• Friday-What'sUP June 5 - 11:00 pm

It looks like the Pasty Cam has gone to the birds again today. Both these photographers had to be quiet, still and have plenty of patience to capture photos of familiar birds here UP North.

Frederic W. Koski snapped the first two shots of a Northern Harrier in flight. These hawks are easily recognizable due to the long wings and tails they sport, along with the slow, low to the ground flight they use when hunting for something to eat.

Our other patient picture taker today, is Z-Man. It looks like he snuck up on this Ruffed Grouse, without making a sound and captured it unaware. I love the angle he took this at, showing the tuft of feathers sticking up like a crown on the Partridge's head. Fantastic photography guys, thanks for sharing them with us!

WOW...fantastic pictures!!!

Hawks are good! They pick up those nasty looking snakes, lol!!!

I'll go with that Deb S! Last Sunday I watched a red tail hawk swooped down close to our house and carried away a huge bullsnake. That hawk can make regular stops here anytime!

Fantastic!

Great pictures. Janie that must have been something to see.

What's that old saying? "The best tings in life are free"? I so love those photos! Thanks everyone. I Had a magic morning myself. One of our B&B guests and I witnessed a bald eagle fly by us here on our deck, not 40 feet away, I swear! Also saw a single pelican, a blue heron. several vultures doing acrobatics! And all the usual bird calls I hear all day in spring. All treasures from the Creator!

Great pictures -- all three of them -- like something you'd see in a magazine. Thanks so much for snapping them and sharing them! The second one especially is spectacular, with the harrier silhoutted against the blue sky.

I thought for a moment that third picture was the ol' "Partridge in a bare tree", but no.

Although the Ruffed Grouse is frequently referred to as the "partridge". This is technically wrong!

No "grousing" allowed!



P.S.: It is called a Ruffed Grouse 'cuz it wears a ruff:

ruff (noun)
1. fancy pleated collar: a separate collar of starched pleated linen or lace worn by men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries

2. neck hair or feathers: a growth of long, colorful, or bushy hair or feathers on the neck of a bird or other animal

Brooke, it was nice to see the snake leave, I waved goodbye to it. That thing was squirming and twisting trying to free itself.

Janie, you know bullsnakes are good, devour things like mice (I think?)

My idea of snakes changed when there was a 4 ft. long fox snake lurking behind our air conditioning unit. When our Doberman Pinscher was alive, he was the one who found it and killed it. I do know snakes kill mice, rabbits, etc., and so do hawks. But hawks are much prettier and easier on the heart to come upon than snakes are! lol!

Janie:
We lived in Illinois for 30 years. Having Fox snakes come up from the creek on occasion never was fun. They resemble a rattler to the untrained eye. Fake rattles and all. You can keep them.

Here in southeastern Indiana, across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a few of the 4th and 5th generation local folks see snakes quite regularly, especially on the weekends. The snakes they describe very likely are the result of alcohol-stimulated imaginations. LOL!

I rather like snakes, as one of my favorite memories of early childhood was hunting garter snakes with Dad. He wouldn't let us harm them; we played with them then released them into his garden where they helped control mice. And after the damage those @#$%^! voles did last winter to my plants I will happily take all your snakes. (I also like hawks because they eat more voles than snakes.)