Nesting... and the races... and other severe stuff...

Another Monday, another "Odd Shots Monday" shot. This time, my shot would most likely fall under the rare part of odd... not really just odd. This bird's nest is located in bf's car port. We actually watched as the mommy and daddy birds worked feverishly to build the nest, and then, bf actually noted the eggs in there and wanted me to photograph that. Well, by the time we finally made it there for the shot, I saw feathers in the picture. I had to hold the camera over my head, so we climbed to get closer. About 4 baby birds filled that little nest. Bf made mommy bird sounds to get the birds to crane their necks... teasing those poor little babies. It was SO sweet though!!! In order to participate in "Odd Shots", visit Katney's blog. I will post about the very active and deadly weather weekend shortly. (Sadly, I was able to keep that sentence from last week's post... what a horrific year of destructive weather...)

First let me share a little of my weekend with you... as I mentioned, bf and I were headed to the drag races. Turns out it was a pretty big drag racing event, a televised NDRL drag race... for what it's worth. It was a first for both of us, but we were actually both quite surprised how much we actually enjoyed it. It was amazing how fast these vehicle were going! 191.02mph in 3.947 seconds! Amazing. We did witness one wreck, as the driver lost control while manually shifting since he had no 3rd gear. He fish tailed a ways and then slammed into the wall. The driver was ok. All the race fans around us were picking on me for taking more pictures of the sky than the races. lol. Who me? Here are some of my favorite shots from the races.We had a great time, and if anyone reading ever has the opportunity, I HIGHLY recommend it.

As for the weather... this weekend was a ferocious weather weekend. Ma Nature went on a rampage all through the plains on Saturday and all over Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio on Sunday. For many, it turned out to be a nightmarish Mother's Day. I have heard that there were 22 deaths attributed to the tornadoes. In addition to that, the images of destruction being shown on TWC today presented an unimaginable glimpse into the horror that lies ahead for these folks. Buildings obliterated. Vehicles crushed. Homes and livelihoods destroyed. This year's tornadoes are historic. Saturday's storms included a horribly destructive and deadly EF-4 tornado in Missouri. Reports on the Missouri portion of the storm are located here. Unlike previous storms, I will not offer a list of all the storm reports... With 52 tornado reports on Saturday and 20 on Sunday, it would be much easier just to direct you over to the NWS main page. From there, you can select the area of the country that interests you the most and get the local survey results for those areas. The Springfield, MO NWS office did do a great synopsis of the storm on May 10, which is located here. For a summary of the storm reports, feel free to click on the two graphics below.
For Saturday:For Sunday:God be with those who have been impacted by this catastrophic outbreak.

Just to revisit the trend analysis graphic that just amazes me. This puts us almost at the total number of tornado reports from the ENTIRE year last year, and we are currently only 1/4 of the way through the peak tornado season! This year is definitely making history.

Bf and I did go out and "storm chased" a little thunderhead that blazed on through the area... didn't catch anything (at all) except a little dust storm from the ferocious winds we were experiencing all day. We really didn't expect to catch anything, but having just been issued the second tornado watch of the day, we figured why not... we were headed out anyhow. The next local weather event is projected to arrive... THURSDAY and Friday. Sheesh.Have a blessed Monday,
~Dewdrop