The Cranes

We've had this adorable couple visiting us on a daily basis. I've seen them every day for the last few weeks. Jeff wishes they would go somewhere else but he won't actually chase them away. And I don't blame him for not wanting them here, they are tearing up the yard. They dig with their long beaks into the grass and yank up chunks as they dig. It's a little like having the lawn aerated. For now we will enjoy watching their grace as they walk around the yard and their beauty as their wing spans expand as they fly away.

Our New Daily Visitor

We have a fox who walks through our back yard every morning. I usually see his tail before I see the rest of him. He is a good sized fox which I took to mean he is well-fed. This morning I got to see first-hand just how well fed he is.

I saw a flash of his tail out of my kitchen window so I ran to the patio door to get a better gimpse. And there he was, standing right at the end of our deck staring back at me. He was literally 16 feet away. Lucky for me, there was the glass door between us otherwise I would not have been standing there so confidently.

Between his front paws lay his prey, a rabbit spread out on its back. I was mortified, a little sick to my stomach at the sight of the poor dead bunny, yet I was awestruck watching nature play out right in front of me.

I slowly backed away from the patio door to get my camera. Since I know the path of this familiar creature, he would go through my neighbor's back yard, then head southeast toward the field by the park near our house. So once I had my camera in hand, I had assumed correctly that he would already be gone from my back yard and heading towards the park.

I ran out the front door camera-ready. I think I startled him by running towards him so he headed east and crossed the street. I got this shot of him with his prey as he walked away from me.

During the course of the day I took inventory of the rabbits in my yard...Mama bunny - check. Baby bunny number 1 - check. Baby bunny number 2 - check. The rabbit family that lives under my deck is all still here. I think that means this fox will be returning again.

The Hail Storm

The weather was pretty wacky today. First the temperature was over 80, which was a first for this year. Then it got windy, cloudy and the temperature dropped 10 degrees.

Then it thundered for a while but never rained. When it finally started to rain, it hailed more than rained. And it was big hail. It was amazing to watch but a little scary to listen to.

I just had to photograph it coming down. I could not believe how large the ice chunks were. I did fear stepping out too far into the storm and having my glasses get hit. That could be serious.

I was worried about our little robin mama sitting on her nest outside my living room window. I hope she and her eggs are safe there. Luckily, the entire ordeal lasted less than a few minutes.

But I still think I will wait to check on robin mama in the morning.

Chloe's Class Field Trip

I got the opportunity to chaperone one of Chloe's field trips - a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo!

It was great fun. I was responsible for Chloe and one of her classmates and our only assignment was to go out and have fun.

The weather was perfect for a March day. It was in the high 50's and not raining. For March you couldn't ask for any better.

We walked the entire zoo and each of the kids picked out their favorite things at each stop.

I was so glad I got to go.