September, 2008 Edition


We open with a pair of birds that are truly "exotic." These are Hoopoes, relatives of the Kingfisher. These birds were photographed on Kitchner's Island near Aswan, in the Nile River, Egypt. They range widely over Europe, Africa, and Asia, as seen on the guide to the right. Thanks to Cindy Smith for this fine picture which she took on a recent trip.

This Carolina Wren suddenly finds itself on the outside of the bird feeder looking in. See Wrens and Bluebirds to find out why.

"Junior," our resident father Barred Owl, is deep in his molt in this August photo. His feathers are messy and he's doing his best not to be seen. He may also be in mourning as we have not seen his mate, Penelope, since last spring. We fear something has happened to her, leaving him alone. Barred Owls mate for life. He may find a new mate this winter, we will have to wait and see. Barred Owl Family History has the story of this owl's life.

He is shown quietly searching the woods for a meal (left), and unfolding his wings to take flight (below).


A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovers just before landing at a feeder. See Hummingbirds in Flight to see more of these remarkable fliers

This is a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird giving us a good look at the reason the species is so named. Only the male has the red throat. For more pictures of this fine specimen and others of the species, see Hummingbirds at Rest. Our thanks to Mick and Connie Hardy for all the fine Hummingbird pictures this month.

A juvenile Cooper's Hawk considers his next move after making an unsuccessful attack See Hawk Attack for the rest of this story.

A Chipmunk is busy gathering food on a warm summer day. See Rodents for more pictures of this cute chippy and a relative.

This duck had us consulting many references to figure out what it is. See Waterfowl for the answer and another water bird.

Screen Savers

This month, Birds of Madison County brings you two 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.

Canada Geese

A score of Canada Geese cruise the Killbuck Wetlands on a summer day.

3456 X 2304 pixels; 1272K Bytes.

August Flowers

Wild daisies bloom in the Killbuck Wetlands.

3456 X 2304 pixels; 906K Bytes.

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.


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