July, 2009 Edition

These are birds we have observed in and near our home in Madison County, Indiana. Most have been found in the city of Anderson along the banks of Killbuck Creek and White River, or in Shadyside Park, including the wetlands and the Shadyside Lakes. For a detailed, annotated map of the area see map and directions.


A June thunderstorm races across the croplands of Madison County with gusty winds and dangerous lightning strikes. This view looks west in the central part of the county. Thanks to Brian Boyer for sharing this great picture with us.


Catbirds are hard to photograph because they favor thickets and brushy places. We hear them much more than we see them. This one was good enough to come out in the open and pose for us for a minute. See Summer Sights for another picture of this bird and other birds and insects we see in the summer.


This young Tree Swallow is nearly ready to leave the nest, but it's waiting for something. See Hardy's Birds to find what that may be.


A cluster of Golden Ragwort blossoms well above the forest floor. We often show the early spring flowers but ignore those that come later. This year we want to share some Late Spring Flowers with you.


This beautiful female Baltimore Oriole was snapped by Mick Hardy. For more pictures of Orioles that the Hardys have photographed, see Baltimore Orioles I.


A male Baltimore Oriole visits the Hardy's fruit feeder. See Baltimore Orioles II for more of these birds.


Screen Savers

This month, Birds of Madison County brings you three high resolution pictures. Clicking on one of the images below will cause the corresponding high resolution image to be downloaded to your browser. You may save this image by dragging it to your desktop or using the "SAVE" command on the File menu. These images are large and may require a little time to download, depending on the speed of your Internet connect. The size of the picture in pixels and of the file in bytes is given for each picture.

AOL Users should use Internet Explorer instead of AOL's browser to download these images.

These images are suitable for use as a screen saver or desktop. They may also be printed in large sizes for personal use only.

Bearded Vulture in the Alps

This picture of a Bearded Vulture was taken by Bob Turner as he leaned over the edge of a cliff, 10,000 up in the Swiss Alps.

2400 X 1600 pixels; 548K Bytes.


Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly

A sliver-Spotted Skipper butterfly feeds on a dandelion blossom next to the White River.

1600 X 1200 pixels; 212K Bytes.


Spiderwort

The Spiderwort blooms in the shaded woods near Killbuck Creek.

2000 X 1500 pixels; 264K Bytes.


Past month's editions of Birds of Madison County may be viewed from the archive. They may be accessed by clicking on the appropriate month in the list below.



Award Winning Web Site

We were honored to receive the East Central Indiana Audubon Society's Conservation Education Award for the work done through this web site. We thank the Audubon Society for this recognition and promise to continue our efforts to bring you interesting bird-related pictures.

We hope you enjoy the pictures. Your comments are welcome and may be sent to us at this address:

Tom and Jean Harbron


Birds of Madison County thanks the Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club for providing the hosting web site.