Look what we saw!!!!

We were out and about yesterday, hoping to see something. I was mainly hoping to see eagles....and maybe deer and turkeys. I 'may' have seen an eagle...in fact am almost positive I did. But we were driving too fast and it was just there and gone, so I am not positive.

But look what we did see--Sandhill Cranes! These we only saw in flight...but I could hear them. They are so vocal! You can look here and here to see other posts with better pictures. Or go here to read about their life history...it is interesting.
I wonder if they were looking for a place to rest, or were they just headed north...I have no idea how they do when heading back to their nesting grounds. I hope we can make it back to Jasper Pulaski a little later on...I just never tire of seeing them.
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We had another almost sleepless night the other night and I have just been out of sync the past couple of days. This time, it was basically cause we were having such nice weather and I was hyper...I could have stayed up all night. Every so often, I do have a night where I just stay up all night...usually I sew. This time we both read, and reading will help me settle down. We went to bed at 5:00 and I got up at 9:00, so hopefully no more nights like that.

It is doing nothing but rain here today...everything is so saturated. The Wabash River was almost out of its banks yesterday, so bet that it will be flooded after this day is through. Every time it floods, I think of George Rogers Clark and his men crossing it during flooding, on their way to battle....when they went to take back Kaskaskia from the British. They had to be men of iron will.

Anyway, of all days, I have laundry to do...I had much rather hang it outside but it is supposed to turn back chilly and even chance of light snow tonight. So, I will just dry them in the dryer and be done with it.

As I sit here, I hear Puss Puss crying in the basement....that is a sign she is looking for something, or in the process of carrying something up here. Usually something of Roger's. She has really been in that mood lately. I told in an earlier post about the plastic tubing, and the pipe cleaner...well, a few days later, she kept bringing this little plastic bag up...it was something that belonged to Roger but I don't know what it was. I know she brought it up at least three times....then the other night she brought up this whole bag of cleaning patches. It is little squares of cloth he uses to clean rifle bores. Only, with them, since the bag was bigger, there was a whole trail left behind her when she brought them up.

There is never a dull moment when you have cats...

Barn in weeds.....

All the weeds in this pictures seem to indicate this barn is not used much, but it reminded me of something one of my brothers and I did one time.

I don't remember how old we were, but we were in a barn up the road from our house. It is one he now owns, but back then it might have belonged to the previous owners. On past that barn was this creek...it had a kind of swampy feel about it. I don't ever remember doing much there...just one of those places you don't pay much attention to.

I know sometimes it would have big orange fish in it and we had no idea where they came from...and I am still not sure what they were. I don't know if they were fish people had in aquariums and turned loose there or what....down there, at that time, was not an area where people had aquariums.

Anyway, back to the point of this little story.....

I don't have any idea what my brother and I were doing, but we were up in that barn. He had an old homemade bow. There were a couple other kids out by the creek....they would probably have been about a block away from us...just to give you an idea of how far away they were. Of course by the barn were all kinds of stick weeds...my brother would have me sneak and get some of the weeds...it was late fall so they were dry and could just be broken off.

I don't know what he used to give the stick weeds weight enough to fly, but he used something and would shoot them almost straight up while aiming through a crack in the barn wall. (The 'arrow' was actually sticking through the crack.) I don't remember how many he shot before one hit close enough to the boys for them to even have a clue...I am not sure they ever knew for sure what was going on. I can remember them glancing around like they heard them hit. And I remember us just laughing and thinking we were really being funny....

I have no idea what possessed us to do that...I am sure we could have hurt someone. We were not trying to hurt them...we didn't even know them. I suppose we just wanted to be mysterious, or just the fact that they didn't know we were there was funny.

Wildlife report....

Night before last I made a run through the strip pits....I went through the first time kind of early...right around 3:30. Right after entering the area, there is a strip pit...and it was covered with geese. They were walking on water ice....and sitting on ice as if they were sitting on water. I could not help but think how cold that would be!
I paused and took a few pictures, and continued on through...I seen one single Northern Harrier, and not any other life of any kind. No birds flying, no ring-necked pheasants, no deer.

I decided to head on over into Illinois...originally thinking I would go to Paris, Illinois to take a few pictures in town just to have something different to post. However, I took off through the country to see if the geese were feeding in any of the fields. Other than one right there close to the strip pit, I just seen a few others too far away to photograph.

And did not see anything else in the wildlife department to photograph while out. So, I headed back home, and finally had three deer run across the road in front of me. This led me to run back through the strip pits on my way home.
This time there were red-winged blackbirds...so at least they are moving back through. There wasn't a lot of them, but sure more than when I had passed through earlier. So, I went on, trying to keep an eye out for pheasants....no luck. Looked for short-eared owls...no luck there either.

I finally spotted a herd of deer on a far hill...at least 8, maybe more. Too far to count. After seeing them, I finally spot a single, solitary male pheasant, and next were three Northern Harriers. Not a lot to see compared to other times, yet it was good to see what I did see.

After I left the strip pits, the first thing I saw was another herd of deer. I guess you would say herd. Just on down the road a mile or so from the red barn...four deer ran across the road and I could see 4 more deer waiting in the weed patch....I slowed down and was going to try to take a photo but a dog on down the way started barking at a truck that was coming from the other direction...so they ran back the other way.

So, I continue on my way home...by then there is a vehicle behind me. Soon as I could, I pull to the side of the road till they can pass me. I want to go slow. I am out to this farm field by then...there are 6 deer out in that field, plus two turkeys. So, I am thinking well, that is probably the end of what I will see...

But I continue on...just creeping along. I thought just maybe I might see a heron at this little creek I had yet to pass...but before I got there there is this woodsy/weedy patch and in there are more deer! I counted at least 6, two of them are in the photo above....but it was getting really late and I have a feeling I missed some. They blended in so well with their background it was hard to spot them.

So all in all it was a good evening...