Easy like Sunday morning

This weekend has been so nice and relaxing. The weather is decidedly Fall-like, with that painfully blue sky and warm sun. Ahhh.
First,I had to go to RAPTOR to get some more pictures for our "project", and since I had heard of an American White Pelican at the Oxbow I decided to take Bailey back to my Mom's, and Geoff needed to work, so I took Lorelei along, too. That sentence was way too long.

I didn't see the pelican (which would be a life bird for me....doesn't that seem ridiculous, that I have never seen a pelican? It seems ridiculous to me), but the Oxbow was quite birdy. The only binoculars I had with me were my first pair...not very large and not very powerful.
What I did see:

A group of three greater yellowlegs. I love the way they walk like they don't want to get their feet wet, like marching.

A group of unidentified ducks, using their bills to spoon through the muck. The Oxbow's water level hasn't been this low in about 20 years, so it's a good year for shorebirds.
I also saw a few great egrets, a big flock of killdeer, a double-crested cormorant (I almost typed doulbe-breasted!) and about a hundred great blue herons.

I found most of a skeleton. Anyone want to guess at its previous owner?
All I could tell is that it wasn't a fish. A goose? A duck?
The breast bone was as large as my hand.
Science Chimp! We need an intervention!

Bailey stayed in the car, but Lorelei was happy to bird with me.
This part of the Oxbow is usually under about 6 to 8 feet of water. Now it's covered in sedges.

It felt very comfortable to walk on. Smooshy.
And Lorelei was so delighted in it, she laid down and said, "Ooooooh...".

I decided not to mention the possibility of snakes and frogs and bugs crawling around in the sedge. Why ruin her moment?

By the way:
Correction on my last post...Cooper's hawks have a "cross" shape, sharpies have a "mallet" shape. I was thinking "cross" and typed "mallet".
Brain cramp.

Geoff had a marathon to do a book signing for, near his parents' house, and he had to be there really early in the morning, (another really awkward sentence...Laura? Correct that for me, will ya?) so he took the girls up and stayed with them overnight. I had the place to myself! WHOOT!
I did some home projects that I have been putting off, and just enjoyed myself.
I slept until about 10 am today. It was fabulous.