At The Lake - American White Pelican Migration

Living near Kentucky Lake, we get to enjoy the water and the migration of the American White Pelicans.

We are boaters so we are at the lake every weekend and sometimes during the week (nice part about being retired).

The American White Pelicans arrive at Kentucky Lake in September, and we love to go "pelican hunting".

For me, Pelican Hunting means trying to get the best photographs I can of these huge birds. I have a zoom lens on my camera, but it is often not quite enough to get that perfect pic. Guess I need a bigger zoom!

Because they are usually in such shallow water, we often take out one of our fishing boats. The shallow water makes it difficult to get close to the pelicans.

Whether it is a single pelican or a pod of pelicans, it's always a thrill to find them. Love the reflection in the bottom pic of the pelicans.

A unique characteristic of the pelican is the "gular pouch" inside its beak. This pouch is used in catching fish and holding fish after they are scooped up.

Their wings are white and black, and they can have a wingspan of 9 feet.

The American white Pelicans have short strong legs with webbed toes which allows them to take off from the water. I plan to do a little more pelican hunting next weekend.

Thanks for stopping by to see the American White Pelicans - Judy.

Links

MET Monday @ BNOTP

OMHG Wonderful Wednesday on Monday

You're the Star @ God's Growing Garden on Monday

Image-in-ing on Monday

Through My Lens on Monday

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention on Wednesday am

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Thankful Thursday @ It's A Small Town Life

Water H20 Thursday @ Roentare Blog on Thursday

Weekend Reflections on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Mosaic Monday @ South and Mind and So On on Sunday

Before They Are Gone

Hummingbirds

Today was a lucky day, the hummers are still visiting my flowers and feeders and I was fortunate enough to capture a few good pics.

The fushia color of some impatients on my back deck must have caught the eye of the hummers.

I'm happy my husband was standing at the sliding glass door that opens to the deck and spied the visitors.

I keep my camera sitting on the counter next to the slider so I can grab it quickly.

The hummer also enjoyed the nectar from an Angelonia flower.

Earlier in the day, I snapped a hummer sitting on a branch.

I don't know how much longer they will visit my feeders.

Hummers Visiting A Friend in Missouri

My friend, Linda T., in Cape Girardeau, MO (where we lived before moving to Kentucky) shared some fabulous pics of her visitors this week.

Take a look at this white hummer migrating through her area.

What a treat to have a stunning white hummer at your feeder! I'm thinking this may be an albino hummingbird since I don't see any other pigments.

Other hummers visiting Linda's feeders.

Yellow Swallowtail

A Yellow Swallowtail visiting the blooms of Lantana.

Thanks for stopping by today. Happy birding - Judy.

Linking to:

MET Monday @ BNOTP

OMHG Wonderful Wednesday on Monday

You're the Star @ God's Growing Garden on Monday

Image-in-ing on Monday

Through My Lens on Monday

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention on Wednesday am

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Mosaic Monday @ South and Mind and so on on Sunday

September Blooms

From Murray, Kentucky in the southern tip of Western Kentucky - growing zone 7a.

It's time for September Bloom Day so I'll show you my blooms:

Lantana can take the summer heat. I love these red and yellow colors in this lantana.

The Yellow Swallowtail is gorgeous on the lantana.

In addition to the lantana, you can see a few leaves from a Nasturtium (no blooms) then some white Verbenia blooms at the top of the pic.

Some of my Petunias are still in bloom thanks to my feeding.

I paused the feeding while the temps were 100 degrees' but now that the temps are cooling down, I have started feeding again.

Verbenia that reseeded from last year is spilling over the back walkway.

This gorgeous Dahlia was blooming in my garden this week. I held it in front of a giant elephant ear to get this pic. This is my second year to grow Dahlias and I thought I just wanted pink ones. I have certainly changed my mind after looking at this stunning color.

This is a new variety of Coreopsis (Tickseed) for me. I have had coreopsis for years but after the December flash freeze, my old coreopsis didn't survive.