Eastern Wild Turkeys, Mustatatuck NWR

As I pulled into Batar Cafe, right outside the main gate to Mustatatuck, to grab a bite to eat last week, there were several Wild Turkeys foraging in and around the cafe's large garden. These are young male Eastern Wild Turkeys, as identified by their reddish heads and wattles hanging from their necks, as well as their protruding beards. Although a small percentage of females have beards also. It appears these males have discovered a prime spot to forage for food, with no less than four to five very busy bird feeders, with various birds dropping seeds almost continuously during my visit.

I've seen Wild Turkeys in my outdoor travels before, but these looked quite a bit more robust, although males are normally considerably larger than females. Something tells me these guys have made this cafe garden home what with all of the trees, shrubs and bushes, not to mention the well stocked bird feeders. For all of you folks along the eastern seaboard, and all of the northeast, including my friends and coworkers at my corporate office which is situated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a mere 100 miles from the seashore, I'm praying for you and hoping Sandy doesn't do major damage. Although from what I've seen on the news so far, it appears some significant damage has already been done and there may be more to come with this evening's high tide. I can't recall when in my life I'd heard reports of two major earthquakes and a tsunami along the Pacific corridor and a major hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, all reported within a 48 hour period. It's been an eventful weather weekend. Perhaps Mother Nature will calm down soon. ENJOY!

Myers Barn

My favorite old barn, historically speaking, sits in the back section of Mustatatuck NWR in south central Indiana. An old log cabin sits in the yard nearer the road. But I truly love the old barn.

Unfortunately, after taking these images from my recent visit there, and dropping them in my software, I realized that the drought had taken somewhat of a toll on the woods around the barn. To see a much greener landscape around Myer's Barn, just take a look at my sidebar as there's an image there taken about 10 years ago one summer. I might add that image was taken with my old Pentax camera using Fuji film. I really miss the vivid colors of slide film, but not the cost to process it. Have a good week. ENJOY!

Where Were You In 2010?

The year seemed to fly by. I don't know where the time went. Did you stay close to home or travel far from home? In my quest to travel back in time to some of the many places I visited, I sought out images from my archives that may not have been posted on my blog. I chose many, many images before finally settling on a select few and then brought them together in a collage just for you.

Looking back at this past year. I traveled several times to Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, in southcentral Indiana, to view the wildlife in the wetlands. I visited the nearby arts and crafts village of Nashville, Indiana, in Brown County, to browse the shops and lunch at my favorite restaurant, Artist's Colony Inn. There were quick jaunts to Lexington's Bluegrass Region, one snowy February weekend, and to historic Bardstown, Kentucky, to capture images of My Old Kentucky Home, in late fall.



Of course, there were frequent visits to nearby Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest located in Clermont, Kentucky. I shared photographs of the purple foxgloves blooming in the Arboretum gardens in spring, captured many images of the water lilies basking in the summer sun in the pond, and least I forget, remember that beautiful golden sunflower I photographed outside Bernheim's cafe, where I would take a break from the sweltering record breaking summer heat and grab a quick bite of lunch. Best of all, I planned a week's long trip and ventured to Cape Cod to photograph the little towns of Sandwich, Chatham and Yarmouth, and viewed their harbors filled to the brim with every shape and size of boat. But, the real highlight of my vacation was the day trip to Nantucket Island, where I spent hours walking along the Boat Basin, shopping in town and touring the island on one of the many tour buses. What a trip to remember!

It's been a busy year and a great one in many ways. But we must keep moving forward. And there's a new year coming. So again, I ask you, where were you in 2010? I invite you to click on the image to view a full screen version. ENJOY!