Autumn Shades of Schedel...

Me and the Doodles had a great visit to our favorite arboretum, Schedel Arboretum and Gardens in Elmore, Ohio, not far from the BirdMobile this past Saturday. It was a cloudy day, though warm and breezy, ideal for fall foliage fotography!

October 31st is the last day to visit until April. If you have the time this weekend, stop by and say hello...and stand in awe of the wonderful gardens and colors!

They have an amazing collection of sculpture and artwork throughout the arboretum.

ARGH!
Another Brown Creeper...out of focus then out of sight!

Did you know?...
Bumble Bees have that little fur coat to keep them warm longer in the season to collect pollen!

I really need to start a life list for butterflies...
This Fiery Skipper would be a lifer for us!

I have about 25 shots from all angles...I got a little carried away...

Let's just call this Asclepias Physocarpa...
I don't think I can print the common name here...

House Finch!
I can say that here...and looky there, he's got a little bling around his ankle!
I wonder if that's the work of Julie and Mark of BSBO?

The Japanese Garden is gorgeous any time of year, but especially now.

I love it when a bird sits still...

Very serene...

Mute Swans...so beautiful...so peaceful...so...uh...drooly...

Who's my little buddy?
It's a White-throated Sparrow!

Now there's a familiar mark!

And here's the culprit!
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker...
...by the way,he's not yellow bellied because he's afraid, he's yellow bellied because his belly is yellow,
or so I am led to believe. I asked, but he wouldn't show me. Very shy...

"Got Nuts?"

Remember Bobb?
He's going stag...
And please, no Deer, Bobb letters...

A Sensational Sunday...

Eh, what's up Duck?

Today was a gorgeous day to be out and about...and shirking the responsibilities of the "real" world. Sunny, 70 degrees, friends close by and a new trail to be blazed! Neighbors Lisa and Paul started a new trail through the marsh out at the BirdMobile. And it was calling us!

We could see hundreds of ducks, mostly Gadwall and American Wigeon, zooming around on the other side of Turtle Creek. Something fowl was in the air!

Aha! A bored Bald Eagle was out enjoying a little rabble rousing!
There's nothing more fun than chasing ducks through the marsh, well next to eating one anyway...

This is Paul, the proficient prodigy of pishing...
When he saw the Eagle circling the marsh, he started to do his magical pishing thing...

...And the next thing you know, the Bald Eagle lands right in front of us!
I've pished at Sparrows, Warblys and Kinglets, butt never a Bald Eagle!

After he gave Paul the evil eye, he told him to knock it off!
Sheesh, Eagles have no sense of humor...

This is the BirdMobile Bird Gang, Judy, Paul, Lisa and some moron with a camera.
Membership is open and free...obviously, they let even me in!

Speaking of morons with cameras...this is the part of the trail that hasn't yet been cleared.
Can you tell?

Great Blue Heron cleared for landing!
We sometimes call these "Great Blue Eagles" when they're flying in the distance...

Meanwhile, back at Magee Marsh!

It was a big Bald Eagle day! This was a juvenile.

After our adventure at the BirdMobile...and lunch...we headed over to Magee Marsh. After visiting Hugh(also a member of the BMBG) at Black Swamp, we headed for the boardwalk at Magee to see what we could see.

And we saw LOTS of Common Grackles.

Isn't it amazing how we started off with 120 European Starlings in New York and now they're everywhere!

While I was looking at the Bald Eagle overhead, the Doodles spotted this Northern Harrier WAY out over the marsh.
Am I the only one that takes photos of birds even though I know they are too far away?

No butt shots, butt I did get an underside view as he was trying to scare up some sitting ducks.

One lone Rusty Blackbird looking for his buddies.

Winter Wrens are very frustrating to photograph...still.

This Yellow-rumped Warbly thing was eyeballing those little fruits.
"I wonder if I could eat ALL of them?"

Back at the BirdMobile...the Praying Mantis said...
"Get any closer and I'll eat your head!"