A pheasant post....

These are not the greatest pics...the pheasants were moving and I was excited...

You would not believe how many there were...

Heck I was there, and I only half believe it.

 They were spread out, some running in all directions...others tried to kind of settle into the snow and hide but when I tried to get closer they would take off, too.

These are all different birds...except for this last shot and I know it is a repeat of one.

If I told you how many Roger counted you wouldn't believe it, and I know he did not count all in the two of the groups.  They were right close to the road...in little willow bushes that grow along the ditch.  We saw all of these within about half a mile.

Remember you can click to expand the view.

They just kept coming...

Last week when Sarah and Lorelei spent a couple nights, we ran through the strip pits...first we saw what we thought were a couple hen pheasants, but on second thought for me, I am wondering if they were half grown pheasants. I didn't get a chance to take any photos, they were just there and gone. We went on a mile or two farther and saw this female and a young one crossing the road ahead of us...I took the above photo through the windshield.
We were paused and oops, there came another one!
Oh, and here are a couple more! I was out of the Rav for the last two shots, but they are still nothing to brag about. Yet I am happy to even have gotten them. This is the first time we have seen young pheasants out there...I suppose they are called chicks but don't know for sure.
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I canned a couple more jars of tomato juice last night...brings my total to eight. I am having a hard time not opening a jar....just so hard. But I know I crave it so bad in the winter and the stuff you buy just does not do the trick for me. Maybe because they are processed a little too much and made from concentrate. I guess I should be thankful I am the only one that likes it.

I also got the quilt sandwich made using the quilt top I showed two or three days back. Getting everything stretched out on top of each other and then doing all that pinning is the part I don't like to do in quilting. There is no easy way to do it at my house--I have to get down in the floor on hands and knees and then when it comes to the actual pin basting, I am on elbows and knees...I pin about every 5 or 6 inches....sometimes a little closer....talk about getting stiff.

Normally, I take a break or two with a quilt that big, but there was a show on TV I wanted to see so I pinned for almost two (2!!!!) hours straight and just barely got done in time. By the time I finished, I felt like head was right down between my shoulders....and have had a stiff neck since. But it is done and I enjoy the quilting by machine. I think I am doing diagonal lines through the blocks with the red, and then something else in the blocks that are made of tans....some kind of free-motion work.

I do my quilting on a regular sewing machine...well, it is a Juki and has a little more space to the right of the needle than most. Most people think quilting on a sewing machine is easy until they try it. It is harder than it looks, specially when it comes to a big quilt.But I am going to wait a few days and get over some of this soreness.

A quick post....

I ran to the strip pits tonight...it was a little cool...did not hear a single frog nor see a single turtle....but seen all kinds of male ring-necked pheasants. Well, it was under a dozen but still seeing 6 or 8 is a lot for me. And the minute they see me, in my Rav4, they take off at a fast walk. When I get near, they first duck down till it is almost impossible to see them. BUT, if I just pause a few seconds their heads come back off and they take off running again.
There were several killdeer....they must have nests the way they act. Or else are very close to nesting. I think they are such a pretty little bird.
Every night for the past week, at least on the nights we were home, the lower the sun has gotten, the more stunning the sunset has been. That is why I ran out there tonight...but this right here was as pretty as it got. Mind you, I do think this is beautiful....but usually if I am out there it is like watching a picture show with the sky changing dramatically over the last half hour or so. It just didn't happen tonight.

It was worth going though....I saw deer, geese, blue herons, and one of the swans...Oh, and I saw the American Bittern but only got a quick shot of it as it flew away. I saw from behind sitting at the edge of the water from several feet back....so I pulled up with the clump of grass between us, and got out of the car and walked over within 5 feet of the clump of grass and could not spot it.

I forgot and had on nice shoes, and Roger had cleaned the Rav so I really did not want to get real muddy. I turned around and headed back the Rav...and turned around to look one more time and up it flew right from where I knew it was but could not see. That shows how well camouflaged they are.

More from the strip pits....

After I saw the swans in the previous post, I did not see another thing till I had about given up. Normally, I do not even go a quarter of a mile from the pond the swans were on till I see pheasants. Not last night...not a single one there close to the pond. Not any flying across the road...I crept along for a couple or three more miles...the only things stirring were red-winged blackbirds and robins...I was about ready to leave when I spotted this little lady out of the corner of my eye. I was almost past her, so backed up. All the time I am backing up, she is running away. I finally paused and tried to capture her....she was moving so fast I could not focus on her. You can still tell what she is, but that is about all. There was also a male ring-necked pheasant but he was on the far side...to far for my poor lens.
After the pheasant, this strip pit was just a few feet farther...it was teaming with life. I first noticed these two blue herons. Again, they are too far for a very good photo, but at least this are a record of what I saw. And I witnessed both of them catching and eating a fish, but was not quick enough to capture them eating them.
Next I noticed this little wading bird...I am not sure what he is. I think a sandpiper of some sort.
There were several of them, but this one was the only one close enough to capture.

There were these diving birds, but my photos are too poor to even show on here..but they will dive completely under the water for several seconds and come up several feet away...you never know where they are going to pop up....

I also showed another prized capture on my Time Stand Still blog...besides that, on the way out there was a herd of 10 deer....and I saw four more male pheasants.

Edited to add: Thanks go to Montanagirl who suggested this might be a common snipe...after googling it, I do believe she is right.

Evening glow....

I have been missing some great sunsets...every night I have looked to the west and there has been this fabulous golden glow. It has been indescribable, and will remain so even though I went to the strip pits again to try to capture it.
I saw a blue heron taking off as soon as I turned down the road to enter the area, no chance for a photo. But then I noticed a pheasant..no chance to get a close picture. Just seen his head. So I crawled along, and eventually saw two more that were together, these were too far away for my poor lens. I watched them a little while and continued on and saw the one above. This is not the greatest picture but it will do. By the time I headed home, I had seen either 7 or 9 pheasant. The reason I say 7 or 9 is that I think I saw the same two twice...all were male. I wonder where the females are hiding.
The evening glow had just barely started when I took the photo of the pheasant...I am not sure you can tell it in it but I think you can see its beginning in this photo. I thought about calling it The Long Shadow....
And two more of the sunset itself! Even though it didn't have quite the same color that I have been missing, it was gorgeous. I hope you enlarge them for full effect!

I wish everyone could have been there...the spring peepers were in full voice, red-winged blackbirds were every where...it was just so peaceful.

And I almost forgot to tell this...I was creeping along retracing my route....the one I had just went down and there was a fishing rod-n-reel in the road. How I had not run over it on the way down the road is more than I know because it was on that side! It was not near a strip pit...have no idea how it got there. It came home with me...it isn't a good one or anything. One of the eyes were bent....I bent it back in place. If there were a local bait shop I would leave it there, or else tell them if someone comes in looking for one to call me. We have lost stuff out like that, only it was a more cherished item and it is not a good feeling.

And the fight is on!

We spent the yesterday day with Sarah and Lorelei, and got to see Jeremy when he came home from work. This is Lorelei and I, taken late with a cell phone....she loves sleeping on me like this. We almost took a nap together earlier in the day... I was so worn out when we came home that I barely got on the computer. And I just couldn't even make a decision about what to post on here, so didn't do anything.

Please enlarge these for better viewing!

Today we did a little bit of yard work, and had leftover for our evening meal. I got to checking prices of water softeners and dishwashers on here....while trying to keep an eye on the sun. When I thought it late enough, we headed out to the strip pits. On the way we saw deer and turkey, no place to pull over to take any photos. But we no more than got started at the strip pits when I spotted these two ring-necked pheasants.
These are for sure not the most in-focus shots, yet they are better than I hoped for. I was sooo excited at getting to witness this. It is a miracle I got anything at all.
I have never witnessed a fight before.....
and so consider myself blessed to finally see it for myself.
These are in the sequence they were shot...I did get a couple more but they are not good, and by then they noticed me. They took off shortly after this shot. We did see one more pheasant before we came home but it was too late, and I couldn't get close enough anyway.

Other than these, we saw several beaver, all in the water....had one hit the water with his tail when he seen me. At the other strip pit we used to fish at, I seen them regularly, but that has probably been at least 10 years ago.

And we saw lots and lots of deer there! None are very good shots but will try to post one or two in the coming days. Only seen one owl and one Northern Harrier, both very late and both were flying. So no shots at all of them.

Another subject from the strip pits

I have seen pheasants out at the strip pits before, but this is the first one I have seen out there in several years. This is just two photos of the same bird...it was running away from me and this is the best I could do. I was still thrilled to capture it at all.