Chincoteague Bay Sunset

Tags

chincoteagye bay, photography, postaday, sunset

To complete this week’s postings, here are two different shots of the sun setting on Chincoteague Bay. On the advice of a fellow camper, I took them this past Thursday from an observation point on Assateague Island National Seashore.

Chincoteague Bay sunset.

Chincoteague Bay sunset.

Great Blue Heron Fishing

Tags

bombay hook national wildlife refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

Less than two months ago, I posted photos of a Great Blue Heron under Fish for Lunch. Today, I saw another Great Blue Heron wading carefully in a pool at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Smyrna, DE. I had my camera aimed and focused on it for at least five minutes, but it kept advancing step by step, catching no fish at all.

Great Blue Heron wading in pool at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

Suddenly it turned around.

Great Blue Heron turning toward fish.

The following images perhaps need no narrative.

Great Blue Heron diving after fish.

Caught one! Good size.

Is it going to eat the fish or will it play with it first?

Suddenly, it dipped the fish back into the pool!?

Almost dropped it!

No way it could have dropped the fish!

Fish starting to be swallowed.

Very close to being done.

Almost done!

Done! Can you see where the fish was?

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, hellebore, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull, snowy egret

Insect on Hellebore petal.

Ring-billed Gull.

Cormorants.

Snowy Egret.

Snowy Egret.

Monday Monochrome

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dogwood, monday monochrome, photography, postaday

Monday Monochrome is for black and white photos. Nevertheless, I thought it will be interesting to show you a white dogwood in both monochrome and its original colors.

White Dogwood, monochrome.

White Dogwood, in color.

Tell me which version you like better.

Dogwood

Tags

cornus florida, dogwood, photography, postaday

Spring in the East would not be the same without Dogwood (Cornus Florida) flowers, and traditionally farmers would not plant their crops until they saw such flowers. This morning I went around our town and took the following pictures of pink, red, and white Dogwood flowers.

Pink Dogwood.

Pink Dogwood.

Red Dogwood.

Red Dogwood. Note the strange mutation on the right!

White Dogwood.

White Dogwood.

White Dogwood.

My favorite is the Pink Dogwood, which is slowly disappearing due to some disease. I could only find one tree today, although there may be others hidden elsewhere.

Pink Dogwood.

Cool Spring

Tags

asian pear, goldfinch, jane magnolia, magnolia soulangeana, photography, postaday

It has been a really cool spring this year. One day, I suddenly realized that there were no flowers on our Magnolia Soulangeana trees which in other years would be covered with thousands of pink blooms. The frost had killed all but two of the buds, so no flower show this year! Fortunately, our Jane Magnolias, which bloom later did not suffer from the same fate. Thus we still have some pink Magnolias around the house.

Jane Magnolias.

Some other late bloomers also came through with a good showing.

Camelot Daffodils.

Our Asian pear trees also did very well.

Asian Pear flowers.

Finally when the Goldfinches molt and change their winter coats for bright breeding colors, you know that Spring has arrived.

Goldfinch two months ago.

Goldfinch now.

Wordless Wednesday: Sanderlings

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday, sanderlings

Sanderlings in flight.

Oystercatchers

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, oystercatcher, photography, postaday

I could not miss these Oystercatchers even from a distance. They are larger than most shore birds, and are quite colorful with red eyes and bills on a black head and a brown and white body. They use their pointed bills to kill partially opened shellfish. Their call can be a long series of “wheep” easily traced back to them.

Oystercatcher with both feet banded.

A pair of Oystercatchers.

A pair of Oystercatchers.

Oystercatchers are on the endangered list of birds, but I have seen them almost every year at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Tree Swallows

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday, tree swallow

A juvenile Tree Swallow was perched on top of a birdhouse, waiting for someone to come back with food. He kept turning left and right. Finally he saw his father!

Juvenile Tree Swallow.

Father on right brought an insect back to his son.

Son: “I am still hungry!” Father: “I’ll go get some more. You just have to wait!”

Peregrine Falcon, Snowy Egret, Cormorants

Tags

cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, peregrine falcon, photography, postaday, snowy egret

First a brown shape dove straight down from the sky, at a blazing speed. It was gone almost instantly. Then I saw a Snowy Egret floundering among a group of Cormorants swimming at the spot where the dive bombing occurred.

Snowy Egret floundering among Cormorants.

Snowy Egret trying to lift off.

Snowy Egret trying to fly.

Snowy Egret after falling back into water.

Then the Cormorants began fleeing the scene.

Cormorants.

Eventually the Snowy Egret managed to fly away and went hiding among the tall grasses of the marshes. Meanwhile, a Peregrine Falcon was perched on top of a nearby pole, watching. I wonder if it was the same one who had dive bombed and scared every bird away. Peregrine Falcons are super fast and capable of reaching 200 mph (320 km/h) on a dive. They are also known to attack mid-sized birds and ducks.

Peregrine Falcon.

Peregrine Falcon. Note band on right foot.

Marsh Marigolds 2017

Tags

caltha palustris, marsh marigold, photography, postaday

One of my favorite flowers is Marsh Marigolds (Caltha Palustris), a brave perennial that lives near water and puts on a brilliant display of gold and yellow in the spring, a real feast for the eyes. Last week, they were there at the Sayen Gardens in Hamilton, NJ,  next to a small pond, outshining other flowers that did not fare so well in the cold and rainy days we have experienced these past few months. 

Eye candy: Marsh Marigolds.

Marsh Marigolds.

Marsh Marigolds.

Marsh Marigold.

Marsh Marigolds.

Worming and Fishing

Tags

american robin, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, photography, postaday

Two different kinds of birds, an American Robin and a Great Egret, with two different ways of finding food.

Male American Robin looking for worm.

He dove toward one.

Maybe not this time.

Great Egret diving after fish.

Caught one!

Osprey Season

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, osprey, photography, postaday

Ospreys stay at the refuge from Spring to Fall, making their nests on platforms built for them. Last week I saw a pair at one of the nests which can easily be seen from Wildlife Drive. She was eating half of a fish that he had brought to her. He observed her for a while, then took off flying. He flew around the nest before circling back to her.

Ospreys: male circling back to female still eating half of a fish. She turned to watch him.

Ospreys: he landed on her back.

Ospreys: she held on to her morsel.

Ospreys: almost over.

Ospreys: done, he jumped back on the nest.

All of this love making lasted just a few seconds. In about two months I may be able to have pictures of Osprey chicks at this same nest. Note that the female was banded on one leg.

At another nest, a pair of Ospreys had already finished their breakfast and were just enjoying some down time.

Ospreys. 

Skein of Geese

Tags

canada geese, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday, snow geese

Geese form beautiful skeins when they fly, and capturing them in flight is irresistible to most photographers. A few days ago, I was fortunate enough to see both Snow Geese and Canada Geese in V formation heading along on their Spring migration paths.

Canada Geese skein.

Snow Geese skein. They covered a large portion of the sky, and this photo shows only a small group of them.

Crocuses Finally

Tags

crocuses, photography, postaday

In previous years, Crocuses were the first flowers of the year, appearing as early as February, and all but gone by March. This year they were buried under snow until this past week. Today there was no rain and the sun was bright and perfect for the following shots of Crocuses in our front yard.

Crocuses, late but vibrant.

Crocuses.

Crocuses.

Crocuses.

The Eyes

Tags

chickadee, photography, postaday, red-breasted merganser, ruddy duck, white-throated sparrow

As bird photographers, we are often told to focus on the bird eyes and make sure they are not only visible but also stand out.

Chickadees are quite common in our area, at any time of the year. Up to now in most of the photos I took of them, their black eyes blend in and are indistinguishable from their black cap. Recently, at sunset, one of them posed long enough with its head turned to the sun, and revealed its bright eyes.

Carolina Chickadee.

The female Ruddy Duck has brown eyes, usually lost in its brown cap, until the sun shines on them.

Female Ruddy Duck.

Sparrows have brown eyes which are more visible, but a ray of sunlight also helped to bring them out.

White-throated Sparrow.

On the other hand Red-breasted Mergansers have devilish red eyes that cannot be missed.

Red-breasted Mergansers.