Oyster Cove Osprey Nest Area Is Quiet & Peaceful
Not much has changed around our area since my last post, except for the temperatures dropping about 10+ degrees, making the days’ highs in the 30’s, making it more of what a ‘normal’ winter season is like here at this time. Last night into this morning, we got a dusting of snow, with some rain on it’s way so it’ll disappear quickly. Here’s a shot of our osprey nest early this morning. An occasional tundra swan can be heard coo’ing in the distant. Otherwise it was quiet and beautifully peaceful.
A short while later, a dozen buffleheads arrived to feed around our nest.
An occasional eagle flies by. Canadian geese continue to come and go from CBEC. And the mallards come each evening to the berm for their nightly feedings from a faithful neighbor. In the mix now, I’ve noticed a few black ducks and one cream-colored duck that I have not been able to identify. I’ve wondered if it is a type of albino mallard. Here’s a poor shot of that duck. Anyone know?
Disappointingly, I haven’t seen Blake, our Great blue heron, at all for a few weeks now. Since our season’s migratory birds didn’t arrive, he has been our big entertainment in past posts with his handsome stature and watchful eye. We’ve had quite a bit of southern and westerly winds the last few weeks which is a direct hit to the nest area. With that and the slowly declining temperatures to freezing, maybe he had to find feeding grounds in warmer or less-windy areas. Our weather is forecast for our temps to rise back up to the high 40’s, maybe he’ll be back!
Almost daily on my way to and from work along Route 301 to Delaware, I’ve been sighting more and more snow geese in the air and along the highway in farm fields.
They’ve been slow in arriving to the mid-Atlantic region but there has been a recent exciting record sighting of snow geese at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Milton, Delaware. Estimates have been 150,000 at one time! Can you imagine the sound of all that squawking and flapping?!!! To see a absolutely amazing photo of them taken by western shore Maryland photographer Stephen Talabac, SJT Photography, CLICK HERE. Don’t hesitate to check out all of his website for more awesome photos.
I’ve recently enjoyed visits to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Assateague Island National Seashore, and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. I’ve been anxious to share my photos with you and have been working on them for upload in hopefully the next day or so. While visiting Assateague/Chincoteague, we stayed a few days in Ocean City along the Isle of Wight Bay where a small inlet came in and up to the parking lot. What a treat to catch these next shots.
We had buffleheads……
A pair of American black ducks….
who swam along with the buffleheads….
A Great blue heron….
And a pair of red-breasted mergansers….
For those of you who love bald eagles, Blackwater NWR has their eagle nest cam back up and running after several unfortunate mishaps over the fall/winter; and it’s just in time for watching the parent eagles come and go as they incubate two eggs recently laid. The eggs are due to hatch mid-February, and then the action begins as you get to watch the eaglets grow. Be sure to check-out this amazing glimpse into the life of a bald eagle family! (Click Here)
Until next post, have a super weekend!
