Birds, Bugs, and Butterflies, OH MY: Spring has sprung!

We started our drive at Rocky Fork. Usually it is too late to check out the lake. We found American Coots everywhere. There must have been a few hundred all around the lake. This group was out of the water. I had never seen one out of the water, so this was a treat!

At first sight, we were sure what they were. So I got closer pictures.

Then way out on the lake we saw a group of ducks and they weren't American Coots. It was a mixture of Ruddy Ducks and Buffleheads. The Ruddy Ducks were a new duck for us.

We then went to Paint Creek to see what might be there. It started raining and didn't see much. We did see Bluebirds. They are back, but I couldn't get a very good picture because of the rain. I did get this picture of a female Cardinal. I thought her color was almost a yellow with red.

Then we saw an Eastern Towhee. He was singing his beautiful song. I knew it wasn't for us but possible for his mate but we enjoyed it just the same.

While at Paint Creek we checked out the Heron Rookery. They were there fixing their nests.

There were several trees that had communities of Herons.

Looks like this Heron is just building a nest. He has a lot of work yet to do!

This couple were just hanging out in their nest. Not sure if they have any eggs laid yet but looks like they are ready.

We then headed to Charlies Pond to see if anything new had migrated thru. The storm clouds were really looking different by now.

This is the canal area..The clouds were amazing.

This cloud had a strange look to it with that part hanging down. The green field is winter wheat.

We saw Pheasants everywhere! We counted about 12 male and female. Of course the males are easy to spot but the females blend into the field that we probably missed some.