September, 2010 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.
This juvenile Great Blue Heron is scanning the waters of the Killbuck Wetlands from its perch, fifty feet up in a tree. The dark crown, dark upper bill, and mottled color on the front of its neck mark it as a juvenile. Apparently it spotted something interesting as it soon flew down to the water. For more sights from the wetlands, see Killbuck Wetlands.
Another Great Blue Heron tends its nest. However, this heron is in Florida See Dora Canal I for birds found along this waterway.
People live beside parts of the Dora Canal and the resulting contacts with the wildlife can be interesting, such as alligators in the front yard. Here a Great Egret is trying its best to blend in with plastic egrets someone has planted along the edge of the canal. See Dora Canal II for other sightings along the canal.
Anhingas are a common sight on the Dora Canal and often can be seen drying their wings, as is this one. See Anhingas for more of these large diving birds.
Ospreys plunge into the water to catch fish and seize them with their talons. Notice the size of the talons on this one. For more Ospreys and other birds see Dora Canal III.
We end this month's edition with late-summer butterflies and flowers of Indiana See Indiana Sights for a tour of beautiful things we sometimes overlook.
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 connection. 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.
The Dora Canal
The Dora Canal winds between two lakes in central Florida, lined by centuries old cypress trees.
2400 X 1600 pixels; 1100K Bytes.
Indiana Wildflowers
Tanya Whitaker sent us this picture of wildflowers in NE Indiana.
3000 X 1688 pixels; 1400K Bytes.
Tricolored Heron
A Tricolored Heron hunts among the roots of a cypress tree along the Dora Canal.
2400 X 1600 pixels; 700K Bytes.
