This, That and The Other......

We had rain off and on all day yesterday...  mostly just quick showers, but the occasional downpour.  Bill and Kirk worked on the new road all day getting ready for the delivery of the culvert.  They have a pump running constantly to try to drain the area where they're working.  Kind of a losing battle at times.  Bill wears his knee-high rubber boots when mucking around in the "soup".  I went down to take photos of the progress and sunk in the mud up to my ankles....  I wasn't wearing knee-high boots.  No pictures of all those goings on yet...  those will wait for another day.

There's been a lot of activity in the nesting box that Bill put over the garage door where we're parked.

Technically, this is a bluebird box, but all the boxes here are inhabited by tree swallows.

I can't figure out if the first brood are fledging...  and flying in and out...  Or if the mated pair are setting a second nest.  I've seen 4 birds flutter in and out of the box at the same time but there doesn't seem to be any territorial fights ...  guess I should read up on their behavior.

I was driving towards Delima Pond yesterday afternoon and saw a dark spot alongside the road ahead of me.  Grabbing my binoculars, this is what I saw...

A Ruffed Grouse

Only here they are called "partridge".

I could see something in the road scurrying around closeby and thought maybe the grouse had chicks with her.  

A closer look revealed...

Two, maybe three, Spotted Sandpipers.

I wasn't sure how many because they blended in with the gravel road perfectly.

They weren't full-size adults, but they weren't fluffy chicks either.  Of course I had hoped they were Upland Sandpipers, but...  nope.... they were not.

The rain finally slacked off to just a light sprinkle...and 

we got a hint of a rainbow....

This was taken as I stepped out the door and looked over towards a couple of beaver ponds.

You have to look close to see the colors.

 I checked my game cameras this morning as usual... 

One of the cameras caught this Mama Bear and one cub.  I have my cameras set to take 3 photos, 1 second apart when it senses movement...  so there could have been more cubs that didn't get in the pictures.  

I always get a kick out of these kind of photos...

Remember the Gary Larsen comic strip, Far Side?  This reminds me of one of my favorites....

the eyeball showing up in the car's side mirror that says "Objects in Mirror are Closer than Appear"

Guess I should head down the road and attack some Spotted Knapweed...  time to get busy.

The End!

That's All For Today!