Dawn, I just found it on a Canadian frog id site, it had a good picture. It's a PICKEREL frog! So cute. They were only about an inch, so I guess they have some growing to do before they reach their whopping 2 inch size... Chicka, we decided to take Gretchen along as long as we still have her. She's nine yrs old now and starting to have fat lumps and cysts and stiff joints. Not that you'd know when you see her race around in the water or on a mountain trail! So we take the canoe and have her sit in the middle, instead of the kayaks. We don't go on long hikes anymore because of our own joints, so that suits her well. And she just looooooooooves all the pettin' and lovin' of just about everybody on any campground. She's been so bored since we got back! Only three people to cater to her! So, btw, anybody on the way to Northern Maine from south of here or west of here comes within a few miles or so of our house. So that's going to be a required pit stop! For those that actually ever do what they threaten to do! And the ones heading for the seacoast can take a little detour! :) Mary

Thank you so much!! I will do that. First I better tell you the area we're in. We live in Illinois between the Mississippi River and Rock River in the Quad Cities (Ever hear of the Rock Island lines or John Deere of Moline, Illinois?...well, we're from the Rock Island/Moline area.) Here is the wading bird that's so dark looking. I'm so sorry these photos are so small and hard to see...there was a huge marshy area between me and the birds. I'm in the market for a better zoom lens, but WOW have you seen the price of them?? This is the swooper...some sort of plover or sandpiper maybe? At first I thought it was a swallow of some sort...then when I saw the photo I thought maybe a killdeer, but I don't think so. Sorry these are poor photos too...it flashed by me so quickly, I just snapped away as a spur of the moment thing! Would someone please confirm that this is a female redwing blackbird? This one was from a different day in the woods. There were lots of orioles, bluebirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, and a myriad of other birds in this area. I was wondering if it could be a female oriole...the tail doesn't seem long enough. Again, sorry for the quality, it was a long way away from me. I did unspeakable things to this photo to get it to even show any markings but the color is just not there. Thanks so much for any help! Ginni (the bird challenged)

Thanks for all the kind comments! Since these photos I was able to get a few more migration photos before the rain set in, but kept hoping I could get some more. We spent one weekend at a family reunion in IN, then worked out of town as extras in the Disney movie Secretariat during two very cold, windy weeks (long hours, miserable work, but at least I got to see John Malkovich and Diane Lane). This weekend coming up might have some sun, but I've not seen any migrants for awhile, so our migration action may be over.

Not surprised about your cam-we've not had one single IR cam work, and even our trusty Non-typical Cuddeback flash cam went beserk, altho I suspect animal tampering. The same day my cam broke, a neighbor's dog went beserk barking at dawn, so he turned it loose. Jeff said he and his two sons saw a "black panther" stick its head around the barn, give the dog one swipe across the face, then walk off into the woods without a backward glance. He said it had a "3 foot tail." I was nervous about our dogs, but he said the cat only attacked in self-defense and didn't kill the dog tho he had to 2 take it 2 the vet for stitches. I kept reminding myself that jaguars don't attack people last night while we were sleeping in our screen tent with front flap open when I kept hearing it (?) bawling in the woods behind our house. It happened 5-6 times over two hours time-each time all the dogs in neighborhood would go beserk. Luckily, none of our dogs are loose. I'm still waiting to get my cam back. Since most of the birds spooked and avoided the new chair blind, even tho it was hidden in the brush, I'm going to try out a new bird blind prototype invention idea this a.m. that should make me "invisible" and draw birds to me at the same time.