Sun and Wind

Tags

american robin, canada geese, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, northern harrier, northern pintail, Northern Shoveler, postaday, snow geese

It was a beautiful and cold three days ago at the refuge. After hiding for most of the week, the sun was out. The wind was blowing fairly strongly and lifted the clouds toward the heavens.

Cirrus clouds and a Canada Goose.

As I drove on Wildlife Drive, a Northern Harrier pair was hunting for food, such as voles and mice, among the low vegetation along the marshes. They cut in front of my car, disappeared in the grasses at times. I tried to follow them and only managed to get an occasional shot.

Female Northern Harrier hunting.

Male Northern Harrier hunting.

Meanwhile, ducks and geese took off in dramatic formations against the blue sky.

Northern Pintails landing.

Canada Geese taking off.

Snow Geese taking off.

Snow Geese taking off.

Snow Goose taking off: “Wait for me!”

American Robin foraging for worms on the ground.

Female Northern Shoveler preening.

Harbingers of Spring

Tags

american robin, canada geese, colonial lake, diamondback terrapin, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, photography, postaday, snowy egret

American Robins don’t migrate during the winter, merely keeping out of sight most of the time. They reappear with the coming of spring, when the ground is no longer too hard for them to try to pull out worms.

American Robin, 2019 spring.

Flocks of Canada Geese flying overhead is another sign that the seasons are changing. However, I can’t figure out what they are doing since they seem to be flying in all directions.

Canada Geese flying East.

Just a minute after the above shot, those Canada Geese reversed direction and flew over me again.

Canada Geese flying West.

I thought that was the last of that flock and started walking toward the woods. Then they flew North and passed overhead once more.

Canada Geese flying North.

Another sure sign of spring is the return of Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets. They appeared two weeks ago, then went away when the weather turned cold. Now they are back.

Great Egret and Snowy Egrets at Edwin B Forsythe NWR.

Great Egret.

Finally the turtles are out sunning themselves. I think they are Diamondback Terrapins, but am not positive. They all jumped into the water as I tried to come closer to them to get a better look.

Seven turtles at Colonial Lake.

Silent Sunday: Long-tailed Ducks et al.

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, brant, canada geese, colonial lake, great black-backed gull, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Great Black-backed Gull.

Brants.

Canada Geese.

Ring-billed Gull.

Ring-billed Gull.

Birds in Autumn

Tags

american goldfinch, bald eagle, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, canada geese, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird

The American Goldfinch stands out with its bright yellow coloring in Spring and Summer. The rest of the year, when they are not breeding, their colors are more subdued, even drab, although they still remain very cute.

American Goldfinch.

American Goldfinch.

Another ubiquitous bird is the Red-winged Blackbird.

Red-winged Blackbird at Edwin B Forsythe NWR..

The female Red-winged Blackbird does not have that red and yellow patch on her wings.

Female Red-winged Blackbird at Edwin B Forsythe NWR..

In the fall, Red-winged Blackbirds often join with European Starlings to form flocks of birds that roam through refuges, importuning even Bald Eagles.

Bald Eagle at Blackwater NWR being buzzed by Red-winged Blackbird.

The smaller birds temporarily took over a favorite perch of the Bald Eagles at Blackwater NWR.

Red -winged Blackbirds swarming a Bald Eagle favorite tree.

Finallly, many flocks of Canada Geese flew over the non-migrating Bald Eagle.

Canada Geese flying over Bald Eagle at Blackwater NWR.

Canada Geese at Blackwater NWR.

Sleeping In

Tags

canada geese, colonial park, goslins, photography, postaday

Humans often indulge in the luxury of sleeping in late on weekends, if they can. A few days ago at Colonial Lake, some Goslings were sound asleep on the bank of Colonial Lake around 9 AM.

Sleeping Goslings.

Sleeping Goslings.

Sleeping Goslings guarded by parents.

Canada Geese Courtship

Tags

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

Weatherwise, Spring is late this year with temperatures around the freezing mark, but otherwise it is already here for the birds, ducks, and geese. Spring is breeding season for them, and nature can’t wait. Today, I saw what is likely a courtship ritual between two Canada Geese at the refuge. It went on for about three minutes before the pair swam off together into the sunrise.

Male Canada Goose swimming toward the female, making lots of noise and waves.

Courtship between two Canada Geese.

Courtship between two Canada Geese.

Courtship between two Canada Geese.

Courtship between two Canada Geese. She finally said “Yes!”  

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.

Wordless Wednesday: Flight

Tags

Bomaby Hook National Wildlife Refuge, canada geese, common tern, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, photography, postaday, snowy egret

Northern Shovelers at Edwin B Sorsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Canada Geese at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

Common Tern at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Snowy Egrets at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Great Egret at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Mating Fight

Tags

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

Yesterday, near the beginning of Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I saw Canada Geese and Snowy Egrets sharing a small area of the pond. I stopped for a few minutes to take pictures of the egrets.

Suddenly a cacophony of honking and water splashing rose up. I turned my camera in the geese direction and shot the following photos. What happened was that a gander was trying to invade the turf of another who had a female goose by his side. If you don’t like violence, don’t look at the following shots.

Male Canada Goose charging his rival!

Two ganders fighting while female looked on.

Male defender bent his neck backward to stab his attacker.

At this point attacker retreated.

Hard bumping!

Turning around to chase attacker.

Go away, you @#%!*!

Shoo!

Go away! Go!

When calm returned, he escorted her out of the area.

Honey, you come with me now, you hear?

Meanwhile the other gander put up some face-saving moves.

Showing off his pecs: I’ll get her next time!

Then he had to cool off his hot face.

Dipping his face to cool off.

What do you know? I almost got her, almost!

Feeding the Geese

Tags

canada geese, photography, postaday

Last June while waiting for the Tall Ships to sail into Philadelphia harbor, I heard a lot of wings flapping and water splashes to my right. There were three kids feeding bread, probably their half-eaten sandwiches, to Canada Geese and gulls. So here’s how it looked.

Kids feeding geese.

Canada Geese converging toward their feeders.

Canada Geese eating bread.

Balancing Act

Tags

canada geese, photography, postaday

Pictured below are a pair of Canada geese sleeping at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. The male goose was balanced perfectly on one foot to preserve body heat, and to stand guard over his female companion.

Canada geese sleeping

I am not positive, but I think he slept with one eye open.