Photos by Donna

This past week we continued to enjoy a variety of interesting birds from our backyard balcony, some returning and some new for me!  Our temperatures have been in the 20’s-30’s with a few snow dustings.  For those new or unfamiliar with my backyard, here’s a photo.

I’ll begin with my new birds.  They were each a curious “what’s that?” sighting, followed by photo-taking, and then reviewing on the computer to identify.  It always feels cool to photograph a new bird for your list!  🙂

The male and female Gadwell were a treat!  They were mixed in with several male and female mallards at the base of the osprey nest platform.

Another day and another new visitor!  I surely didn’t do her justice with such a terrible photo!

The next shot is a hawk that I don’t know if it’s identifiable, he literally flew right in front and past me while I was watching something else.

Although the Dark-eyed Juncos have been around, I finally got a clear-enough shot to confirm his identity.

Our regulars still continue to delight!

We were fortunate to have a small flock of Canada Geese stop and rest along the berm at our osprey nest platform, joining a group of Mallards.  Everyone was quiet and peaceful, until one Mallard seemed to be too interested in another’s mate and Mallard fighting ensued right in the middle of the geese.

It quieted back down after the skirmish.  I enjoyed watching the Canada Geese as they preened and stretched their wings, they usually stay at a distance in the water.

Large numbers of Canvasbacks raft up in Marshy Creek daily in the mornings and evenings.

Even the Belted Kingfisher continues to visit.  I captured him down on Lipincott’s Channel Marker 3 in Marshy Creek.

I had mentioned before that the eagles in the area were very active now.  This eagle prepared to attack a raft of ducks but wasn’t successful.  He continued to fly around and eventually caught a fish.

The male Eagle took the fish to the ice where his partner was waiting and handed it over to her.  So sweet!  All was happy.

But then along came the other two pairs of Eagles I mentioned; and as the male took flight to scare them off, one of the intruding Eagles attacked the female Eagle on the ice, trying to snatch the fish.

The mate to the intruder came in to help while the lone female Eagle on the ice fought to keep her fish.  Her partner was still in the air chasing the other pair.

Somehow she was successful, and the intruders flew over to the close-by osprey nest platform in Marshy Creek and perched for a brief time, before eventually leaving the area.

Finally, how can I not end my post without sharing more captures of our regular, the Great Blue Heron?!!  I have SO many photos of him but the GBH is so photogenic.  I love it when I happen to see him coming and can get a decent shot of him in flight showing his massive wings.

Finally, a couple scenes of our sunrises over Marshy Creek.  Sometimes they are nice…..

And sometimes they are brilliant!

I’ll post this last shot that was a spur-of-the-moment and I liked it.  I snapped this over our community’s fence overlooking Lipincott Marina’s sailboat yard at sunrise another day.

I hope the migratory birds continue to hang around a little while longer for our enjoyment but very soon they will be on their way north.  Which means in turn, the Osprey are feeling the migration tug to head back north to our area from their tropical winter grounds.  So although we will be losing some beautiful feathered-friends, we will soon be sighting our missed ones for another season of delight of the wings!

As always, thank you for the visit, I appreciate it and you!  🙂