Do you see it?  One of the most secretive birds in the US.  It is as big as a small chicken, and loves to hang out in wetland areas hunting frogs and small fish.  Chances are, you will not know it is there until you accidentally flush it from its hiding spot. (:-D That is how I saw these by the way.)

Can you see me?Can you see me?

Here, I'll zoom in a little do you see it now? A small white smudge near the middle of the image.

Here I am! Right here!Here I am! Right here!

Still just too hidden to really make out.  So I will zoom in all the way:

Least BitternLeast Bittern

A Least Bittern.  A common bird in the Eastern US.  But due to it's secretive nature, it is not really seen that much.  They live in the cattails and primarily hunt frogs and fish. Since they cling to the stalks of the Cattails, they can get to  places that other classic water waders can't or choose not to. 

Least BitternLeast Bittern

The bittern's first best defense...is to do nothing. Flight and fight are not what a Bittern is known for.  More like FREEZING is what they do....then flight if the threat continues towards them.

Least BitternLeast Bittern

Which is why they are never really seen till they are flushed.  They have seen you already, and have already frozen...hoping you go another way.  But when you don't they fly to another spot and freeze again.  Sometimes, as the picture of the juvenile demonstrates below, the new spot is not always the most hidden.  But usually in a few seconds they are diving deeper into the weeds and becoming impossible to find.

Least BitternLeast Bittern

So when you are in a area with a patch of Cattail...look deeper, there may be someone looking back at you. :-D

Click on any of the pictures to go to my Gallery of Least Bitterns.  Also, if you would like more information about this elusive bird.  It can be found on Cornell Labs' website All About Birds.

Here is a link to the Bittern.

Sola Deo Gloria

Well Summer is in full swing here in Ohio.  Corn is tasseling, Tomatoes are starting to blush, and the Peaches...oh my are they sweet and juicy! 

You would think that this would be a time for the birds to take it easy, but they are not.  Song birds are feeding working on their second...and in some cases third brood of chicks, raptors are patrolling the skies, and the Canada Geese are making a mess of things...as usual. :-)  There are also birds beginning their migration journeys...the "Fall" migration of shorebirds actually BEGINS in July.  So I begin checking flooded fields and wetlands as well as my state's listserv, and the weather radar as soon as July 1.

Yes I check the radar...it's not just for rain.  You know when the weather forecaster shows a picture of the city and says that all the green you are seeing is "ground clutter"?  That clutter is usually birds or bats. Here is a link to the USGS center in Fort Collins discussing the use of RADAR and migration.  You can actually see this if you go on the the National Weather Service Enhanced Radar Image Loop map.  Starting around 9 pm check the NWS' National Mosaic Map .  You will begin to see blooms of colors all over the map. That would be them. :-) You will not see them in an area where there is a storm due to the NWS filtering out the "clutter", so that the storm will show up better.  Below is an example that I captured from a couple of days ago.

Bird Blossoms

At my local patch was one of those rare little surprises that you only get to see once and a while...and that I hadn't seen since I was in Arizona.  You can read about that trip here.

(As always, select any of the pictures below to go to the gallery.)

An American Avocet was reported at a wetland just a few miles up the road from me at Killdeer Plains.  They will usually be found along the coastline of Lake Eire on their way to the Eastern coast, and all parts South.  Sometimes you will see one or two along the sandy beaches of lakes...when they are not being harassed by humans and dogs...and the occasional Eagle. :-)

American AvocetAmerican Avocet Killdeer Plains, Ohio American AvocetAmerican Avocet Killdeer Plains, Ohio

There are also Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs galore out there. The Greater and Lesser both look about the same...except the Greater is larger.  The bill is a little bigger, the legs are chunkier, and the body is bigger.  Here is a picture of a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs battling for a spot. :

A Pair Of Lessors FightingA Pair Of Lessors Fighting

The Semipalmated Plover is another little shorebird passing through right now. The bird is about the size of a baby duck, and look similar to a Killdeer.  So much so that you could confuse them for babies especially since they often hang out with Killdeer.  Killdeer are part of the Plover family, but they are not the same.

Semipalmated Plover:

Semipalmated PloverSemipalmated Plover

Killdeer:

Killdeer

Ruddy Turnstones are also on their way down.  You will find these in sandy shoreline areas as opposed to the flooded fields and wetlands.

Ruddy TurnstoneRuddy Turnstone

These are only a few of the shorebirds starting to make their way down.  So keep an eye out for some of God's winged wonders heading south for vacation. :-D

Please share, and Have a great day!

Sola Deo Gloria

Well, I said that I would try it and report back. I shared a blog post on Facebook way back at some point of spaghetti stuffed hot dogs. Of course I searched all over my facebook page and couldn't find the original share but I found another example of it here.  To me, bland boring hot dogs being boiled in water, makes them blander...if there could be such a thing. :-D  So I decided to rework it my way. :-D

First getting rid of the bland dogs.  I saw this at my grocery store and figured that it should be pretty good with a tomato sauce.  You can use any sausage you want...well almost any.  You want sausages that have been precooked, like your favorite smoked sausage, something like the kind in the picture below, one of those summer sausages, or even andoue. I imagine you can use something like a bratwurst too, just not RAW. It must be pre cooked, then at least partially cooled so that you can handle it. You will need about a pound for 4 people.  this was 12 oz...but I was serving 3 so it was perfect.  The amount of cooking time will not be long enough to fully cook the raw sausage...bad mojo there. :-D

Use your favorite "cooked" smoked sausage.

Next you eat with your eyes, and nothing to me is worse than that boiled hotdog look, so after slicing the sausages in 1" pieces, I browned them in a little bit of oil.  Then let them cool to touch.  This part is optional, I just like the color of it when it is fried.

Brown in Olive Oil to add color.

I got in a hurry and forgot to take pictures of me stuffing regular sized spaghetti noodles into the sausages...but the regular size spaghetti will go through the sausages without any issue.  I don't know about things like angel hair, but I  imagine that if you are really gentle, it should go through without any issues.  I have also seen them stuffed with different macaroni style noodles, so I would think that the sky is the limit with your noodle selection...except maybe shells...yeah that won't work too well. :-D

Another problem I had was that my sauce pot was too small to fit the spaghetti in so I preboiled them a little so that they would be limber enough to go into my sauce pan...about 1-2 minutes should do...you want them to be just limber enough to go into your pot without breaking...I had a few casualties there...2 minutes is probably the best...either that or a bigger sauce pan. :-D

Boil till limber enough to go into your sauce pan.

This is them in my 2 quart sauce pot...yeah too small...but it worked. They just fit in there.  Once they started cooking, they settled in quite nicely.  I imagine if I do this again, I would do it in a large skillet or maybe as a crockpot dinner.   Now the other important thing here is that you MUST keep your heat low to keep your sauce from sticking to the bottom of your pan.  Also you must resist the urge to stir the spaghetti...I got a few more casualties  from that as well. :-D  That is why I think this will go better in a crockpot. ;-)

The sauce is a mixture of freezer sauces that I had left over.  A homemade meat sauce and a homemade marinara sauce, plus a bout a cup of tomato sauce for the liquid.

Simmer Till Done

The noodles soaked up the liquid from the sauce and the sausage finished cooking.  the cooking time for the spaghetti was 8-10 minutes at a boil. The sausages cooking time was 8 minutes as well, so it was all done at the same time. I was just simmering the noodles so the cooking time was longer...about 12-15 minutes.    when the noodles are done, you are done.  I tested them by pulling one out, and if the noodle didn't break off, it was cooked through...there was a few casualties there as well.  I then tested the noodle by eating it. :-D

Below is the finished work of "art". :-)  Sorry for the messy plate.

A little crusty bread, some Parmesan Cheese, and some fresh herbs will elevate this...but I didn't have any of that so I just dug in.

 This serves three, but there were only two eating lunch today, so more for me. :-D It was delicious!

I would cook more spaghetti to go with the dish because I thought it needed more noodles. that also spreads the meat out so you could serve more with it if you wanted to.

Sola Deo Gloria