Memorial Day walk

Down on the trail again.  I was watching for the Indigo Bunting I had seen a few week earlier.  This is the best photo I could get.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (from what I can tell)

So I was out with Russ and had my camera (you never know what you'll see).  Saw a bird I did not recognize (not even from a book).  I got fairly close (as you'll see).  Looked through my Iowa bird book and nothing.  So I Googled "gray and white bird" and then checked Images.  I'll let you decide, but I believe I saw a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  They do live in Iowa.  I am including pictures I took and then also including photos from BirdsofIowa.com Click here to see page from this website.



Same as above but just blown up.

Click to enlarge any photo.

And here are the photos from the website I found...

Russ and Al on the trail

While on the trail, saw my very first Indigo Bunting.  This is not a photo I took...

Goldfinches on the feeder

 I've got a "sock" hanging in the oak tree just beyond our fence.  I was testing out our new camera and trying to get as close as possible.  I've been fortunate to get some decent photos including both a male and female feeding.

Same photo just blown up.

Male and Female

Got 'em both.

A little better.

Why did the (wild) turkey cross the road?

Apparently to get to the other side.  We were out with Russ yesterday morning and were down by our community mailbox and saw two wild turkeys walking (strutting?) across the street.  Didn't seem fazed by us or Russ.  Last we saw they were walking into another backyard on our street.  Wished I would've had our camera.  What was funny were the wet footprints they left on the pavement.

The salad bar is open

The deer like the rock garden next door.  Good variety.

"I want to go all the way to the pond..."

Early out from school on Thursday.  Nice weather.  Time to hit the trails again.  This time, Jake wanted to go a different way and all the way to the pond.  There are numerous trails throughout the woods and we agreed we will have to leave some undiscovered for now.  Maddy didn't have the right shoes so she didn't go.  We will need her next time as we attempt to update our map of trails.  Speaking of maps, the bottom image shows in red the first trail we took (see earlier post).  On this day, we followed the trail in blue all the way down to the pond.

Sometimes you have to clear your way.

The trail leading to the  Tai Dam Village.

Part of the village.

The bike trail is just beyond the building.

Pretty view even without green.

You can see the area across the pond where we were last time.

A young explorer.

Click to enlarge.