Herons, Cormorants and Rudy the Ruddy Duck
Although I’ve not been able to venture anywhere except to/from work, my community ‘loop’, and my balcony this past week, our feathered friends are on the move every morning and evening no matter where you are or go! I’ve accumulated a series of several birds and decided to post a few in this post and publish, before moving on to the next groups.
My first share is the Green Heron. I was very excited to see him perched on top of the tennis court fence on one of my car loops. I stayed in the car and took these photos through the fence so you may slightly see the fence image over him. I was impressed how they turned out; I was sure if I got out of my car, he would fly. The sacrifices & decisions we make and hope for the best! I’ve found the Green Heron to be very flighty compared to the Great Blue Heron; and although this one had his eye on me a few times, he didn’t seem to care about me. Of course, he knew I couldn’t scale the tennis court fence and get him. LOL
The Green Heron grows up to 18″ tall where the Great Blue up to 46″. Big difference!
Green Heron - struttin' his stuff!
Green Heron - perched on top of a tennis court fence
Green Heron
Green Heron
Alongside the tennis courts on a separate day in the marshy inlet, a Great Blue Heron was stationary. As I moved closer on foot, I tried to get directly in front of him without falling in, but he still wouldn’t budge or look my direction. So this next shot became the best I could capture of him.
Great Blue Heron
As I proceeded to get out of the slippery mud, I turned & glanced back at him through the reeds. He had turned and was looking at me! I quickly took the one next shot and kept going, I was sinking in the mud! LOL I do believe he was teasing me. In fact I could have swore I heard a chuckle. 😉
Great Blue Heron - teasin' me
Yesterday morning at sunrise, another Great Blue Heron was down on the berm at our osprey nest. It was foggy and you could feel the dew in the air. He was all fluffed up (maybe airing out his feathers?), walking around on top of the rocks, not at the water, picking up and dropping different sticks that had washed up from the tides. None seem to meet his criteria for nesting material. He went onto the grass and began preening his feathers for the next half hour while I checked back and forth on him before I had to leave.
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Large flocks of Double-crested Cormorants are heading north most mornings. I’m guessing there’s a darn good breakfast buffet up the Bay! The next shots are from three separate mornings just after sunrise where I was fortunate to have them fly over me instead off in the distance. For one morning’s share, I couldn’t decide between photos 2 & 3, so I posted both.
Double-crested Cormorants
Double-crested Cormorants
Double-crested Cormorants
Double-crested Cormorant
My final photos are the Ruddy Duck who I’ve posted about in a couple previous posts. He has continued to reside in our marina and is just too pretty and photogenic not to share again. Since he’s there most mornings and evenings on my loop, I started calling him Rudy. Makes sense, huh?! The first five shots were part of nine total I took of him one evening when I found him napping, then he gave me a few flirty photo ops, and then he went back to his napping. I think he’s gotten accustomed to my presence, this time he didn’t even mind that I got out of the car and went on to the dock to take his picture. In the background of the photos, our pool fence is reflecting on the water.
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck - back to his nap
The next two were taken after sunrise another day with the pink flowering trees reflecting their color on the water around Rudy.
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
Another early morning with Rudy still asleep on my arrival.
"Rudy" the Ruddy Duck
My next posts will include red-winged blackbirds, mallards, and barn swallows; and I’m also working on an area osprey update & our Oyster Cove Osprey Depot nest platform. Our platform is still just a perch for any one that needs a rest, although several osprey think it’s theirs. And I’ve also seen osprey grabbing talons-full of the remaining dirt/stick mixture that’s good for packing the inside of a nest. So we still have activity, though not much.
As always, thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!
