I was spending some time chatting with my mom and dad in the sunroom when my dad spotted them.
Birds of a Feather
He had spotted a pair of mourning doves sitting on the plum tree branch just outside the window.
Mourning Dove
I took this photo of one of them as they were enjoying the warm rays of the sun.
I went out on a hike with my friend Linda and her dog, Summer. We decided on hiking at Forks of the Credit Conservation Area. When I drove in, I noticed some very strange-looking clouds.
Cloudy Kettle Lake
They started fading as we hiked, so I stopped at Kettle Lake to get some shots.
Undulatus asperatus clouds
Other than the weird cloud formations, I spent my time focusing on my hike as this wasn’t a photo outing.
I went out with my friend Nigel to explore the trails at Heart Lake Conservation Area. With the melting snow and the ice formations, it was a difficult trek along the slippery trails.
Bird Feeder
It was a challenging hike and I did not come away with many photos. These little birdhouses were the most interesting things on the trail, in my opinion.
Reeds
I did try to find other things to photograph, but inspiration was not my friend this time around. I hope my next outing will be more productive.
Today I headed out to Claireville to take photos at the feeders just off the main trail/road.
The Old Bridge
I had to get some shots of the bridge. It’s one of the more interesting things to photograph here in Claireville. The shadows from the late day sun from vines and the other side give this photo a lot of character.
Posing
At the feeder, the nuthatches were flying back and forth getting their food for the day.
Grabbing a Snack
They are even willing to land on your hand if you have some seeds to share with them.
I had a lot of fun getting photos of the birds and always look forward to the cold temps when it’s okay to feed them like this. In summer they are too busy to be bothered with us and our seeds when there is so much more to eat.
With the long cold month of February behind us, I finally came out of hibernation to go for a hike. March started as a cold and crazy windy day but it was a little calmer and slightly warmer for a walk with my friend Linda today.
A curvy line
We met at Island Lake Conservation Area and decided to start our hike along the boardwalk portion. As we passed the first boardwalk section and entered the second one I noticed these small open areas in the ice.
Holes in the Ice
We were stumped as to why these holes might be here. We also noticed by one of the holes that there were some tracks. It’s possible that some small critters were using these to get in and out of the frozen lake.
Ice Hole
It was a beautiful sunny day out but the winds were still pretty strong. There were a few spots that were quite open and we were glad to make it back into the shelter of the trees. Winter is a beautiful time of year but it’s the cold winds that get me running back indoors as quickly as possible.