Vote
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To my U.S. friends, make sure you cast your votes in Tuesday’s elections!
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Bald Eagle
Eastern Neck NWR
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1-2-3 Medium Bird Jubilee – #12
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A change on my 1-2-3 medium birds series, I’ll now just continue numbering the next post of this series, and share more than the original ‘three bird species’ per post.
I’ve heard it said, “The more, the merrier”! 😊
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American Robin
Length 7.9-11.0 inches (20-28 cm)
Weight 2.7-3.0 oz (77-85 g)
Wingspan 12.2-15.8 inches (31-40 cm)
My Backyard
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Blue Jay
Length 9.8-11.8 inches (25-30 cm)
Weight 2.5-3.5 oz (70-100 g)
Wingspan 13.4-16.9 inches (34-43 cm)
My Backyard
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Eastern Meadowlark
Length 7.5-10.2 inches (19-26 cm)
Weight 3.2-5.3 oz (90-150 g)
Wingspan 13.8-15.8 inches (35-40 cm)
Eastern Neck NWR
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Blue Grosbeak (female)
Length 5.9-6.3 inches (15-16 cm)
Weight 0.9-1.1 oz (26-31 g)
Wingspan 11.0 inches (28 cm)
Chesapeake Farms
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Gray Catbird
Length 8.3-9.4 inches (21-24 cm)
Weight 0.8-2.0 oz (23.2-56.5 g)
Wingspan 8.7-11.8 inches (22-30 cm)
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Northern Mockingbird
Length 8.3-10.2 inches (21-26 cm)
Weight 1.6-2.0 oz (45-58 g)
Wingspan 12.2-13.8 inches (31-35 cm)
Eastern Neck NWR
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Northern Cardinal (female)
Length 8.3-9.1 inches (21-23 cm)
Weight 1.5-1.7 oz (42-48 g)
Wingspan 9.8-12.2 inches (25-31 cm)
Eastern Neck NWR
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Sunset at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge
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“The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.”
— Pamela Hansford Johnson
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Sunset from Eastern Neck NWR, overlooking the Chester River out to the Chesapeake Bay
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A Few Maryland Dragonflies
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Except for a few here and there, our dragonflies have disappeared as we enter the autumn season. Here are some of our beauties from the past few months.
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Eastern Amberwing
Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge
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Needam’s Skimmer
Eastern Neck NWR
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Widow Skimmer
Chesapeake Farms
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Needam’s Skimmer
Eastern Neck NWR
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Needam’s Skimmer
Eastern Neck NWR
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Slaty Blue Skimmer
Chesapeake Farms
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Needam’s Skimmer or Orange Meadowhawk?
Eastern Neck NWR
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Familiar Bluets
Eastern Neck NWR
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Random Photos
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A photo series of landscapes and other wildlife that caught my eye in the past couple months during my birding adventures.
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White-tailed Deer (doe)
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Young White-tailed Deer
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Red Admiral
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Red Admiral (same butterfly)
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Eastern Tailed-Blue
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Monarch
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Purple flower
Red flower
Rose Mallows
Yellow flowers
Purple flower
Yellow flowers
Rose Mallows
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Rainbow Spiderweb
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Scenic farm from the river
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Eastern Painted Turtles
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Northern Water Snake
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If you don’t mind (chop chop chop), I am busy right now….
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Autumn Spiderweb
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Reflecting Pond
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Great Blue Heron Gallery
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Stately, elegant, and a bird with all the patience in the world…..the Great Blue Heron.
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Five On The Wing – #31
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Another post in my series of five birds in flight, these five are all raptors!
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Red-tailed Hawk
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Bald Eagle (immature)
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Bald Eagle (adult)
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Osprey
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Sharp-shinned Hawk
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Osprey Vs Eagle
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Osprey may be the ultimate fisherman, but they have a nemesis, the much larger and more powerful Bald Eagle, who will not think twice about stealing the Osprey’s hard-earned meal.
This past summer from our boat, we watched an Eagle leave its perch and purposely pursue an Osprey who had just caught a fish.
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Eagle in hot pursuit of an Osprey with its fish
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The Osprey’s maneuvers were well-played by the Eagle. There were so many close incidences, I feared the Osprey would get hurt.
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The relentless pursuit went on for a couple of intense minutes.
Finally, the Osprey reached the point s/he had had enough and released the fish.
The Eagle immediately went for the fish that hit the water below.
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“It was all about the fish”
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The Eagle was quick to snatch the fish from the water and took off with his steal.
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I watched the Osprey fly off in the opposite direction, I hoped heading to a perch for a much needed rest for a bit before returning to its fishing.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen this scene play out over and over many times around the Chesapeake Bay. The Eagle does not always win. Sometimes the Osprey luckily succeeds in tiring out the Eagle first, who’ll suddenly quit the chase and go back to its tree to perch…..and hopefully sulk. hehehe
When I see that, it’s a big hooray for the Osprey! 🙂
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Osprey With Their Catch
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I’ll continue with another Osprey post. Here are more Osprey carrying or are perched with their fish catch from this past summer.
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You may have heard an Osprey sometimes called a fish hawk or a sea hawk. In reality, an Osprey is a raptor but it is not a hawk. Hawks, eagles, and harriers are part of the family Accipitridae, whereas Osprey are the sole members of the family Pandionidae.
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For sure, Osprey have the ultimate combination of keen eyesight, agility, timing, strong talons, and expertise in catching fish.
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At strike, the Osprey’s talons are especially adapted to swivel one of its three front toes to the back, giving the Osprey two front and two rear talons to firmly grasp the slippery fish. Beneath their toes, they also have sharp spicules to ensure the grip is extra tight. No other bird of prey has this ability.
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After all that hard work, there may be times an Osprey does not make it back to its perch with its meal, as you’ll see in my next post.
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Two Osprey at Eastern Neck NWR
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Our Chesapeake Bay Osprey have long departed for South America, and still this past week I’ve caught sightings of northern Osprey migrants passing through on their mission south.
Two days ago I saw an Osprey flying over Rock Hall harbor while attending the Great Train Robbery Bike Fest at the bulkhead. “Free Bird” blaring and seeing an Osprey, pretty darn cool!
And then another awesome sighting yesterday while visiting the refuge! Not just one, but I saw two juvenile Osprey, both fishing at the Eastern Neck bridge at the same time.
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Osprey diving for a successful catch – Oct 17, 2022
(Osprey and fall colors!)
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The second juvenile showed off its impressive fishing skills, snagging two fish.
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Bay Photos by Donna 