald Eagle~



Then there was a Turkey Vulture that had just arrived at the scene of a fresh road killed deer~



The area where I drove, had lots of Eastern Cottontails running about...they better be careful with those large Raptors soaring above~

The Opossum is running scared from me. 

I guess the shutter on the camera firing was a little too much for this one~

Not certain which of the few Skink species that are in Kentucky this one is.  
I went to site and could not firmly match it with the images~

This baby cottontail was seen in my father-in-laws back yard. 

It was probably just new from the nest, as it still had a touch of white upon it's forehead~



A few Wild Tom Turkeys made their way across a corn field, strutting their best for the hens~

A young colt running in the field and kicking up his beautiful heels on a Spring morning~



Back in the day, I imagine that Buffalo/Bison roamed these parts in large numbers. 

Now people run Buffalo farms for their meat which is much leaner than beef cattle.

I have only had a Buffalo burger twice and it was quite good, though I am not a big meat eater~

A White-tailed Deer stops to check me over before walking a few paces into a deep green underbrush, where she most probably was hiding a tiny fawn~

This is a domestic rabbit that evidently had escaped from the Henry's Ark Petting Zoo, which has a small police station next door. 

On this particular morning, the rabbit was trying to figure out where to go next and ran out into the parking lot where the cars were parked. 

I thought about calling 911 for help, but decided I best not ;)  

Instead, I urged and coaxed it to head back toward the petting zoo. 

Across the lane was a nest of Red-tailed Hawks, and that was not a good thought for this big guy, or girl~

A new born fawn resting in the wood near our home and next to where the hawk nest was this season~

This barn cat was hunting for it's breakfast~



More Buffalo images that were taken at another farm location as the sun was rising~

Have a wonderful week~

Birding and More of Nature in Oldham County~

Above...
Easter Cottontail Rabbits taking a rain bath. 
I must say, I do not ever remember seeing that before and they seemed to be enjoying the entire event~
Below
More bunnies, enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Many are taken by predators, yet their counts always remain very high~


Remember to double click on the image, to view a larger slide show of the images shared ~

  I am linking up with Stewart at:
Wild Bird Wednesday
(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)

and

I am linking up with Mary for:

"Mosaic Monday"

at: 

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com

 

 

Sweet face of  juvenile Barn Swallow...oh I do appreciate these birds~ 
 

One of my favorite farm entrances off of one of my favorite country lanes, and having fun with my mosaic of same~
 

A female White-tailed Deer, very swollen, and so she must have had at least one fawn hidden near by. 
She stayed along side the road and just did not seem to care that I was taking umpteen images of her beauty~
 

 

 

My youngest daughter Ashleigh spotted a large Sunflower garden, at least an acre of them, one day en route back from the "big city". 
We spoke with the land owner about them, as you just do not see large gardens of them around here. 
They were planted by the land who owner is a big Dove hunter and he wanted to bring the birds in for the hunt...I hated that!
But the flowers were certainly beautiful~
 

Now this momma deer and her twin fawns were not as

accommodating with my photo taking. 

They were so frightened and it made me feel sad, as one of them ran to the top of the hill while the doe and second fawn went off into the woods...at least they were not too far apart, yet still...goodness~
 

 

Wild Bird Wednesday followers, see I have a few birds...;),  just trying to use up the remainder of my lost and missing, and finally found images, so I can begin a fresh...at last!
Red-headed Woodpecker~
 

 

The first cow was just such a nice looking big girl and the temperatures have been sweltering in the upper 90's. 
I watched as this one went for a swim.
The second group of cattle were wading in the creek, under a shade tree.
 The mother cow in third mosaic below was tenderly licking and caring for her young calf. 
I found this scene just quite endearing~
 

 

 

A week ago today I went to visit family living in a rural area called Smithfield.
I had stopped to take some photographs of a Red-tailed Hawk on a utility wire and once I saw how thin it was, I decided I did not want to frighten it, as it was obviously very young, and hunting, and needed to find a meal before the afternoon sun went down. 
I drove up the road, no further than a mile and made a left turn. 
As soon as I did, another Red-tailed Hawk flew low across the lane in front of me. 
It landed on a fence post right out from my passenger window with a small rodent in it's beak.
 

 

Living in horse country, we have the extreme pleasure of seeing lots of these amazing creatures.
 The young colt and mare below live on a large Thoroughbred
 farm in Prospect~ 

I had been photographing some Swallows one morning and the horse below came walking toward me to check out what I was up to. 
Before I got there it had been rolling in the dirt to cool off and rid itself of flies.
It had to most appealing face~

My favorite breed of horse would be the Arabian and this mare below has been in several of my shares in the past. 
Last year she had a young one, but I have not seen her with one this year.
Her blue eyes and the fog filled meadow and blue skies to the right, just seemed to say they belonged together for this mosaic~
 

The steeple of a barn's roof top and one of the fences that this county is so well known for. 
Way back in the back out of sight, was a cat hanging off of one of the top rails...hunting for field mice~

The 2 mares below and foal are always together in the same pasture...they must be friends;)~

An Icelandic Horse with fly protection, rolls in a field to also rid itself of some of the insects that always seem to be biting not only them, but me...ugh. 
I so enjoy Summer, but the insects are just nasty!

Rolling hills, green grass and horses...Kentucky...the land near my home~

The Red-tailed Hawk continued to just stare me down, as I sat in my car with window down, photographing...and then...~

A few weeks ago, I left our home early to get my visits to shut-ins done before it got super hot. 
The sun was on the rise and when I saw this, I had to pull over into the emergency lane to get these two images. 
There was a foggy mist rising above the pond and the sun's rays were pouring through the mist...
What a way to begin my morning~

Several weeks ago, I shared some images of spider webs in the dawn of early morning light. 
I went back a few days later and got the images shown here. 
I liked the way the field of frosty grass heads looked like a second layer behind the grasses covered in spider webs. 
All of it was like it's own magical little world...so much activity going on and once the sun came up, you never even would have known all of this was there~

Oh My!!! 
I could not believe it. 

When the Red-tailed Hawk finally decided it had stared me down long enough, it flew, and when it did, it accidentally dropped its meal...what a shame~
 

Weeping Willows, what dramatic looking trees, always add such gracefulness to a scene like this~

We had quite a bit of fog roll in Oldham County a couple of mornings last week. 
The voice of a Red-tailed Hawk in the distance,  just before it flew from a bale~

Fog images at sunrise beneath as well.
The east and west end of the same field~
 

Some of you may remember seeing this farm in shares before. 
It is in Prospect, across the lane from Henry's Ark Nature Center~

The beauty of a Red-Shouldered Hawk...what else needs to be said...right ;)~

One last view of the farm with a field of fog cover, had it's own magic happening~