Photos & Comments #1
March 28, 2009
Two of the cormorants returned. This is the first time since last fall that they have been observed. They stayed briefly on the large log out in the lake. A bald Eagle was also observed this afternoon, in the trees over to the right, and photo of it taken. Previous wildlife observed include a large beaver that came up to a small log on the right front side and chewed on it for ten minutes before swimming off. A photo of it was taken as it sat on the log, but it's slightly out of focus. Muskrats are sometimes seen swimming on the right side of the lake, where the barbed wire fence is located. In the far back to the right, beaver have cut down a tree and left it on the edge of the bank.
May 5, 2009 8:40PM
Two beaver in south-west side of small lake. Watched one swim to shore and drop what looked like a fish about three feet onshore, in the brush, then return to the water. Saw two of them in close proximity at times, swimming for about twenty minutes. Sun setting and they were still there. Not the best photo, sadly!
May 12, 2009 7:50AM
A blue heron likes to feed in the corner area of the lake near our house. Apparantly a blackbird did not like it getting too near something (its nest?). It constantly attacked the back tail of the heron, wings wide, nipping at the heron or tying to distract it from where it was heading. Shown above is a photo. What you're seeing is the back part of the heron and flying against it is the very upset blackbird. This attack went on for about five minutes, and the heron had no intention of leaving.
It's interesting the "events" that occur - the other evening I watched a red blackbird sit on the corner of our fence looking over at the feeders we have near the gate. Every time one of the other red blackbirds would try to go to the feeder, it would swoop down, and drive it off, and then return to its perch to wait for more redbirds. It didn't seem to bother the other birds, but it was not going to let its own "kind" enjoy a meal.
Also this morning, more than the usual number of guests on the log were gathered for their morning meeting. It is cold and slightly windy. One can just imagine the conversation. "It's not my turn to get the food, send Robby!"
This same morning the local clan of yellow blackbirds were feeding below our feeder. The bird in the foreground is probably about to make a morning speech. "Now that I have you all gathered here . . . "
May 14, 2009
4 large turkeys, in field/forest to our west (10AM). They were the biggest I'd ever seen, wasn't sure at first what they were. They were all heading the same way, from the field/brush about the middle of the area to the wooded area. Went for camera but they were gone before I could get it. One of those would have easily feed 3 or 4 families all they wanted.
This evening one of the beaver spent 15 min. grooming himself on lakeshore 40 feet from our yard. Took six photos, but they were too blurry to publish. Next time I'll have to go with a tripod.
May 15, 2009
I didn't see the 4 turkeys today, but I did get a photo of two deer in about the same area.
This evening I was out on the back porch, and what did I hear? I heard what I thought at first was a turkey, a gobbler. I rushed over to the corner of the yard, but even after 15 minutes couldn't see any movement. So I went back inside, grabbed the camera with the zoom lense, and went to a knothole in the wooden fence and peered through. I figured maybe I wouldn't be so visible that way. Finally my eye caught some movement.
But it wasn't turkeys. Using the zoom lense I was able to see 3 pheasant, got a number of photos, and so here you have this one. You can see part of another bird to the right of the large one. Hidden in a back a bit is a 3rd, but this photo doesn't show him. Again, this photo was taken through a knothole in the fence with a 600mm zoom lense. The photos were taken around 7 pm this evening..
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