The Storks Return...

Not delivering babies-ha!  Just visiting our little lake with 1 Egret!  What a joy to see!  All the pictures were taken through the den window, so the quality is not good.  I did not want to take the chance of going outside and scaring them away.

 They are really graceful for such a large wading bird. Their heads are rather unattractive as they are bald as adults.  They scratch along the bottom as they go, probably to stir a meal up which muddies the water.

I hope you enjoyed the return of the Wood Storks.  Thank you for visiting and do come again soon!

♥KERRIE♥

My wild heart to yours...

WOOD STORK!

OUR DAUGHTER WAS SO HAPPY TO CATCH THESE PHOTOS OF THE WOOD STORK JUST NOW! Only one came today and did not stay long.  He is so large!

   The Wood Stork is the only North American stork and are common in southern swamps,, marshes and ponds.  The bill is long and thick; adult's dark head is unfeathered.  Immature has a paler head and neck; yellow bill.  Flies with neck and legs extended; often soars.  Wing beats are slow, powerful and audible.  It feeds on fish, reptiles, and amphibians.  Nests in colonies in trees like the Egrets.  Their call is a humming of notes.  They are 35" long and wingspan is 66" wide.

Our excitement never wains when we see these beautiful creatures right in our own back yard!  It is 99 degrees out, the heat index however makes it 107 at present.  Our daughter went out to put cool water in the birdbath and spotted the stork.  We quickly gave her the camera through the window and she snapped quickly as she knew he would not tarry long and I think she did an excellent job!

Thanks for stopping by and do visit my other blogs if you have time.  They are listed in the sidebar.

The Elusive Green Heron

This is a Green Heron

Hubby took this picture of him one morning creeping along the lake bank.  The name is deceiving as the green is not to be seen except a tiny bit when sun is hitting the rich blueish colors on the back of his head.  These birds are very shy and flee when seeing humans with their cameras.  This species is a small heron that dines on fish in freshwater lakes and salt water.  He is very stealthy as he stays low to the ground and looks for his prey in the water. 

   Then another day, my daughter was able to snap these great pictures while her Dad was napping.  I think they are beautiful!  Green Herons are 14 inches long and their wingspan is 25 inches.

They have a crested head but I have never observed one with the crest raised.

His leg coloring is bright yellow

The lake level is very low from lack of rainfall and he is enjoying the bank where he can walk close to the water's edge.

I love this one as he has spied something!

See how closely he blends in with the mud, twigs, new grass growth on what is normally under water.

The Green Heron is truly a beautiful creature!  I feel so fortunate that we are able to see these wonderful birds up close and personal. 

  Yesterday, there were 4 Whooping Cranes right at the edge of the yard along the lake.  By the time we discovered them and got the camera, they all took flight!  So beautiful!  Maybe we can catch them next time.  Thank you so much for coming by to share our wildlife and do come again soon.



Remove the "HATE MODE"

I will not rehash the recent Casey Anthony Trial results.  But briefly, I see so much hate going on at Face Book, on the news,  and elsewhere that it is frightening.

Briefly, the public needs to remove themselves from the "hate mode" as I see it.  Be assured that Casey Anthony will not go unpunished as her very lifestyle places her in jeopardy.  She will come to no good end.

The Bible tells us to pray for our enemies.  That is because what God has in store for them is much worse than we could EVER wish them.  I have personally seen this truth in my lifetime in several situations.  Believe it!  So why expend your time and energy wishing Casey ill will?  You cannot change a single thing by your anger, you only please the devil. 
  Instead we pray for that precious little Caylee, who is now with our Father in heaven and knowing boundless love in His arms! 
Thank you.

     God's Little Angel
July 8, 2011 ©Kerrie O'Hearn Marquart

A Little Angel abides with Love
In the arms of our Father up above
She feels no pain she knew before
When the earth she left
She opened Heaven's door.
A tear is dropped on every cheek
At the taking of a life so sweet ~
But smile, SHE IS IN HEAVEN.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21).

For the Love of Geese and Swans

My sweet little Canadian Geese Goslings are fledglings no more.  They will be flying soon and I feel so priveledged to have watched their cycle of life!  Their parents taught them to dunk and feed on the green water plants in the lake, to bathe themselves, etc.  Next they will be practicing flight as I remember from previous years and I hope I can capture that for you when the time comes.

FROM THIS

TO THIS

This development only took a few weeks from June 13th

until now.

And the young signets went from this

To this:

And now they are even larger but I have not had them visit our lake even though I have seen them in other lakes in our community and will also take pictures when they visit again.

AS you can see, one of the signets is gray and while he will become more white in development, I believe this is a young male though I cannot find confirmation of it in any of the descriptions in bird books!

And meanwhile, the adults are still the King and Queen of the lake as they chased away the Canadian Geese away from their lake territory last week.



Here are all the geese

chased up on the bank

by the regal swans. 



Thank you for visiting and do come back again soon and often!

♥KERRIE♥

My heart to yours...

Happy Pink Saturday in Red White and Blue!

First, here are my daughter's pink palms holding the tiniest little hop toad!Isn't he precious??

AND NOW FOR THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE!

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND HAPPY 4TH TO EVERYONE!

 My porch and bicycle planter on the sidewalk

The house that is across from ours.  They really love decorating for all of our holidays and everyone enjoys their display!

 

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!

Don't forget to go to our host's site, How Sweet The Sound to see the full list of Pink Saturday Participants!