Barns, Blooms, and Birds - Week 11

Continuing my barns, blooms, and birds series . . . 


Barns


I have another red quilt barn for you this week. These pictures were taken a few months back but I haven't had a chance to share them. There is a plus with this quilt barn, you get two barns for one.



You can see the quilt barn then a smaller barn standing in front. 



Looking at the back of this barn with three sets of doors, it looks like it could hold a lot of tobacco.  



Now on to . . .


Blooms 


There are some yellow sunflowers blooming in our yard. I didn't plant them but they look so pretty.


I'm thinking the birds carried in the seeds or maybe the seeds were in my bird food. It is nice to see the yellow color with fall starting to surround us.



My grandsons are posing with this lone yellow sunflower growing at the edge of some of my elephant ears. We are getting ready to take a ride in our Ranger over to a nearby pond to see what birds or critters we can see today. 



On the way over to the pond, we saw some white wildflowers in bloom. I didn't crop out the weeds, I wanted you to see they are growing in the wild.



We love to ride along the pond. Today we saw turtles. 




My grandson said it looked like the turtle was riding on a hippo. 




Birds 


We have been watching a pair of Great Egrets for several weeks on the pond. Usually they are just wading around the edge of the water looking for fish to eat. Today, only one of the egrets are there and we caught him in flight.





He was flying away from us then circled around and came back towards us.



He flew over to the spillway and landed.




Wow, we were excited about the Great Egret.

We have been watching another bird but have been unsure about the identification of it. I'll give you a dark pic of it so you get the idea of his shape. I took this pic in the early evening the day before.




Check out his tail  and yellowish bill.


Now take a look at his feet, they are webbed across all four toes.



We turned off the motor on the Ranger and sat and watched him a while. Soon he performed for us drying his wings. You can really see those webbed feet in these pics. 



I've been researching and I am thinking this bird is a juvenile double-crested cormorant but I am not positive.

We recently saw a cormorant on the Cape Cod Canal in the state of Massachusetts. Here's a picture of the cormorant my husband took in Massachusetts.




In my Birds of Kentucky Field Guide, I saw there are Double-Crested Cormorants in Kentucky.  I am hoping that someone can help me out here. Please share your thoughts.




Thanks for stopping by for another day of "Life in Kentucky" - Judy.



Linking to:


Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life on Sunday evening
Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods on Monday

Our World @ Our World Tuesday Meme
Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday
The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog
Wednesday Around the World @ Photographing New Zealand

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern on Tuesday evening

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer
Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention Gallery
Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods
The Homesteader Hop @ Floyd Family Homestead

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wed. evenings 
Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane on Wed. evenings

Share Your Style Link Party @ The Essence of Home on Thursday evening
Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life
Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme on Wednesday evening
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson
Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm on Thursday evening

Photo Friday @ Pierced Wonderings


Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday
Camera Critters on Saturday

I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Tom's Barn Collective @ The Backroad Traveler on Sunday





16 comments:

  1. Beautiful barns, blooms and birds! The white wildflowers photo is so pretty!
    I've had a look at your gorgeous Christmas posts too. They are wonderful. :)
    Have a great week ahead!

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  2. What a fabulous place to go with your grandchildren, it certainly looks like a turtle riding on a hippopotamus to me too! Your wildlife captures are wonderful, I can't help identify the mystery bird I'm afraid. Lovely mosaics again this week thanks for bringing them over to Mosaic Monday.

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  3. I was going to say cormorant. We have them here on the west coast and this looks like another variety.
    How lovely to have yellow flowers spring up in your garden unbidden.

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  4. Love the barn! The yellow flowers are a sunflower. Probably a treat from the birds. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  5. Of course, you know me....I so enjoyed the birds. It's good to read that your grandsons enjoy the pond and the wildlife also. So much these days children [of all ages] seem to want video games, this is so much better!!!

    That patriotic tobacco barn is pretty darned cool too.

    Love the sunflowers [and the boys posing by one] and the white daisies. A vibrant white and dainty.

    As for the cormorants, I believe the double crested and the commonly seen neotropic cormorants are seen together often here in so. Texas. To tell them apart, the double crested have 'skin' around the eye, and the neotropic have feathers around the eye. At least that's what I've been told. [neotropic is also a bit smaller with longer tails]

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  6. Hello, the quilt barn is pretty. I love all the turtles, great line up. The egret and cormorants are wonderful birds, great sightings. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, have a happy weekend!

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  7. Hi Judy. That tobacco barn is pretty special with those flags like that.

    Love the sunflowers and the white daisies. And I think it best to take Annni's advice about that cormorant. She knows her stuff.

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  8. Hello Judy!:) Wow! great captures of the Cormorant, and the turtle line up. Your grandsons are right, those pictures do rather look like
    hippos with a passenger turtle. Love the barns, and sunflowers too!:)
    Have a great weekend!:)

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  9. Wonderful designs on the barn and beautiful flowers.

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  10. Wonderful series. I love it when sunflowers and asters pop up in my yard.... Michelle

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  11. You know I enjoyed this! Very much.

    Your contribution for us birders at I'd Rather B Birdin' this weekend is much appreciated!!

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  12. Awesome barn! Love that patriotic barn quilt! Great shots of the beautiful blooms, and two cutie pies! Loved the cormorant too! Great post!

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  13. you beautifully captured the flying egret ..

    Please visit: http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com

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  14. Nice bird roundup, and I love those little white flowers. They are around here, too. Lots of bees and the remaining butterflies have flocked to them.
    ~

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  15. What a beautiful quilt barn!
    I live on the Texas Gulf Coast and we see many cormorants here. I have never been able to distinguish between the double-crested and the neotropical so I just call them all cormorants. How nice to be able to enjoy the birds with your grandsons.

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  16. I, too thought that photo showed some kind of hippo-monsters! That is a really nice shot of the Cape Cod cormorant! Certainly Double-crested species.

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