Great Horned Owl

I went out in my backyard to do a few things while the sun was shining. As I went out the door, I seen four crows flying across my yard to the tall trees along my lot line. As I was working, they just kept cawing and would not quit. I thought to myself, maybe there is an owl or something nearby that they don't like. I started to walk across the yard and seen what was bothering them. When I see what it was, I ran as fast I could into the house to grab my camera.

I was able to capture this Great Horned Owl, who was making them so mad. He did not like me so close, and flew to another tree. The second picture shows him in the tree with one of the crows descending down to chase him off. He flew further away in a neighbors tree, but the crows stayed with him and would not give up. The crows cawed loudly at him for over 15 minutes.

Finally, they gave up and left him alone. He was then able to sit high up in a tree enjoying the sun. Later when I looked for him, he had moved on. It made my whole day to see him and get a nice picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope this Thankgiving gives you much to be thankful for. May you have a big Tom like this one on your table.

Fall birds

The daylight is waning and the cold weather is gaining on us.  Many of summer's birds have moved south to warmer climates where food will be plentiful.  On warm fall days, birds could be seen filling up on the few bugs still in the area, preparing for their long flights.

We have seen the return of the black-eyed Juncos and know it's a sure sign cold and snow will be here soon.

Dark eyed junco

White-breasted nuthatch with a sunflower seed in it's beak.

This is the same nuthatch.  I was happy in the previous picture the bird let me get so close to photograph  him.  This picture showed me why....he's missing an eye!





A ruby crowned kinglet.  I read the females do not have the red feathers on top of their heads, so I am guessing this was the female.

This is the male ruby crowned kinglet.  He shows his red feathers when he feels threatened.  Obviously, I looked like danger to him.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

The Missouri Botanical Garden



The dome contains tropical plants and a dinosaur exhibit.  The kids loved it and the park hosts birthday parties here.

 On a recent trip, I spent a few hours visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.  What a wonderful place!  I highly recommend it to everyone. 

They have three large water lily ponds and many smaller ones scattered about.  The lillies are in so many colors and combinations.  I never imagined there were so many different ones.  They also grow the giant ones native to Asia.  The pads are easily two feet in diameter with huge white flowers.  I included a few water lily pictures.  It was near noon when I visited and the sun's lighting was harsh.  Also, the lily flowers were often far from the edge where I could stand to photograph them.  I would have given almost anything to put on a pair of waders and get in the ponds for  some closesups!

Not only were the lillies wonderful, I was amazed at the types of gardens (Japanese, Chinese, Victorian, and many more), the variety of flowers, and the insects that were there.  Even a garter snake was seen slithering along a path.  I seen at least three weddings taking place on the day I was there.  It was a lovely place for that.

I am happy to share some of my photos.  I seen so much and took so many photos.  I think if I lived closer to this botanical garden, I would start a blog dedicated just to photos from there. 

Enjoy the photos, but being there in person is the best!  Make sure to bring your camera! 


Not the best shot, but I wanted to show the giant lillies.  They had blown glass balls of many colors and patterns floating in this pond with them.



This is the first blue water lily I had ever seen.  It was gorgeous!



Another beauty!



A Toad Lily.

A Blue Hairstreak Butterfly on a very unique milkweed that had red flowers with yellow centers.

A Skipper butterfly on verbena.  Butterflies and bees are everywhere in this garden.

The center of this lily almost seemed to glow like an ember.

Hope you get to visit this place soon!  See more about this place online at http://www.mobot.org/.