We went to the county south of us to bird this morning. We hadn't been there for a couple of weeks becasue we knew they had had more rain than our county received and you have seen the pictures from our county. Well, it was worse than we expected. We have permission to drive the levee around a power plant where we bird and we did so to see what it looked like around the plant since all the roads were still closed.
The road above is a road we normally drive to check the ponds that were made a few years ago to create a place for waterfowl to be able to rest during migration and in hopes that birds that need this type of habitat could nest here. It has been a great success so far. They won't have to pump any water into the ponds for some time.
Below is a road that runs around the south end of the power plant. You can see the sign that tells you that there is a stop ahead. It is nearly submerged.
The deer are very stressed right now. There is not much high ground in this area obviously. Here you can see one taking off for high ground.
On almost every levee we came to there would be a heard of deer seeking refuge. You don't see them out like this during the day very often.
We normally see turtles sitting on logs sunning themselves during warm spring days like this. Not much of that going on because almost every available log was under water. We found one turtle crossing the road. It didn't want us taking its picture. A car came along so we had to hurry on so it wouldn't get squashed.
We did find a few turtles in this little retention pond. It is always fun to find them sunning themselves. A sure sign of spring.
We saw our first Great Egret of the year today. Sorry most of the pictures the animals are so far away. We were stuck on top of the levee and couldn't get closer. My Dearly Beloved offered to crop and fix the pictures but I didn't want to wait. Have I told you I am impatient??
Along this stretch of levee there were 12 Canada Goose nests. It is always fun to find them nesting. You first see these little flags flipping in the wind. You know the nest is near. The down they line their nest with gets blown out of their nest sometimes.
Some of the down looks like cotton and it is so soft. Think down filled jackets or duvets. Up close some you can see the feathery part of the down.
Here is one of the nests. We didn't want to dawdle. The poor parents were squaking and trying to lead us away from the nest.
It was such a beautiful spring day here in the Wabash Valley. I just wish this flood water would go away. Every thing and everyone needs a break in the rain. A few more dry sunny days like today will help matters.
Today he actually flew up onto the hood of our truck and yelled at us through the windshield.
This is not a happy goose. He is screaming his lungs out and stomping his feet on our truck. This is why Mon@rch warned me not to get too close to the nest. Canada Geese can be very territorial and vicious when protecting said territory. This is why I get nervous when people tell me they take food out to wild geese especially when they have small children in tow.
You can imagine how courageous this fellow is since our pick-up truck didn't daunt him. I would imagine a person might come away with abruise or I have heard even a broken bone. He thumps the truck and squacks the entire time we are anywhere near his area. Needless to say we try to pass by as quick as we can but it is difficult to do when he is stomping around, charging the truck and this time jumping onto the truck to protest our appearance.
As we were driving past his nest you can still see the ire in his eyes. He hates us for being so near his nest. The Mrs is just a few feet away in the water voicing her concern. She was afraid to come back to the nest while we were so close but Brutus was not a bit intimidated.
He fluffed up the down in the nest and...
sat right down on those eggs. I guess when all else fails ignore them and they will go away. After all...
if they don't understand a good tongue lashing, what is a goose to do??
My DB took the last two pictures. I took the other pictures today while we tried to avoid the Brutus. The pictures taken of him on top of the truck were taken through the windshield with the windows rolled up. Ha..
