Our Backyard

Today we had about two inches of new snow. It was a wet snow that stuck to all the trees. This picture cannot do it justice.

This Northern Cardinal visits us every day. He and the female are never far apart. It is still winter here so it is nice to have some color.

FAMILY

This is Kylie, the newest member of the famly. She is one and a half here.

This is my grandson Gabe. It was taken in FEB. 08







This my grandson Caleb. He was almost two at the time, and now he is 8. But I love this picture so I had to share.




This is the whole family in the year 2002. Jeff and Karissa, Todd and Judi, Judi is Holding Caleb, Megan and Andy's son. Megan and Andy are the last couple on the right.

Here from 2004 is Sandie, Judi, Bob, Karissa and Jeff. This was taken on the dock at our cabin in northern Minnesota

Birds from St Marks NWR

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge is an amazing place. Sandie and I often drove down from Tallahassee after work. I'd spend every free moment there if I could. It was not uncommon for us to log 75 species in a day of looking. Many full days we logged nearly 100 species and I'm sure we never left with less that 50!

BROWN PELICAN silhouette near the lighthouse at St Marks NWR.

BALD EAGLE silhouette at sunset.

This image of a SOLITARY SANDPIPER was digiscoped using a Cannon P3 and a Nikon land & Sky scope. Digiscoping is a process where you physically attach your camera to your spotting scope. It can be a little cumbersome, but sometimes the results are worth it!

This is the EASTERN KINGBIRD.

This is an immature WHITE IBIS.

This is the GREAT EGRET.

These baby GREAT HORNED OWLS were found living in an abandoned BALD EAGLE nest. The nest was along way off the main road in St Marks NWR so this Digiscoped picture from the car window tripod is very grainy.

This BLACK NECKED STILT was feeding in the mud flats. When we first "discovered" black necked stilts we had already been going to St Marks regularly. We thought we had found a new exotic. Later we found them to be one of the more common birds in the refuge. Once we saw but never photographed baby Black Necked Stilts. They were amazing, little brown speckled chicks with LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG legs. Too cute.

Snow Pictures

These snow drifts are along interstate 90 East of Rochester, MN.

This picture is taken on the Great River Road north of Guttenberg, Iowa.

This picture was taken 2-23-08. West of Luxumberg, Iowa. They have had a heck of a winter down there. That is a pick up truck on the road ahead, notice the snow is almost as high as the roof of the truck!

Intro

Ok... Like most other blogs I've seen, this one starts " This is my first attempt... Blah blah blah

You may be wondering how this page got it's name. My wife and I were married in St Marks Wildlife Refuge in Florida's Big Bend Area, the far South Eastern edge of the Mississippi Flyway. We have now "migrated" like so many of the birds we love to the far northern part of the flyway, our lovely state Minnesota.

The purpose of this blog is to post pictures from Sandie and I so our family and friends can view them. We also plan to post our news, ideas, and views. I hope you enjoy this spot and that the content will encourage you to come back often.