Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Yesterday, Mom went out to Tuttle Creek State Park to do some birding with our friend Beth and her Border Collies.  Mom was all kinds of excited that a lot of our seasonal birds are returning.  We thought we'd share a few of the over 1,000 (no joke) photos she took with you for Serene Scenery Sunday.  Ready?

They spotted a Great Blue Heron on the Rocky Shoal and decided to walk out and see how close they could get to him.  Here he is:

Great Blue Heron

Beth has named this one Harold.  He let them get mighty close to him - about 20 feet away, maybe?  They approached him very slowly and spotted a lot more birds along the way!

Here's a bird Mom hadn't seen yet this season - a Great Egret!

Great Egret, flying above the River Pond

That's right.  There have been ... no egrets this Summer.  (Mom made me say that.)

There were quite a few gulls out, too, like this one:

Ring Billed Gull

There might have been some other varieties, but none that Mom was able to shoot.  With her Canon.  I mean "camera".  Whatever.

Further down the Rocky Shoal, Mom spotted these Killdeer:

Killdeer.  Or Killdeers.

Just what is the plural of Killdeer, anyway?

The Double Crested Cormorants are returning, too!  Here's one, doing a fly-by:

Double Crested Cormorant

Also on the Rocky Shoal, Mom and Beth Spotted a pair of Solitary Sandpipers.  Mom was only able to get one in a shot:

A solitary Solitary Sandpiper

Here's why you shouldn't go birding with our mom.  I give you a snippet of her conversation with Beth:

Mom and Beth:  SANDPIPERS!

I put that in all caps, but they basically talk in golf voices out there.

Beth:  Pretty sure they're Solitary Sandpipers!

Mom:  No, not solitary.  I see two of them.  Hahahahaha!

Yes.  Seriously.  Do not go birding with her!

One of birds they were most excited about seeing was the Osprey!!!  They actually saw three of them, which is not common for around here.  Here's our favorite Osprey shot:

Osprey!

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like he just spotted DINNER!  ... or breakfast.  Whatever.

The other major league excitement was this:

Bald Eagle!

Isn't she just beautiful?!!?

Guess who else is back?!!?  Look up!

Pelly-cans!!!

That's not cropped or anything!  A small flock of American White Pelicans have returned and put on quite the aeronautical display for Mom and Beth!  As they banked around, turning back across Mom's field of vision, she got this shot:

American White Pelican - fly-by!

I think he was smiling at Mom!

Another sure sign that the seasons are changing -

Canada Geese

I hope the Canada Geese bring some of those cooler Canadian temps with them!!!

I feel much more serene now - how about you?

"That's a wrap for this week!"

Hey, Harold! I was going to say that!!!

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

Cammie!