We have enjoyed one of the most beautiful weekends we have experienced in quite of long time. The weather was perfect and the temperatures were in the 60's. It was definitely nature walk weather. We headed off to the
Great Swamp Conservancy, about 2 miles from the house. They were have an art festival, so there were extra attractions.
We enjoyed a hay wagon ride to a wetland overlook where one of the biggest great blue heron rookeries is located. They estimate that there are about 70 nesting pairs of herons here.
If you look carefully you can see many of the nest in the tops of these trees in this wetland area. With the help of our guide, we also saw a great horned owl that was also on one of the nests, (it took over a heron nest). We saw it through a telescope, I could not get picture of it. It was one of the highlights of the day.
Dad took this picture of a tree swallow. They were everywhere, they had taken over a lot of the bluebird nesting boxes.
The red-tail hawk was part of a rehabilitation program, it had been shot, and would not be able to be returned to the wild. The kids enjoyed seeing this hawk up close because we have a nesting pair of these in the woods in our backyard.
Daniel got this picture of an osprey. There are two nesting pairs on the conservancy grounds. They were just awesome. When their eggs hatch we will be able to see the s bringing fish back to the hatchlings almost constantly.
Dan also got this photo of a tiger beetle--very shiny Dan!!
Mark, Grace, Amy and Laura enjoyed some catch and release fishing. Mark was the only lucking fisherman though. He pulled in a catfish.
Dad spotted this canadian goose on a nest. I think she is telling them to stay away!!!!!
Today we spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa H's house, and of course, we took a walk. It is still pretty hard to find many wildflowers, but we did find these "cow slips" or marsh marigolds.
Mark and his grandpa enjoyed spending time together. After our walk, we headed back to the house to get ready for a birthday party for Kim and Luke, but that will have to be another blog entry because I am beat.
We enjoyed a hay wagon ride to a wetland overlook where one of the biggest great blue heron rookeries is located. They estimate that there are about 70 nesting pairs of herons here.
If you look carefully you can see many of the nest in the tops of these trees in this wetland area. With the help of our guide, we also saw a great horned owl that was also on one of the nests, (it took over a heron nest). We saw it through a telescope, I could not get picture of it. It was one of the highlights of the day.
Dad took this picture of a tree swallow. They were everywhere, they had taken over a lot of the bluebird nesting boxes.
The red-tail hawk was part of a rehabilitation program, it had been shot, and would not be able to be returned to the wild. The kids enjoyed seeing this hawk up close because we have a nesting pair of these in the woods in our backyard.
Daniel got this picture of an osprey. There are two nesting pairs on the conservancy grounds. They were just awesome. When their eggs hatch we will be able to see the s bringing fish back to the hatchlings almost constantly.
Dan also got this photo of a tiger beetle--very shiny Dan!!
Mark, Grace, Amy and Laura enjoyed some catch and release fishing. Mark was the only lucking fisherman though. He pulled in a catfish.
Dad spotted this canadian goose on a nest. I think she is telling them to stay away!!!!!
Today we spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa H's house, and of course, we took a walk. It is still pretty hard to find many wildflowers, but we did find these "cow slips" or marsh marigolds.
Mark and his grandpa enjoyed spending time together. After our walk, we headed back to the house to get ready for a birthday party for Kim and Luke, but that will have to be another blog entry because I am beat.
Even before I clicked on your link, I said, "Joann must be from New York!" These are exactly the flora and fauna we see here!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures!