Places less traveled ...

Below, Charlie stands in a wide expanse of Wild Ramps aka Leeks in the forest.

The location of this place won't be shared at all. I wouldn't want JohnQPublic coming in and digging them to sell. 

These plants take 5 to 7 years to mature from seed so they are slow growing. I have some in my forest and I generally just leave them alone. Their beautiful green provides me with joy. I may dig up one or two for an addition to a meal, but rarely any more than that.

They do actually flower and have seeds. In the fall animals walk through the area knocking the spindles of seeds which spreads the plants.

The hillsides were covered in them! In a few weeks the plants will disappear under the forest brush and they will be hidden from prying eyes.

I took a back trail along the river. I came upon some Canada Geese and their new little family. 

These geese were neat to watch ... the river was swift here and I was sure hoping all turned out okay for them in the end.

22 seconds of cuteness!

I assume they made it safely to wherever they were headed.

Below, my fearless leader. Since he has hiked with me since he was 10 weeks old, he knows the trails I take as well as I do. He bounds forward and turns to wait. At a junction he sometimes makes a choice and sometimes I follow his choice.

I finally did get a decent shot at a Red Wind Blackbird. There were several of them hanging out by the pond where I'd met the other photographer. I backtracked on the less muddy trails to the parking area.

I got home and the boys were having a good time chatting and solving all the world problems. I must give it to Jason, he can talk about anything to anyone and he does have a lot of experience and knowledge.

I'll leave you with a couple of shots that are a bit artsy. I have a Lensbaby lens and it has taken a lot of practice to work with this 'art' lens, but I am absolutely loving the challenge.

These were taken after my 'day' off when I went out to check the pasture and enjoy some more sunshine.

PS...we survived the storm, it went past us to the north.

Surprises on another spring walk

Wednesday was going to be incredibly beautiful for the middle of March. Charlie and I took off for the Reserve again to check out some different ponds of water for wildlife.

Actually, we just wanted to get out and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air. I should have stayed home and raked the yard.

Hmmm. I think we took the better choice.

I figured to get some chill out time alone as the next 3 weekends are booked with visitors. I hope my son and his crew are up for taking the kids hiking at the Reserve with me if it isn't raining. It will wear out the kids and being outdoors is easier than being inside our little house.

I'm still in the bird 'hunting' mode. 

We came up on campsite C which a few years ago had some great views of one of the ponds. Unfortunately, the briars have grown back in and I didn't have the means to cut them down. But the Canada Geese were there in droves.

I shot this through the brush so it gives it an interesting look.

I liked the reflections of the clumps of grass on the pond water, so I took this shot which is not impressive at all. Well, what I didn't see through the brush were the turtles at the bottom of the photo!
I was tickled to see turtles here as I don't recall ever seeing them before on my spring hikes. I'm sure they live there, I just never thought about it.

Those clumps of grass remind me of Cousin It on the Munsters. 👀

I promised myself to come back to that one spot and clear out the 10 briars that kept me from sitting close to the shore to watch the birds.

I was looking for more Sandhill Cranes, I heard them at the pond that was south of where I was. So maybe this pond is too crowded with Canada Geese for them to want to share?

This is a large meandering pond but this one spot was crowded with geese.

On the other side of the Old 131 trail is another pond. This one has a floating dock with a bench for folks to sit on and watch the pond.

Nothing terribly interesting was happening there. However my Lego Friends decided they'd like to use the dock to do some bird watching themselves.

I took a side trip down a trail that used to have a campsite on the river shore and was since moved. Charlie and I walked down to the river.

The other side of the river is where the Little Canada Trail is. The river is quite low now due to the lack of rain. I am standing on an old campsite that got washed away in a few floods. Across the river one of those pines used to have a rope in it. 
Campers and Canoers would beach their canoes and take time to climb the bluff and swing out over the river and drop into the deeper waters for a swim. 

That tree was swept away in the 2018 flood.

 

I decided to take Willow Trail back to where we parked so we didn't have to backtrack.

I was stopped by a familiar bird song. I could hear it but couldn't tell where it was coming from. I just stood still for a while and finally a little brown bird flew into a nearby bush.

I hear this bird every spring and summer and delight in its song. You would think I could recall that it is a song sparrow.

I let her serenade me for a while before we returned to the car and went home.

Charlie was warm and tired and eager to lay in his crate in the car.

I felt relaxed and happy.

That time of the year?

 

With the arrival of Robins and Redwinged Black Birds, I get into the bird hunting mode. I blame Aurora over at equine expressions for that.

Saturday morning I did my 'duties' around the farm and because we have - had earlier daylight, I was finished and headed out to the Reserve to go birdwatching or at least walk around and pretend I was a Birder.

I did hear the Sandhill Cranes and the Canada Geese down at the ponds as soon as I stepped out of the car. I also realized that I had underdressed for the weather. I was instantly cold in my spring lightweight jacket and I had to pull up my hood to cover my ears.

I decided not to let the cold temps and wind stop me, so I went on down to the Big Pond to look around.

The Geese were noisy. I found a spot to use my long lens as binoculars and scout the opposite shore where the majority of the birds were hanging out.

There was a scuffle going on and so I took some shots and then looked at the shots I took. I found ducks!  I found what I think may be Mallards.
I don't know if March 9th is the early for them or not, but it was a first for me.

...and another scuffle which included
Canada Geese.
I shot through some brush, but still

managed to get some action.

Right then I got the urge to drive over to the Mississippi River and do some exploring. But I have time constraints and decided to just settle with what I could see in the immediate area.

That turned into a 2+ mile walk around the backwaters of the Kickapoo River.

It seemed that I was only going to see the Geese on this trip out. I could hear some black birds and many sparrows. Twice I almost got a shot of Chickadees, but they were so fast! Catching them near the bird feeder at home is easier, but there is a certain challenge of trying to get them out 'in the wild' so to speak.

I finally heard the Sandhill Cranes and saw them circling overhead and managed to catch a couple of shots. They didn't turn out the best, but there they were! The darn things kept fling low and through trees!

I did catch up with them after they landed though. I had to stand still behind some thick brush and look down onto the marshy area next to the river.

I came out next to Star Valley and decided to head back to the car. I stopped to pull down my hood and turned to see this:

These are steps that once led to a house on old Highway 131. I am standing on the old road that was the original highway and looking at steps for a home that was torn down.

I was really surprised as I must have walked past this spot hundreds of times. It made me wonder what it was like to live along this river and  road many years ago before the Government decided to take this land and turn it into a reservoir and dam to hold back flood waters.

None of that happened and many years later the Kickapoo Valley Reserve came to be in existance.

I was getting ready to put away my camera when I heard a bird call that I thought I recognized.

I kept turning around and looking for the source of the call. A flash of blue caught my eye and I took this shot which is again...NOT very good.

But there it was, a Kingfisher!!!

I did a little happy dance. Three years in a row I have been able to find a Kingfisher in this particular area. I call it dumb luck, but maybe it isn't.

It was worth getting cold through and through to see this just before I walked up to the parking area.

I am grateful that my Subaru has heated seats. When I got in, I turned the heater on full.

What a success. It was worth getting half frozen.

It must be that time of year!

Birds and roots

 I wanted to go see if any Swans, ducks, or other birds had shown up near the KVR Ponds so Charlie and I took a little trip to walk the trails around the ponds.

We saw geese. A lot of geese! 

The water in the foreground is still frozen on this pond. 

On the large pond though, the geese were lined up on the shore where the winds weren't blowing. At first glance it looked like they were turtles all lined up.

I wished that the viewing blind that the Reserve put up wasn't facing the sun. However, it is fun to sit there with binoculars and watch these characters chatter and flap their wings. After all, I felt good getting out and enjoying the sunshine. 

The ponds were a bit of a dud but that didn't matter much. We wanted the fresh air and anytime getting off the farm feels like a bit of a vacation.

We wondered around Harrison Trail and down a little known footpath that encircles one of the smaller ponds. On a good year it is really quite wet and muddy. Only a few places required some leaping from log to log and grass clump to keep from getting my feet wet.

We found cool tree roots...of course...

Now that tree grew sideways and UP!

Charlie had the best time, he chased a family of red squirrels around and around on the base of this bluff before they took off and climbed a pine tree.

Ahhhh! We did find some birds!

I found 3 little ones hiding alongside a bluff out of the wind. I didn't know that Cardinals, Bluebirds, and Sparrows hung out together.

Wild things

 My pal couldn't make it on Sunday morning, so I packed up my long lens and headed out to the ponds at the Reserve.

I know. I go there a LOT. It is 20 minutes or so by car and has nice trails along with nice access to a river.

The serious bird photographers this time of year are wandering up and down Highway 35 along the Mississippi or taking trips along the Wisconsin River where the wildlife is truly amazing and abundant.

I have to stay closer to home on my excursions. Hubby gets uncomfortable if I head out too.

When I got to the Reserve there was one vehicle parked in the Visitor's Center Parking lot. Usually people don't show up early to explore the Reserve. I could hear Sandhill Cranes, Redwing Blackbirds, and Canada Geese from the lot.

But motion in the tree ahead of me captured my attention.

Hubby says it was a pine squirrel. Around our home and in the forest we have quite a few grey squirrels but I rarely see the ones colored like this.

I stood for a long time and watched him/her, then moved on quietly. It was such a pretty and cute squirrel.

I went down the railroad tie stairs and along the Visitor Trail to another muddy trail that went between the two ponds. 

March 17th last year I spotted a pair of Trumpeter swans in the western pond. To my great surprise and delight, I found Swans again.

March 26th and I found the swans again!

I sat still and watched them for a while. I was able to observe a bunch of ducks too. I could see a wood duck paddling around the swans and I didn't want to spook any of them.

A gent with a dog came up the trail and he was trying to be quiet, but the movement of them set the whole pond off and birds started to take off.

Of course the Sandhill Cranes couldn't let just the geese make all the noise so they joined in too. But they didn't leave. They were on the far side of the ponds.

I decided to walk down another muddy trail on my way back to the parking lot when I heard a bird and saw a flash of blue across another pond.

It was far away, but I tried to catch a shot or two anyway.

A Belted Kingfisher.

I sure was pleased.

On the way back to the car I thought how nice it would be to arrive predawn and sit quietly by the ponds in a more remote spot and just watch all of the water fowl. 

It doesn't look like the weather will be good enough during this week though. Another Thursday sleet and snowish event. Yuck.

However a beautiful Bluebird stopped by as we were eating supper. So Spring is coming, right?

I got out!

The weather was nice Saturday morning, so I arranged for my neighbors to be available if hubby needed something and hurried out the door before anyone could change their minds.

I was bound and determined to find some cool birds and explore an area at KVR that led to backwater Kickapoo River ponds that take a lot more effort to get to than just walking on old 131 Trail. I wanted to see some ducks and not just the Canada Geese.

My job is 24/7, so I cherish that time when I can get off the farm and explore.

I found a mowed trail that the duck, turkey, and pheasant hunters use. It isn't marked but in the fall, the Reserve mows a path around the marshy area and near the ponds. This is a hot spot for bird hunters. I saw the trail on the Satellite map and thought it would be cool to check it out.

I was SO tickled to follow my ears to this little marshy spot and listen to the chorus of spring peepers and frogs. I sat on a log and ate my snacks.

16 seconds of Peepers!

I did some more listening and found another pond that I could get to. No Swans, no cool ducks, but a lot of Canada Geese. Overhead several Turkey Buzzards were circling.

I imagine I could never nap like this! What balance!

I found this goose laying on her nest. I am curious if the eggs will hatch. It looks like the pond level must have risen with the rainfall? Or she wasn't a very good nest builder. I didn't notice this until I got home, but the arrow points to a turtle!!!

I just did a mini happy dance.

The rest of the day was spent digging in dirt and I got an email and a text from my youngest son. I won't go into our history, but I don't hear from him very often unless he needs something. Let's leave it at that.

He wanted to come by and say hello. He had his girlfriend and her daughter who was just a year old. 

We stood on the porch and watched the sun go down while we did some much needed catching up. Oh gosh, this little girl was absolutely adorable. 

Charlie adored her too, each time she screeched or laughed he was right there. It was so fun to hold a baby and play with her!

I threatened to keep her. But her diaper needed changing and they had a long drive to get home. 

I guess I'd forgotten how fun it is to have little ones around. 

What a wonderful day. I got off the farm and had visitors.

It sure refreshed my mood so I can face next week's weather and doctor appointments.

Have a great Sunday.