Dr. Killdeer I Presume…..
I’ve been watching and photographing the killdeer residing in Oyster Cove. A month ago I was finding them relaxing or running around in the parking lot around the pool, being very cordial when I drove by. No playing dead or injured, but definitely keeping that beautiful eye on me. I was able to sit still in the car and take numerous photos, here’s a couple.
Killdeer
Killdeer – with an itch!
The two killdeer I was photographing were enjoying the early morning sunrise it seemed. Then along came a third larger killdeer who flew into the parking lot area, causing the other two to run quickly to get close together. I assumed I was going to see a territorial ruckus but that wasn’t the case. The third killdeer boldly ran over to the other two who were watching him and proceeded to mate with one (who allowed it!) while the other one just stood there and watched. This behavior was surely confusing to me, and it looked like to the by-stander killdeer too!
Killdeers mating
Killdeers mating while third Killdeer looks on
Killdeers mating
The deed is done
What transpired after that was just as confusing. The intruder killdeer quickly ran over to the grass while the other two got back together close, and sort of chased after him, with the female who mated with him screaming her head off at him.
Killdeers not too happy with the one on the grass
The original two killdeer then flew off together leaving the third one just standing there. I then left him too. Since then I often would see one here and there early mornings and late evenings running around, but always just one. Then one morning a little over a week ago I found a killdeer closer to our community’s entrance by the fountain pond, but no longer cordial with anyone! Lots of faking injury and flying to another close spot, just trying his best to get my attention elsewhere. My mind was thinking……hmmmmm babies maybe?
I first spotted the family May 20th, running around between our fountain pond along the property fence and along Lippincott’s Marina entrance drive on the other side of the fence. They are absolutely adorable!!
Killdeer Parent
Killdeer and baby
Killdeer Family
Killdeer family
I’ve been watching them since when they are out and about, but have kept my distance as Dr. & Mrs. Killdeer have become quite fiesty and protective as they should be. Here’s a few more shots of them in their protective stance from the last few days. The chicks were not in sight.
Dr. Killdeer
The Mrs.
Dr. Killdeer giving me a piece of his mind!
Dr. Killdeer – Smiling because I told him I was leaving!
For those in the community, be careful driving in and out that you don’t run over a little one! Thank you!
And thank you all for stopping by, I appreciate you!
New Feathered-Friends’ Captures
Due to time constraints, I’m actually still overwhelmed with several of my ‘regular’ bird species’ photos that I really want to share; but as all birders know, new photo captures are more exciting to share because they’re exciting to the birder to add to their ‘count’ of species. 🙂 When I started this blog, it was dedicated to chronicling the life of our osprey pair located 150 feet from my balcony. But with our Oliver & Olivia a no-show this season (so disappointing!), my daily ‘osprey’ time has diminished, allowing my eyes to open wider to the other birds and wildlife that live during the osprey season around our Oyster Cove community.
With the world of blogging, I’ve ‘met’ many birder bloggers who track their species & have awesome counts, ranging from annual lists, to lifer lists, to specific area lists, and more! These great birders have piqued my curiosity and have me wondering just how many have I sighted and captured? Obviously, no where near my friends, but I’ve got to start somewhere, right? So I’ve decided to jump on the bird bandwagon to create two lists, one for my captures within Oyster Cove, and another one for my lifer list. Soon I’ll post those numbers with a photo page to show my pathetic count, which will make me work harder to sight new ones and increase those numbers! 😉
First, if I have identified a bird incorrectly, please PLEASE correct me! I’ll be the first to thank you! I am indeed a beginning amateur with birds and rely heavily on books, the web, and fellow bloggers’ photos and postings; so I do try my best, but know I can and will make mistakes.
So back to new birds for my lists! In the last couple weeks, I’ve captured four species within Oyster Cove that I’ve not photographed before. The first one is a Grey Catbird who was perched over by the marina early one morning during my ‘loop’.
Grey Catbird
Also by the marina but during the evening of another day, I had a Rock Dove fly by me and land on power lines above, with an eye still on me.
Rock Dove
Rock Dove
Rock Dove
My third is of the Cooper’s Hawk, who flew out in front of me from over the roof while I was on my balcony. I was actually photographing an eagle off to my left (later post!) when the hawk appeared. He was being chased & harassed by a black bird. I only got three quick shots, with my next ‘best’ one not so great, and minus the blackbird. But it counts, right?!!
Cooper’s Hawk
My fourth is the American Goldfinch, which I also captured from my balcony early Saturday morning. Two males and a female flew towards me from CBEC across the water and landed just below me. I’ll admit my first dozen shots were terrible because I was so excited and was shooting hand-held so they were blurry-city! I tried to settle down and did manage to get a few goods ones. The first shot is a male who was the ‘outsider’ in the threesome.
American Goldfinch (male) – the ‘outsider’
American Goldfinches (two males, one female) – Far left male is the ‘outsider’
American Goldfinches – the male ‘outsider’ decides to try & impress the female, which doesn’t work, so he flies off.
American Goldfinches (female & male ) – the love birds
Finally, not a bird photo but I thought cute to share. I’ve watched this gal and her dog jet-ski many times last summer around Marshy Creek from my balcony, and this past weekend they were out for the beginning of another season of fun. The dog really does seem to enjoy it, and I get a kick out of watching them. You should see them do circles!! And for the record, I’ve never seen them fall off, the girl does not get crazy as some jet-skiers do.
Jet-Skiing Dog and buddy
So those were four new birds for my lists. I hope you enjoyed them and the jet-skiing dog, and as always thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Oyster Cove Critters
The Oyster Cove community where I live is situated on a narrow peninsula surrounded by water, allowing us to experience birds galore which I enjoy sharing with you. As I meander around the community, I’ve been photographing some of the critters that we also have amongst us. Of course, we have the typical rabbits. I’ve yet to photograph one, I never have my camera with me when I see one. I had a neighbor tell me about a single deer that had gotten ‘trapped’ in our community and eventually jumped into the water and swam to shore on the other side. He made it okay she said! But about a week ago another neighbor said they had sighted a fox our vicinity. I’ve been looking for the fox in the early morning when I ‘loop’ before leaving for work, but haven’t sighted him. Hopefully, he has moved on to somewhere else, we really don’t want him around our other critters and birds!
First I’ll share Mr. Squirrel enjoying his breakfast.
Squirrel
We do have a few feral cats on the property. Our management doesn’t do anything about them, and we have some neighbors that feed them. So of course they are happy and have no reason to leave. They are very skittish so it’s almost impossible to get close to one; and 95% of the time, they stay hidden out of sight. I happen to catch this one out & about early one morning. He heard my camera shutter, looked up, and was gone! (UPDATE – His name is Lucky, he’s lived 10 years at OC, and he is neutered!)
“Lucky” a feral cat ‘resident’ of OC for 10 years! (thanks Lucy for info!)
A few weeks ago I had spotted an otter alongside our property by the tennis courts from the highway but would miss him by the time I cruised into the community and over there. With him enticing me and the weather being quite nice early in the mornings, when cruising my loop before work, I’ve been getting out of the car and walking down alongside the marsh and peering through the brush. Finally, one morning I spotted one! He was across the water inlet and as I started taking some photos, he began to swim across and directly at me. 🙂 (UPDATE – now I’m questioning my ID on this critter, is he an otter or muskrat?) (NEW UPDATE – it was a muskrat!)
Muskrat
Muskrat
Muskrat
He disappeared just below me and was gone. I don’t even think he saw me. As I looked up and around, another was approaching me.
Muskrat #2
Muskrat #2
Muskrat #2
And then he/she was gone! I wondered if they had a home below me in the embankment. I’ve continued to look for them in the mornings and have them several times since.
One evening from my balcony, I noticed there was some movement in the water to my right. At first, I thought it was a fish….until I saw all of him.
Snake
I don’t know snakes and tried to identify him with the next cropped shot but couldn’t. It was the closest crop I could do without any more blurriness. Probably too poor a shot but maybe someone might know what kind?
Snake
Finally, while photographing barn swallows and purple martins by the marina a few mornings ago, I happen to see a jelly fish in the water. As he rose to the top, the sunshine was shining nice on him, and I wondered if I could actually get a decent photo, so I tried, taking a few dozen. He continued to stay on top, pulsating around. Excuse the dirty water!
Jelly Fish
Jelly Fish
Jelly Fish
Jelly Fish
I haven’t had time to identify what type of jellyfish it was as yet. But he was pretty and the sunlight on him was perfect!
Well, that begins my photo collection of the critters that roam around our community, I hope you enjoyed them. And, as always, thank you very much for stopping by!
An Oyster Cove Osprey Update
I’m very happy to see so many osprey in the skies when I’m out and about! Of course, it’s not so easy to snap a shot while cruisin’ down the road; but I’ve had many opportunities to watch them from my balcony. Here’s some of my captures from the last couple weeks.
First, I’ll start with photos from yesterday and this morning of our nest platform. There’s nothing left of Oliver and Olivia’s beautiful nest from last year! 😦 (To update new readers, our osprey pair, Oliver and Olivia, did not come back this year, after several years of raising young on our platform.)
Oyster Cove’s ssprey nest platform – May 10, 2012
Osprey visiting Oyster Cove’s nest platform – May 11, 2012
Although we’ve still not acquired a new pair of osprey for this season, the platform is still enticing to the area osprey to perch on it, and fight over it as if it were theirs. Here’s some of their photos. I’ve get them in order of date taken so you’ll see the nest as it disappears.
Now on to some action photos, showing how beautiful an osprey is in flight! 🙂
Although our community sadly misses our osprey pair, we are still very lucky to have many area osprey to keep us entertained!
Finally, this morning just minutes before sunrise, I took a few photos of the moon, when it appears extra bright before it fades quickly with the sun’s rising. I’ve photographed the moon when weather permitted over the last few weeks (although I missed out on the ‘super’ moon due to clouds); but this morning’s was superb, so I gotta share it!
Moon – May 11, 2012 @ 6:06 a.m.
Soon if not already, our area ospreys’ eggs that have been laid for this season should be hatching tiny little chicks, who are hungry and will grow at an unbelievable rate. I hope to get back on the water to get up close to some of the nests to capture some baby shots. So osprey lovers, stay tuned!
As always, thank you so much for stopping by, I appreciate it!
Duclair Mallard with Ducklings and Red-Breasted Merganser
Stepping out on my balcony several evenings ago just before sunset, I first spotted a mallard at the base of our osprey nest. This different looking mallard is seen around here in the spring and summer. After some googling, I further identified it as a Duclair or White-bibbed Mallard (not quite sure if both names is the same one type). It is supposedly a hybrid of a domestic mallard and originated from France. I wasn’t able to identify the difference between a male and female. In fact, I found very little other information, sorry. Anyway, the visiting mallard had a brown body, brown wings, white-bibbed neck, and dark green iridescent head. He/she was swimming along the berm and then quickly took flight!
Duclair or White-Bibbed Mallard
After following his/her flight, I quickly looked up to see if a possible eagle was in the sky. But nothing. I scanned the berm again and spotted a female Red-Breasted Merganser entering the low-tide pooled area at the base of the osprey nest. Cool!
Female Red-Breasted Merganser
As she swam along, the merganser was skimming the water with her beak just below the surface. After a bit, she would rear up and shake her head!
Female Red-Breasted Merganser – Shaking off excess water!
She would skim some more and then rear & shake again, continuing along the berm to my left and out of sight. A couple of poses of her with reflections!
Female Red-Breasted Merganser
Female Red-Breasted Merganser
I retreated inside for a few minutes, and then went back out to the sound of peeping. The Duclair Mallard was back, off to my left with a total of nine ducklings. Super cool! I had thought this might have been a male but maybe he’s a she?
Duclair or White-Bibbed Mallard with with eight of nine ducklings (I missed one in the shot!) The bottom three are practically running on top of the water. Cute!
Duclair or White-bibbed Mallard with nine ducklings
Bravely, the little ducklings were wide-spread, feeding and running around. Some looked identical to the parent, others were light tan. When the parent called out, they’d all come quickly to her, and then they’d take off again. It was quite cute.
To the left of the scurrying ducklings, coming towards them was the female Red-Breasted Merganser. The ducklings were not fearful of the merganser as she made her way through them and towards & alongside the parent mallard.
Duclair or White-bibbed Mallard and Red-Breasted Merganser
All seemed nice and friendly, and I was shooting, thinking how nice…..until the merganser reared up again and began to shake.
In a split-second flash, the mallard turned and attacked the merganser!
Duclair or White-bibbed Mallard attacking a Red-Breasted Merganser
After all the splashing, the mallard surfaced, looking around for the merganser.
Mallard looking for Merganser
As the merganser surfaced, the mallard spotted her…..
A
and with fury, flew and pounced again at the merganser who was trying desperately to get away.
The mallard missed the merganser, who hightailed it out of there!
With the merganser out of sight, the mallard called to the ducklings and declared victory!
And with that, the mallard took the ducklings off to my left and out of sight!
Duclair or White-bibbed Mallard and Nine Ducklings
All in 12 minutes of photo-op fun! I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for stopping by!
Double-Crested Cormorants & The American Robin
I have previously posted on Rudy, our visiting Ruddy Duck in the community marina, who hung around for a couple of weeks. It was pretty nice to get to watch this duck at such a close range for so long. Well, he has moved on, and we have another interesting duck that has taken his place, a Double-Crested Cormorant. A 32″ tall quirky-looking, black duck (except the first year who is more brown with a pale throat), with green eyes & a bright orange beak, the Double-Crested Cormorant is a very good swimmer & diver, and feeds primarily on fish. They are easily adaptable to both salt and fresh waters, and can be found foraging in the large oceans, a large river or bay, or in waters as small as a stream, creek or swamp.
Our visiting cormorant has been hanging around our marina both mornings & evenings for over a week, and is very bashful & disappears underwater to reappear at a safer distance when anyone comes by. I’ve stayed back myself to not spook him and got lucky only a few times before he was gone! One morning, I was especially lucky with the first series of photos when he popped up after a dive with a fish. 🙂 He quickly flipped it up and into his month, swallowing that whole fish in one big gulp!
Double-Crested Cormorant and Breakfast!
Flipping it up!
And into the mouth….
And now the big gulp!
He then turned and gave me a very nice pose before diving again. To heck with me, he had more breakfast to catch!
Double-Crested Cormorant
Another day on a cloudy evening, I snapped a few more of him. It was in the next two shots that I actually noticed just how sharp the tip of a cormorant’s beak is, which answered my own question on how was he so lucky on snagging that big fish the other day!
Double-Crested Cormorant
Double-Crested Cormorant
In the mornings, from my balcony I watch the cormorants flying by either in a small flock or just a loner. It is always a pretty contrast to see them against a blue sky with the rising sun shining on them.
Four Adults & One First Year Double-Crested Cormorants
Double-Crested Cormorants
Now a switch from the water birds to land birds, the American Robin is my next share and is a common resident in our community. At 10″ tall, they have a greyish back and rusty orange underside, and are a familiar bird to all. I’ve come across a nest on my loop and attempted to take a photo of the momma on egg-duty at a distance with a teleconverter attached to my telephoto lens. I was surprised how neat the shot turned out.
American Robin on egg-duty
When photographing a robin, I’ve noticed they appear to be giving a mean, angry glare. But for once, I captured this fella without the normal facial expression. In fact, he appears to be down right happy, doesn’t he??!!!
American Robin
An American Robin breaking out a song!
American Robin in Song with a Smile!
As I’ve been typing this, I’ve gotten up a few times to check the condition of our skies for the “super” moon tonight. Unfortunately, we have a full sky of clouds. 😦 Bummer. I’ll keep checking for a bit but I have a feeling I’ll be enjoying it through some of your lens in your next post!
Have a pleasant Sunday and a marvelous week! And as always, thank you for stopping by!
Barn Swallows and A Northern Mockingbird
This series of photos are my recent captures of Barn Swallows and a Northern Mockingbird. Both are residents in the Oyster Cove community around the marina. But first (and I’ve meant to do this before!), I’m sharing photos of my ‘birding loop’ in the Oyster Cove community that I keep referencing in my posts. I think you’ll be surprised that the variety I’ve been photographing from my ‘loop’ is just this little compact area!
My ‘birding loop’ starts here at the entrance of Oyster Cove, driving down to the end at the kayak rack and turning left. Our community pool is to the left behind the white fence. This is the parking lot area where I see the Killdeers running around.
Having made the left at the kayak rack, this stretch goes down past the two tennis courts on the right and ends with a small parking lot. I turn around there and come back out to leave. To the right in this photo behind the curb is a marshy waterway inlet where I sometimes get out and peer through the reeds to see what might be there. Could place to see a Great Blue Heron!
The stretch in this photo is the same as the previous, showing more to the left where the community marina is located, and where Rudy our visiting Ruddy Duck hung out for a few weeks. He’s moved on and I’ve been capturing a lone cormorant in his place.
And that’s my ‘birding loop’. Really kinda like an “L” loop. LOL For only 5-10 minutes each morning and evening, I slowly roll through and enjoy the sights and sounds of so many different feathered friends, I wish I had realized it long before now! I guess my photographing and recording of Oliver and Olivia, our missing osprey pair, from previous seasons kept me really busy. 🙂
Barn Swallows are nesting under the marina docks where they’ve attached mud nests. They are adorable, chubby little birds and fly around the shoreline of our community, sometimes right out in front of my balcony, I could almost reach out and pet them. 🙂 They seem friendly/curious yet shy and fly very fast with aerobic flair, gobbling up insects and I think just having a marvelous, fun time. Barn Swallows do a constant cute chitter-chatter while perched or flying. I have yet to capture a quality flight shot…..but I’m working on it. 🙂
The first three photos were taken about an hour before sunset of a pair relaxing and soaking up the late rays.
Barn Swallows
Barn Swallows
Another morning I had quietly parked between the marina and tennis courts and was listening to the birds and scanning the water, when a flurry of noisy Barn Swallows landed on the curb at my driver’s side. I couldn’t tell what was going on or why, when just as quickly, they were all gone but one. She sat quietly and just looked around.
Barn Swallow
Then she got up and began picking at the little twigs, dropping the first one and picking up another. She was looking for just the right size! 🙂 Once she found the twig in the second shot, she hopped and stopped, giving me the most adorable looks.
I then began to roll on and left her to her shopping. I quickly sighted the Northern Mockingbird who is visible almost every morning, flying from tree to tree and singing his songs. This time, he was on a perfect perch, busy preening his feathers. As usual, preening shots are the prettiest so I decided to share his quick poses inbetween.
Northern Mockingbird – Striking A Pose
Finally, I wanted to share a couple shots of the moon. The first is last night’s moon which was starting to brighten up as it was beginning to arch the sky over my head at sunset. I didn’t quite get the detail this time on the craters and had hoped it turn out a little better. Following it is the moon shot from a month ago on April 2nd, taken after sunset. It was a better capture.
Our Moon Just Before Sunset – May 1, 2012
Our Moon After Sunset – April 2, 2012
I hope you enjoyed our cuties, the barn swallows, and the Vogue pose of the mockingbird. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your upcoming weekend!
Red-winged Blackbird
As I try and make my way through all the photos I’ve taken in last couple weeks of other local birds while keeping up with our Osprey, I’ve found it more overwhelming than ever, LOL!! 😉 Having added my daily morning and evening ten-minute loop around the marina when I can afford the extra minutes has proven to be a substantial plus to my photo ops. Too many action shots or cute ones of different species, so I’m working on posting one/two species a time, then proceed to the next post. Otherwise, I’ll never catch up! 🙂
I’m going to start with the Red-winged Blackbird who is everywhere locally. You can’t help but see one flash his red/yellow epaulets while he dances and struts and calls out for a willing mate to come do the cha-cha with him!
I photographed this first one from my balcony one evening. He was struttin’ his stuff and singing his song for anyone who would watch and listen. No other Red-winged Blackbirds showed up so I became his audience which I really did enjoy!
Male Red-winged Blackbird – struttin’ his stuff!
One morning when I looped the marina/tennis court, another one was doing the same thing. He was struttin’ along the parking lot curb coming towards me where I had parked to photograph a mockingbird. I turned to him and started a series of shots as he continued to walk the length of the curb and sing loudly.
He’d stop and look around for a few seconds, and then continue on towards me and where the mockingbird had been perched. With my car angle, I felt he really didn’t see me. Maybe he was upset with the mockingbird in his territory?
Or maybe he did see me?
“Yes, I see you!”
And then he gave me ‘the look’. Too funny!
“So lady, I’m trying to work my strip, can you move along?”
And then I get the cold-shoulder??
And then he started back up again!
I got to tell you, that little bird started to intimidate me! LOL My series of 50+ shots were done in less than three minutes. So I told Mr. RWB, all right all right, I’m leaving! And then I thanked him for his time and moved on. As I pulled away, he continued on down that curb past where I was parked doing his thing! I reckon it was his ‘strip’!
Back on my balcony, I’ve been working on trying to get the Red-wings in flight. They love to fly around the base of the osprey nest, in and out of the plants, stopping on occasion to perch and sing and flaunt. As with any bird in flight, it can be quite difficult and can take many MANY shots to get just one semi-good one. I did say many, right?!! LOL So here’s what few I thought weren’t too bad to share…..from the many I took!
Well, that’s my best of my recent Red-wings! I hope you enjoyed them, especially the curb-strutter, he certainly had me laughing while I photographed him….until I wondered what his motive was as he closed in on me! Can you imagine him flying in at me in my car? He and I both would have awaken our community that morning for sure! 🙂
Hope your week is going well, and as always, thank you for stopping by!
Osprey Around Oyster Cove
The osprey have come back from migration in good numbers this season in our Kent Narrows/Grasonville, Maryland, area. Whether home, driving around the area, or about the docks and restaurants (the tiki bars have opened!), osprey are in the sky everywhere, searching for or carrying back fish, as well as nesting materials to build their nests stronger with their impending offspring soon to arrive. With binoculars, I can watch the activity of three osprey nests at a distance from my balcony, each having a mate on their nest at all times, indicating they are incubating eggs. Last year, our Olivia laid her first of two eggs April 3rd, with that first one hatching May 8. So in the next 2-4 weeks, there will be many osprey chicks hatching in the mid-Chesapeake Bay waterways, they’ll be hungry & ready for some fish. Get ready osprey dads! Not only does the dad do most of the fishing for the chicks (mom does the feeding), but he will also continue to work hard on building the sides of the nest steeper to keep the curious chicks inside longer.
The first photo I’m sharing is one of those three nests, on the Kent Narrows south entrance channel marker #3. While watching them, a third osprey flew past me with a fish, and headed towards the pair on the marker, which caused a bit of a ruckus. All that open air space, and he had to fly by that close to the pair. Too funny!
Osprey on Kent Narrow South Entrance Channel Marker #3
As previous & disappointingly reported, our Oyster Cove nest platform continues to remain unoccupied by an osprey pair this season. There’s not much of anything left of last year’s beautiful nest, as visiting osprey take talons-full away and back to their own. The pair on the above nest, as well as the other two, all enjoy coming to our platform for a perch or to dine on a captured fish. Here are a few captures of some of those visits and our remaining nest over the past couple weeks.
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
And when not perched on ours or their own nest, these osprey are above us in the skies, keeping their territory protected from the others. When they ‘cross’ each others ‘border’ or air space, a chase ensues to push the other back. It appears our nest platform is kind of like a border edge to them. They all continue to fly around and above our community, with an eye on each other and a scream or two to stay away.
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
The osprey dive & fish capture is a sight to behold. So far this season, I’ve watched the dive but wasn’t camera-prepared before the plunge. Here’s a series of shots after the plunge. These were shot at a distance so the photos are a bit grainy after cropping, but the series shows the osprey’s success! By the way, this osprey is one of the pair that is on Kent Narrows channel marker #3 from the first photo. The mate was on egg-duty.
An Osprey just plunged for a fish. Was he successful?
Yes! And what a nice one!
Now to take it somewhere to enjoy.
But first the Osprey needs to position the fish within his talons for the flight.
As he turns the fish.....
the Osprey releases one set of his talons....
and then re-grasps the fish to position it straighter and tighter to him.
Now the Osprey can fly stronger and faster without losing his catch!
Osprey approaching his dinner perch.
The Osprey flies to the Kent Narrows Channel Marker #5 for a well-earned dinner.
So you can see, although our Oyster Cove osprey nest is unoccupied this season, we can still get our osprey-fix with the many others that have taken residency around the area. Thank goodness! 🙂
I’ll close with a couple of photos of other visitors besides the osprey who I’ve captured on our nest.
Crow
Sparrow and Red-Winged Blackbird
Sparrow and Red-Winged Blackbird
As always, thank you for stopping by!
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!
Bay Photos by Donna 