The moment it stopped raining I climbed the trail behind the house into the woods and took these pics

6-5-09, above our pond, male Pine Warbler, 11 a.m.

6-5-09, end of our logging rd, Eastern Box Turtle, noon

6-5-09, Male Hooded Warbler at end of our logging road, noon sun through leaves made lighting iffy

Ah-a tasty cocoon!..just gotta pull a bit

and a bit more
{{gwi:1368846}}From 6-5-09, birds

..never give up...
{{gwi:1368847}}From 6-5-09, birds

Finally!

Even cocoons make you work to eat them

A female Common Yellowthroat clicked at us from the brush by a Poppy Mnt access road as she rounded up her fledglings

The storms left Friday afternoon, so we camped by the horse pasture where we could listen to the Chuck-will's-widow and watch the stars, then drove up on Poppy Mnt Sat. morning

6-6-09, top of Poppy Mnt, female Fence Lizard, 9:13 a.m.

We found the mountainside that sloped steeply down from the access road, putting us closer to the treetops, and I took photos from the car

6-6-09, top of Poppy Mnt, 1st spring male Summer Tanager, 9:15 a.m.
{{gwi:1368015}}From 6-5-09, birds

Below, a doe and her yearling fawn noticed us and headed down the mnt

Male Prairie Warbler, 9:57 a.m.
{{gwi:1368856}}From 6-5-09, birds

Male Blue-winged Warbler, 10:34 a.m.

Later that day we stopped by the fountain park in Morehead

6-6-09, male and female Purple Martins quarreling, 2:31 p.m.

female Purple Martin

Then we drove over to the Morehead city park marsh where I glimpsed a swimming beaver, 5:48 p.m.

We slept in the tent that night, then went over to the Minor Clark Fish Hatchery in the morning. The Giant Canada goslings are almost grown now
{{gwi:1368875}}From 6-5-09, birds

To my horror, the whole fish hatchery property seemed to be taken over by Common Grackles..not another bird in sight though we searched the back access roads..flocks of grackles were even attacking and hounding the Turkey Vultures that usually hung out for sunning.

Finally, as we were leaving, driving past a thick stand of trees, DB suddenly stopped the car as a juvenile Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew into a low shrub just ahead of us. I took photos from the car window as it hopped around, feeding

6-7-09, fish hatchery, juvenile Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 9:51 a.m.
{{gwi:1368879}}From 6-5-09, birds

As we passed a loop of the Licking River Lagoon I heard the loud singing of a Common Yellowthroat and we stopped the car again

Some of the Giant Canada Geese were starting on second clutches for the year

Some babies were in-between sizes
{{gwi:1368896}}From 6-5-09, birds

When we got home, I accidentally deleted most of photos I'd taken at the fish hatchery. Someone on Twitter said I could buy software to recover the lost images, so I did

For a slideshow of the photos, click http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelbro3/6509Birds#slideshow/5344021451743588738

and click your "F11" key for full screen