Meow! There's no place like home!

I am constantly amazed at how far one can travel in search of birds--or anything, for that matter--only to discover they never really needed to go that far. Maybe this should be called the "Dorothy Syndrome?" At any rate, I was reminded again a couple days ago that I don't need to burn up the gasoline at $2.07/gallon in search of birds to watch. I've spent the last couple evenings pleasantly enjoying the activity a whole half mile from my house.

My husband wanted to soak a couple barrels to get the wood to expand, and the best way to do this is to dump them in a lake. This is the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, meaning the glaciers never came and made any lakes. Still, we do have rivers, and one, the LaCrosse River, has been dammed, creating a recreational area, Lake Neshonoc. We went down to the boat landing, where Dick soaked barrels while I went looking, binocs and camera in hand.

My goodness! Yellow Warblers everywhere! American Redstarts right overhead. A cute young Song Sparrow, still without a song but possessed of a really loud chirp and no common sense when it comes to large beings on two legs. Quite entertaining were some young Catbirds, meowing away in the tangled brush. They weren't shy, either, unlike their more wary parents.

In the name of saving nonrenewable energy sources, I plan to ride my bike down here regularly throughout the summer, along with my bike trail route through the wetlands.

There's no place like home, I hear!