Sometimes I go to the strip pits and see very little, sometimes I see a lot. When I was there last week, I also saw the Northern Harrier above. Not a very good shot. This is a cropped portion of the original. He was all the way down at the other end of the pond...and seemed to be fishing. He even sat perched on a dead tree for a while...one that stuck up out of the water. Then at the other end of the area...actually over in Illinois, I saw these three turkeys...this is a regular farm field. I don't know if it was originally part of the mining area or not. If it was, it has been back in regular use for a long while. It always has soy beans or corn planted here. And when the crops are down, or before they grow very tall, if we go by there in the evening, there is almost always deer or turkeys there. The two deer above were in the same field, only 2 or 3 weeks prior to the shot of the turkeys. The past few times I have been out there, I have not been seeing near as many deer as I always have before. Go Here and scroll down to see how numerous they were a couple years ago.
On a recent drive we came across this farm...I liked the whole view of it. Wouldn't you like to be sitting there at the picnic tables? And here is another little house with that huge front overhang in front. I have wondered was this at one time the smokehouse or was it a summer kitchen. I really have no idea what it was used for...but it reminded me of the little house I showed here. Even though the fence could have used some TLC, the barn was well taken care of. It is metal siding, and sometimes I don't like that but in this case the barn still had a lot of character.
The above was taken a couple weeks ago...I think in Illinois. The rest were taken at the strip pits this evening.. Every fall I look forward to the birds gathering together...even though I look forward to it there is an element of sadness about it for me. I don't know why. And every time I see them, I think 'a gathering of spirits.' They also make me think of that Norman Rockwell's The Gossips....chattering back and forth and getting all excited over nothing. They came and went from this dead little tree as long as I sat there...which was only 5 minutes or so...but were still coming and go when I left. As I was about to leave the place, down the road there was another gathering...a big gathering. Even if you enlarge it, I don't know if you will realize they are having a great time in a mud puddle! That is what the mist is.... They would leave in waves and come back in waves...so much fun to watch.
Now the photos below definitely have to be enlarged...not because they are so good, but because there were two bald eagles out there! I saw one from a distance and flew down the road to try to arrive at the strip pit it was headed for but before I got there I saw another one fly up from the pond...and if you haven't guess by now I did not make it in time to get a shot while they were close to the road. The one I first saw was not even flapping its wings....he was just gliding for the strip pit....I was flying down the road with the dust boiling behind me--I know I had to be going 50-60 mph...just thankful nobody else was out there. Still, by the time I got there and got slowed down they were at the far end and circling and rising to move on out. But I did get proof that I saw them...I drove around a while hoping they would come back...I did see them way, far away but they never came back near me. Such a thrill to see them! **********************
I leave you with the song A Gathering of Spirits by Carrie Newcomer...it is where I got the phrase a gathering of spirts....
Sometimes I go to the strip pits and see very little, sometimes I see a lot. When I was there last week, I also saw the Northern Harrier above. Not a very good shot. This is a cropped portion of the original. He was all the way down at the other end of the pond...and seemed to be fishing. He even sat perched on a dead tree for a while...one that stuck up out of the water.
Then at the other end of the area...actually over in Illinois, I saw these three turkeys...this is a regular farm field. I don't know if it was originally part of the mining area or not. If it was, it has been back in regular use for a long while. It always has soy beans or corn planted here. And when the crops are down, or before they grow very tall, if we go by there in the evening, there is almost always deer or turkeys there.
The two deer above were in the same field, only 2 or 3 weeks prior to the shot of the turkeys. The past few times I have been out there, I have not been seeing near as many deer as I always have before. Go Here and scroll down to see how numerous they were a couple years ago.
