Yellow Magnolia, Bluebird, Egg

Tags

bluebird, canada goose, egg, photography, postaday

Our yellow Magnolia tree flowers late, and has managed to attract Bluebirds for the second year in a row.

Bluebird on yellow Magnolia branch.

The Bluebird, or its partner, checked out one of the birdhouses I put up.

Bluebird checking out birdhouse.

However, there is no sign yet that the birdhouse is occupied by any bird.

Meanwhile, during a walk around Colonial Lake, I saw an abandoned Canada Goose egg on the ground, near the water. It was quite big, but there was no Canada Geese around it.

Abandoned Canada Goose egg.

Canada Goose egg.

One can see many Canada Geese at Colonial Lake, either swimming in the water or grazing onshore. I have no idea why this one egg was left out in the open with no mother goose tending it. Another mystery.

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Colonial Lake Wildlife

Tags

canada goose, colonial lake, crawfish, eastern phoebe, great blue heron, photography, postaday, squirrel

Colonial Lake close to home is quite small, but it has a good variety of wildlife. An old Canada Goose, named Hank by the locals, does not seem to fly any more and enjoys eating the bread crumbs and cookies that people throw to him.

Hank, the old Canada Goose.

Squirrels are abundant, and at this time of the year they are stocking up on acorns and other wild nuts to prepare for winter.

Squirrel at Colonial Lake.

An Eastern Phoebe had something in its bill, but I couldn’t tell what it was. They usually eat small insects, and sometimes small fruit or seeds.

Eastern Phoebe.

A Ring-billed Seagull landed with a splash and caught something in its beak.

Ring-billed Seagull.

The champ was a Great Blue Heron who caught three fishes in less than 10 minutes as I photographed him.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron with first fish.

Great Blue Heron with second fish.

Great Blue Heron with a crawfish.

Cuteness in Nature

Tags

canada goose, duckling, gosling, mallard, photography, postaday

For this hot weekend, here are some cool images of cute creatures in nature that I saw at Colonial Lake a few weeks ago.

Canada Goose Gosling.

Female Mallard and Ducklings.

Have a great weekend!

Goslings

Tags

canada goose, flower photography, gosling, postaday

Conversations between Canada Goose goslings at the refuge in yesterday’s 90°F (32°C).

“Mommy said we should be eating veggies!”

“Here are some!”

“Look at her chewing that grass!”

“She’s right, it’s yummy!”

“Mommy is always right!”

Canada Goose and goslings.

Sleeping on Ice

Tags

canada goose, photography, postaday

Canada Geese are always present in our area, even in the deep of winter. I found a group of them sleeping on ice at the EBF refuge, with temperatures in the teens (-10°C)  during the day and even colder at night.

Canada Geese sleeping.

Some, however, were not sleeping and were already dabbling for food in a patch of water.

Canada Goose dabbling. Note the open eyes of the two other geese next to it.

Canada Goose dabbling.

Best of 2015 – Part 3

Tags

canada goose, egret, great blue heron, house wren, nuthatch, osprey, photography, postaday, red fox, snow geese

I take a lot of pictures of wildlife, so Part 3 of this series will be about the birds and animals that I have seen through my camera.

Mallards taking off from an icy pond, February 2015.

Great Egret and Snowy Egret, April 2015.

Ospreys mating, April 2015.

Young Red Foxes, May 2015.

Canada Goose and Gosling, May 2015.

Nuthatch pretending to sleep, June 2015.

House Wren holding meal for fledgeling, August 2015.

Sanderling, November 2015.

Great Blue Heron in Flight, December 2015.

Snow Geese in flight, December 2015.

Great Egret and Goslings

Tags

canada goose, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, gosling, great egret, photography, postaday

Monday was a cloudy and rainy day. At the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge a Great Egret was standing by himself, very dainty and haughty in full breeding plumage.

Great Egret

A family of Cannada Geese with nine goslings loved the weather and went in for a swim.

Great Egret: “I tell you, this is why we need birth control!”

Of course, the goslings thoroughly enjoyed the water.

Second gosling from the right: “Who cares what he says!”

Gosling: He’s Mine

Tags

canada goose, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, gosling, photography, postaday

JeanInJackson post Only Child prompted me to post this photo I took today.

Canada Goose mother: He’s my only child! He’s mine!

Meanwhile, at another part of the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, five goslings were being taught to look for food by their mother.

Goslings being taught to look for food.

Here’s another view of four of the goslings.

Four goslings.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Adventure

Tags

broken wing, canada goose, photography, postaday, weekly photo challenge

For this weekly photo challenge, I am submitting a photo I took this morning at Abott Marshlands near Hamilton, NJ. A pair of Canada Geese were walking on the mud banks at low tide, and one of them had a broken wing that was almost touching the ground. Since the injured bird was larger than the other, I am assuming it’s a male. The female goose followed him faithfully, but I don’t know what she could do for him. I also don’t know what caused the injury, but it could be the result of an attack by some predator, such as an eagle or a turkey vulture. In any case, it must have been quite an adventure for this pair of geese! I hope he will somehow survive his ordeal.

Broken wing

 

 

 

Canada Geese

Tags

canada goose, canadian geese, edwin b. forsythe, photo, photography, refuge, wildlife

Three Canada Geese flying by at the Edwin B. Forsythe wildlife refuge in Brigantine, NJ, in late February of this year (2012).

Canadian Geese