I spent most of June on the river with my brother Mark. We had a great time and a visit from his son Austin. [Gallery]
There were lots of birds! To start we had this fellow right outside our front door for several mornings…
The Gray Catbird is related to Mockingbirds, and it shows!
The Turtles were on the march to lay their eggs…
There were several storms the first week, most with afternoon rainbows. Check out this HDR Panorama… [click to enlarge]
I went up to Pike’s Peak State Park for a walk in the woods. Very pleasant, few people, not many flowers, lots of ferns…
We had a family gathering for my Aunt Katherine’s 90th Birthday…
Mark, Austin and I ventured over to Glen Haven, Wisconsin to partake of Taco Night and a friendly game of billiards…
A pair of Red-Winged Blackbirds had a nest in one of our shrubs. The young birds were up and out about ten days after hatching. I couldn’t get real close because the momma bird was very upset with me (and rightfully so!).
⇐ click to enlarge
I saw Indigo Buntings and Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks three or four times when I was cycling on the backroads. Other birds included…
Austin and I went over to the Motor Mill and it was unexpectedly open for tours! We went from the basement to the attic. It is a very cool building!
I now have a much better idea of how it worked. They think there was a wooden dam and a flume wall that brought the water into the basement (lower right below the grass) where it turned three vertical turbines (two for the grindstones and one for everything else). This Diagram gives some sense of the complexity inside.
After our tour we took a pleasant bike ride on the Pony Hollow Trail and ran into this Eastern Bluebird family…
It was a great day! Even the rain held off until we were off the trail.