24 Saturday Feb 2018
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Not too far from the Snow Geese, a lone Great Blue Heron was fishing for breakfast, with excellent results.
Great Blue Heron fishing.
Caught one. Small but good to eat.
Looking for another fish.
Quick!
More good eating.
23 Friday Feb 2018
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Some Snow Geese are mostly dark, with a little white on them.
Dark Morph Snow Goose.
The following photos show these Dark Morph Snow Geese in flight during their late winter migration, mixed in with the more common white ones.
Snow Geese Blue Morph in flight with a more common white goose.
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
22 Thursday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
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Outside is a dismal rainy day, but inside an Amaryllis brightens up a room.
Amaryllis, not yet fully opened.
21 Wednesday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
Today was the warmest February day for this area, and it felt like summer as I stood at the observation area near the Inlet/Outlet Tower of Merrill Creek Reservoir in Harmony Township, NJ, and watched tens of thousands of Snow Geese resting on the water during their migration back to their tundra breeding grounds. In the photo below, the geese form that white band in the middle. A birder next to me estimated there was probably 50,000 Snow Geese in that long band.
Snow Geese at Merrill Creek Reservoir in New Jersey.
Suddenly, something disturbed the geese and they flew up in the air.
Snow Geese flying up.
The sound was extraordinary, like the noise a million bees would make when they swarm. The undulating cloud of thousands and thousands of Snow Geese was a sight not to be missed, with shapes and colors changing as the geese turned in synchronized motion according to signals that only they could understand.
Snow Geese flying up.
Snow Geese flying up.
Once again, there was no easy way to get closer to the geese, so these photos taken from at least half a mile away will have to do. However, I may try again another day.
20 Tuesday Feb 2018
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Shortly after the Snowy Owls, thousands of Snow Geese appeared at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. New Jersey is on their migration path, and the refuge is a rest stop for them as they fly back to breeding grounds in the Canadian and Alaskan tundras.
The sky was a painterly mix of blue with gray and white clouds, and it was good to be clicking away knowing that one can get good shots no matter what. If you miss one there were always more geese to oblige you.
Snow Geese migrating North.
Snow Geese.
Snow Goose.
Snow Goose.
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
19 Monday Feb 2018
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
I photographed my first Snowy Owl in December 2013, and again in January 2014 and 2015. Then for two years in a row, it made itself scarce. There were reported sightings in New Jersey, but every time I went to those places it was nowhere to be seen.
This past Sunday, there were two Snowy Owls at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. However, they were quite far, and there was no way to come nearer to them. I had to crop as much as 90% of the images, and the final results are disappointing.
Snowy Owl 2018.
Snowy Owl 2018.
Update: the banner image is from a photo taken in 2015.
16 Friday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and according to the Chinese zodiac, it is the Year of the Dog. I thought it would be appropriate to post a photo taken of a man and his dog in October of 2015 at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
Happy New Year of the Dog!
13 Tuesday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
On a snowy day three years ago, I watched the birds flock to our feeder. Traffic was heavy, with the Dark-eyed Juncos being the most assiduous and energetic. With my camera on a tripod from inside the house I tried to get shots of them flying and competing for seeds.
Dark-eyed Junco preparing to land.
Food fight?
10 Saturday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
I took the following photos in 2015 on the 11th of February. Today, going through my archives and seeing them, I am surprised I had not posted them at that time.
Female Northern Cardinal. In other shots, it was obvious that she was blind in her left eye.
Nuthatch.
White-throated Sparrow.
Dark-eyed Junco.
09 Friday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
The male Hooded Merganser had a handsome crest that it displayed with great panache. However, nature in the form of a wind gust can create a little bit of a problem for it, as shown in the following series of shots.
Male Hooded Merganser preening.
Male Hooded Merganser.
Male Hooded Merganser. Wind gust started.
Male Hooded Merganser. Hood flattened down by wind.
Male Hooded Merganser after wind gust.
Male Hooded Merganser, as regal as before.
08 Thursday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) is the title of a novel published in 1830 by the French writer Stendhal. That said, the following two images have nothing to do with the book.
The Red, a Northern Cardinal.
The Black, a Dark-eyed Junco.
06 Tuesday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
Two kinds of Woodpeckers are regular visitors to our backyard feeder: the smaller bird is the Downy Woodpecker, and the much larger one is the Red-bellied Woodpecker. Here are two shots of them as they perched on nearby trees.
Male Downy Woodpecker.
Red-bellied Woodpecker.
03 Saturday Feb 2018
Posted in Photography
I still have not ventured out since coming down with the flu. There may also be quite a few people similarly afflicted for the local pharmacy shelves have been laid bare of the more popular flu and cold medicines. The weather has not been cooperating either, being mostly cold, snowy at times, and windy almost always. This has given me time to cull through some recent shots of Blue Jays and other birds in our backyard.
Blue Jay.
Blue Jay.
Blue Jay.
Young House Sparrow.
Female Northern Cardinal.
Male Northern Cardinal.
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