Blackwater Wildlife Refuge & CBEC
A couple of weekends ago we visited and enjoyed the spectacular beauty of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (BNWR). Geese, tundra swan, eagles, Great blue heron, egrets, and many ducks were just a few of the sightings. BNWR will be host to a huge variety of migratory birds that come to winter throughout the next several months. You must visit if you can! Here are a few photos from our visit on November 12th.
To see several more photos from this trip, visit my Blackwater Refuge photo page under the Photo Gallery tab found at the top or you can click HERE for a quick jump to that page.
It’s been a month now, but I also escaped over to CBEC for a couple hours to hike around their pond and enjoy the serene beauty there. Here’s a few photos from that visit.
To see several more photos from my visit at CBEC, visit my Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center photo page under the Photo Gallery tab found at the top or you can click HERE for a quick jump.
If you love bird-watching and nature, visit both of these places soon!
Blake The Blue Heron’s Still Hangin’ Around
Blake the Blue Heron made several appearances this past week over at the marshy point where he’s more likely to be seen these days. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Blake at our osprey nest base. A few days ago he appeared as if he were going to land at the base but made a quick change of plans as I caught him doing a fly-by as he headed over to the point to spend some time hanging out and to do a little fishing.
At first I wondered if he saw me and made the change in plans. Then I picked up on the distinct calling of a bald eagle over from the CBEC/Marshy Creek area where Blake had flown from. When I finally spotted the eagle, he was circling down and landed on Lipincott’s channel marker for only a couple minutes before heading over to CBEC to perch for over an hour. Maybe it was the eagle’s presence that made Blake continue past on by the nest.
For those in the community with binoculars, that clump of trees is a favorite perching area to catch a glimpse of CBEC’s bald eagles over the fall/winter months. Note the osprey nest platform in the water to the right for zooming in on the location.
Last night we had another awesome sunset…..
And this morning another gorgeous sunrise over CBEC.
After the sun rose before the day’s overcast descended on us, it shined bright on the water at the berm, appearing as if it were liquid gold. It was pretty cool-looking!
As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by my photo blog to check out the on-goings of my little world around an osprey nest and the surrounding Eastern Shore of Maryland. I enjoy sharing them with you and appreciate your comments and likes!
A Quiet Week At Oyster Cove
We had a quiet week here at Oyster Cove. This past Monday evening, we enjoyed another spectacular sunset here at Oyster Cove. Yes, I am a sucker for a sunset shot. 🙂 Although this recent time change doesn’t work in my favor now to be home in time to capture them…..it’s getting out of the office in time to make it, lol.
The first photo were taken at 4:45 pm Monday evening. The three vertical lines are vapor trails from three jets that made their way towards the setting sun.
You never know whether a sunset will continue to just fizzle out for the night or give way to more beauty and brightness which is what Monday’s sunset did. This next photo was taken at 5:06 pm.
We had rains and wind Tuesday and Wednesday, keeping everything quiet and remote. The rains stopped and Thursday was sunny and bright. Coming home, I enjoyed our skies present another interesting sunset. I made it home after the sun had dipped below the horizon, and I watched as the cloud illuminated as if the sun was behind it. While growing up, we called these ‘sundogs’.
Friday morning before departing, I was pleasantly surprised to see Blake the Blue Heron off to my left along our berm. He was puffed up to keep warm in the windy cool conditions. I had only seen him one other time during the week.
Yesterday was another bright & beautiful breezy day. An early morning perch was enjoyed by a gull on our osprey nest, enjoyed enough to sit-and-stay for a while.
Saturday was a bit chilly with the wind but that didn’t stop my 5 1/2 month old grandson and I from taking a walk around the waterside path of the community in the afternoon. The ducks were busy coming in to the cove just to the right of our nest, hoping someone had seed to toss to them. These two photos also give you a glimpse of our OC osprey nest platform in the background.
After rounding the community between the two marinas, we came across a great blue heron along the berm, keeping an eye on us as he stood motionless. After stopping to watch, we proceeded which did scare him enough to fly away. He wasn’t our ‘Blake’ who has been visiting our osprey nest area for the last 12 weeks, his body was smaller and his chest was not the dark rusty-look Blake sports.
As we continued and made our way towards our community entrance, I photographed a few flowers to practice macro shooting. The breezy conditions didn’t help, but I got one I really liked.
Our entrance tree…..
Although I’ve been determined to keep this a wildlife, nature & local photo blog (and it’s been hard with the hundreds of awesome shots I’ve taken to date of him! LOL), I gotta share a photo of my walking buddy and grandson, Benjamin. A keepsake for me, it was our ‘first’ nature walk together! 🙂
Finally, as we all know, Christmas is around the corner, and Santa made his merry appearance last night in our local Kent Narrows’ Christmas boat parade. I learned a big lesson on NEVER leaving again without my spare battery, but I did manage to get a few shots of some of the nine decorated boats and the fire boat that led the parade with Santa, before it stopped!
The decorating was awesome and enjoyed by the crowds that lined the shores and restaurant windows to catch a view!
As Our Fall Season Changes
This past week we have begun to feel the early morning and early evening cooler crispness in the air. The trees have been performing their fall fashion showcase. A continuation of incoming and passing-through migrating birds are in the air. In the distance, you can hear their distinct calls as the area continues to change with the season.
(In the above photo, front tree line to the far left, can you see the bald eagle perched in the tree top? He’s tiny in the photo but there!)
Blake the Blue Heron still visits but I’ve seen him more now over at the point. When he took flight two different times, he turned west and went towards Kent Island instead of coming my way to the osprey nest.
But we are having more regular visits to the nest by different gulls.
One gull caught a small crab and pecked & devoured him on the walking path off to the left of our osprey nest.
And, course, we have the cormorants and mallards. It seems to be ‘their’ area for now, until our wintering species arrive and settle in.
These fellas were sunning on a neighbor’s kayak moored in the cove, a continuous favorite perch for them….and unfortunately a mess for our neighbor!
With the recent cooler temperature changes, it gave way for another beautiful calm sunrise this week over CBEC.
The next day another clear morning sunrise gave way late-morning to a fog cloud that rolled directly at Oyster Cove from the southeast. Fog is normal in the spring and fall along the water, but this huge low fog cloud was amazing to watch as it came slowly towards and then engulfed us for almost three hours before burning off early afternoon.
Sunsets have been awesome this week as well. I especially liked the next one when I captured a gull flying through my shot.
This afternoon we had two wind surfers enjoying the windy conditions just beyond our nest. They were really cruising across the water, racing towards and zipping right by each other. It definitely doesn’t look easy!
And tonight’s sunset was another beautiful one!
It is truly amazing the different colors a sunset can produce each day.
Blake the Blue Heron Continues to Visit
So sorry, spare time has evaded me these last couple weeks, but rest assured the photo-snapping didn’t stop and we’re back, Blake the Blue Heron and I. 🙂 To our enjoyment, Blake has continued to stay around and visit us. As in the past ten weeks, he still keeps his vigil, absorbing the warm sun rays or doing a little feather preening while on our osprey nest…..
or at the base of the nest…..
…or over at our Oyster Cove point…..
…..along with doing a little fishing…..
Did you notice during the fish capture and digestion that Blake fluffed his feathers couple times? And with a toss & throw-back of his head, you could almost hear Blake gulping that little fish down!
Another cool sequence of Blake doing a touchdown-&-go on our nest. He had been over at the point and was spooked by a fishing boat slowly coming his way. Not sure what, but something made him change his mind on not staying on the nest as he squawked & flew away….
Another Blake departure, this time from the water.
What long legs and massive wings you have, Blake!
As you saw above in previous photos of Blake on the OC point, we do have our share of mallards in our area. They are always good for a comical shot!
Hey, look at me!
I know they are arriving in the area from hearing the distant ‘honking’, but here’s a first that I’ve seen this season, the migrating Canadian geese are dropping into our OC waters. They know they are safe here in our small cove year after year. And they know feedings from my neighbors are pretty good too. Let the winter noise begin! I love it!
Finally, we have locally enjoyed several gorgeous sunrises and sunsets this past two weeks. Here’s a few pretty shots. Everyone loves the beauty of a sunrise….
and the warm, dreamy feeling of sunset.
“The sunrise is God’s greeting. The sunset, his signature.”
~Author Unknown
Herons & Egrets
Herons and egrets are abundant in our area year around and can strike some awesome poses! Here are some of my favorite shots…..
It took that Great Blue Heron a total of 12 minutes from capture to final swallow!
Thank you for viewing this gallery, I hope you enjoyed!
Oyster Cove’s Blake the Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron I’ve been posting about has been visiting our osprey nest since early September, he’s become such a great fixture and enjoyment for us that I felt he needed a name! So yes, he is now Blake the Blue Heron. 🙂 Almost every morning before sunrise and barely visible, Blake the Blue Heron is already perched on our osprey nest, preening himself, ready for his day to begin. I’m guessing Blake’s a male, I captured him Sunday watching and then following after another Great Blue Heron over to CBEC where they descended down into the trees. Hmmm….
I was eager to post the next photos of Blake the Blue Heron that I took yesterday just before 5 pm. Watching him just sitting on the nest being his handsome-self, I noticed a kayak coming towards him. Although Blake had his back to them, he was fully aware they were approaching as well. I realized I had a ‘photo op’ of action setting up before me, which is what I’m always wishing for! 🙂 I immediately started snapping and took about 30 photos total; here are a few to show Blake’s reaction. He was quite verbal as you can tell with his mouth squawking as he flew directly at the kayakers, much to their and my surprise! You can even see the dirt kicked up in the air on Blake’s take-off in the second shot.
I do believe Blake’s become a little possessive of his little Oyster Cove territory he’s occupied now for six weeks! LOL He continued on, turning to the right, and headed over to Kent Island out of sight. Thank you kayakers for coming by, I love someone or something passing by to cause a reaction for a shot that isn’t the norm! 🙂
Again this morning, Blake was on the nest before sunrise. Leaving later than normal, with the sky lighting up & Blake still on the nest, I did a final quick-look to see what Blake was up to. Glad I did, he immediately flew off the nest towards me and down onto our grass by the walking path. I’m beginning to think Blake likes to pose for the camera! LOL
I have never saw him come over the rocks to the grass so I thought that was pretty cool. Blake continued to walk on the grass along the berm, then flew up and over to the point where he landed to do a little fishing. He likes visiting this spot a lot too.
Blake is one entertaining Blue Heron!
He is one of many I’ve photographed. Following this post, I will be posting another Photo Gallery page of my previous favorite heron and egret photos. I hope you enjoy them.
Enjoying Our Quietness
Our area continues to be on the quiet side as the seasons change, it is nonetheless a beautiful time. We still have a our visiting Great Blue Heron for our enjoyment. Because of the higher than normal tides lately, he’s not had the shallowness at the berm area at the base of the nest to stand on/in as often, he’s been mostly visiting the nest. For sure, he’s found another spot to fish.
The reason for the higher tides……
Last weekend if you recall was awesome, temps were high 70’s, it was just a gorgeous weekend. Husband & I decided to take a trip to Solomons Island, Maryland. Great place to visit and explore if you’ve never gone. It’s a quiet town, home of the Calvert Marine Museum and the famous Solomon’s Tiki Bar (which we enjoyed this visit!).
Of course, wildlife is also abundant in the Solomons Island area. We watched a mute swan lazily bob around in the warm sun.
Eventually, oncoming boats caused him to take flight.
A bald eagle flew across the sky at a distance. I didn’t know he had a fish in his claws until I reviewed my photos later.
I was shooting some cormorants also perched and soaking up the sun. I thought this one was a bit comical…. did the one on the left ask the other one to look to see if he had anything on the bottom of his foot? LOL
And of course, there is a huge abundance of seagulls.
Here at Oyster Cove, there were some recent beautiful sky views. The edge of a passing storm heading east on October 3rd….
with a beautiful sunset that followed.
A gorgeous sunrise on October 10……
Which casted a pinkish hue over CBEC and the fog.
And yesterday a rainbow to our east….
While the sun set to our west.
Yes, lately it’s been a bit quiet. No longer do we hear the sound of our osprey and other summer singing birds. But soon the migration of many species will be descending upon us. I’ve already heard the faint honking of the geese arriving and we know they can definitely be a noisy bunch!
Herons, Ducks & Eagles – Oh My!!
This past week the same Great Blue Heron continued to visit Oyster Cove daily. He really must like it here! He has been cool to watch and photograph as he goes about his day at our osprey nest and area.
Small fish seem abundant at our water’s edge for his appetite. I actually watched him catch the next fish and quickly swallow it……
…..and then dive again into the water, capture the next one and gulp it down, all in one minute. That’s some great fishing!
He stays alert on his surroundings, stretching his neck tall to see above the grasses when he’s not fishing.
And with his panoramic view from the nest, he can surely see anything coming his way.
This next one was just after sunset last Monday, the sky ‘pinked up’ for a few minutes and reflected on the water and our visiting blue heron.
The Great Blue Heron was not our only visitor here this week. While the blue heron was perched one time on the nest, this next green heron landed down close to the base. The blue heron was really stretching and looking at the green heron, which must have made the green heron nervous and he quickly took off.
Of course, our other daily nest base visitors always include the mallard duck. No apparent threats exist between them and the Great Blue Heron.
Only when the visiting blue heron was not around would a seagull visit the nest for a short stop. They like to check to see if by chance the blue heron may have left a small morsel of food.
Again this past week there have been numerous eagle sightings in the area. Mating season is beginning for eagles so you are apt to see a pair soaring together, which is really awesome to watch. This week one full-grown pair was seen a few times flying over at CBEC where there is at least one active nest. Another pair were young, not having their distinctive white head and tail as yet, and they kept more over towards the Narrows and Kent Island. Today, the CBEC pair were soaring real high over our nest, Marshy Creek, and CBEC, flying and intertwining as they glided in circles. As they descended down one long spiraling soar towards me, I was hoping they’d land on our nest since the blue heron wasn’t in sight; and I thought they were almost going to. But they passed on by and decided to perch over on Lipincott’s channel marker instead.
Is there a conversation going on between the pair in the next two photos??
(The female should be the larger of the two.)
The fishing boat in the first photo started up their motor and moved towards the channel marker which caused the pair to take off and head over to CBEC to perch in a tree where they felt safer.
As the seasons change rapidly, it gets more exciting to see what nature will bring to our area in the upcoming weeks!
We Transition From Summer to Fall at Oyster Cove
According to the calendar, we officially transitioned from summer to fall this past Friday. It was a very quiet week here filled with showers and cloudy days. Although our area’s osprey have migrated, there are still a few stranglers. Last year I had blogged about two nests that are atop highway signs on busy Route 50 in Grasonville that I see daily. As of yesterday, we still have a chick and dad on one of those nests. The young one for some reason hasn’t quite gotten the migration pull to tell him it’s time. And the committed dad seems to be patiently waiting. The following photo is from last year but is the nest I’m speaking about.
This year’s nest brood produced three chicks and I’m guessing the one remaining had a lot of growing and struggle to go through as he tried to survive against two larger siblings. Isn’t it good to know dad’s got his back til the day he departs?!
Last week I blogged about a Great Blue Heron who had taken over our osprey nest as a perch and the base of the nest as his fishing hole. He’s still with us daily along with the mallards!
He’s even become tolerate of anyone walking by and not taking flight. But for sure he has his eye on you as you pass. 🙂
Yesterday I witnessed an odd sighting over Prospect Bay just beyond our osprey nest, an eagle chasing a seagull. The poor gull was frantic and screeching loudly.
Immediately, several other gulls were chasing and trying to attack the eagle who was still chasing the one gull. The eagle quickly gave up and retreated to Kent Island, with the gulls still chasing him. I know eagles will eat ducks but gulls?
Finally, not a waterfowl photo but yesterday I stopped along a local road and photographed this next bird. I believe he’s a type of hawk, but I could not ID him exactly with my books. He appeared to be wet and was drying off.
If anyone knows what kind of hawk or bird he is, let me know. Thanks!
UPDATE 9/27/11 ~ Scott has commented that he thinks “that bird in the last few pictures is a juvenile red-tailed hawk because of its perch by the open road and because of its mottled white back, many dark bars on its short tail, and yellow eyes. There’s a good matching picture of one looking over its shoulder in the “Field Marks” section at the bottom of this page (scroll through to one of the last photos) http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id
Thanks Scott for your help! For those interested in discovering the simple things of life with nature, check out Scott’s blog on Some Little Crum Creek, “About thirty-three footfalls. That’s the length of Little Crum Creek flowing through a yard I visit, part of a narrow corridor of wood and stream in Delaware County, southeastern Pennsylvania.” Visit, discover and see with Scott the seasonal happenings in his ‘backyard’ of nature. His findings are amazing!
