GREAT BLUE HERON FEASTING

Yesterday morning I got up, told Mike and Cayden (my grandson who likes a lazy morning at home on the weekend) that I was going to go walk the lake and would be back in a couple hours.  Later we planned on going to Lake Arrowhead but right now, it's hard to pass up going to our lake at least once a day.

I spent two hours walking the lake, stopping for a half hour to wait until I caught this guy eating.  I could tell this heron was walking slowly and stalking its' prey.  Patience pays off - about a half hour later after standing and waiting, camera in hand, he ducked his head n the water and came up with his meal.  These shots show the fish in his beak and then after swallowing it whole you can see it going down through his throat and neck area.  After eating, he walked a little more and ended up where he was almost directly in the middle of a light source.  I was pretty happy that I had waited.

In the background is the part of the lake closest to town and in the background they are assembling what is called "splash island" - it's going to be quite a summer with lots  kids coming from all over to play on this structure.

They've been assembling it for awhile now and will be done by June 7th when there will be an invitation to join in free for the "new" Lake Gregory opening.  A new company is going to manage and run the lake so there are a lot of changes in store.

Here is what "All About Birds" says about the Great Blue Heron

Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. This stately heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps. They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher. In flight, look for this widespread heron’s tucked-in neck and long legs trailing out behind.

There he goes - it took him 20 plus minutes to finally do this from the time i started watching.

 He's got the fish

 He is swallowing it now.

 He's entered the light zone!

 

Good bye Heron - I'm off to find the baby ducks (and I found them again and they are still cute as can be).

FIRST DAY MY NEW CAMERA CAME IN THE MAIL

We went over to Lake Arrowhead and I didn't realize when taking the photo - how beautiful the water reflections were.  It was so clear and the coot's feet in the water was amazing.

Eventually I'll get a lot of photos up that I took that day.  This was back in the last week of April.

We will be going back to Lake Arrowhead today as we have our grandson up for the weekend and it's a nice place to go out for a few hours - it takes about 10 minutes to get over there.  I'm curious to see if the coots are staying over there because we hardly have any at our lake.  I kind of think though, they may be taking care of their eggs as it will shortly be coot baby season.  Can't wait!

THE ROOSTER MAKES ALL THE NOISE BUT THE HEN RULES THE ROOST

Some roosters - a Banty I especially liked.

We came upon a house  over in Rim Forest - up Strawberry Fields road - toward the end of the road and saw these beautiful beings.

After dinner one night at the Cottage we took a drive up this road and to my surprise I saw a yard full of chickens and roosters.  I took some photos from the car but they weren't very good.  A few weeks later (about a week ago) we went there again and since it looked like no one was home I got out of the car and shot some quick photos.

I like this little story I found:

In Southeast Asia, the Hmong tell this tale: A long time ago, when the world was new, the sky held nine suns. The land was hot, the river dried up, and crops began to die. The people decided to ask their best archer to shoot the suns out of the sky. The next day, one by one, he shot the suns. Frightened, the last remaining sun hid behind a mountain where the archer could not reach her. Soon the people realized their mistake. The world grew cold, and the crops did not grow. The people spoke gently to the hiding sun to coax her back. They also asked animals and songbirds to try, but none could convince her to return. Finally, someone suggested the rooster, because he was fearless and would not give up. Agreeing to help, the rooster crowed three times, and the sun, believing she was safe, rose from behind the mountain. To show gratitude to the rooster, the sun placed a bit of the morning sky on top of his head.

I always take a lot of similar poses because in the back of my mind I will be sketching or painting this one.

They have a sign that they sell eggs.  I was thinking of going back and buying eggs from there.  Heck - maybe I'll buy my own hen and rooster and have a chicken coup in my yard....but then...I'd have to stay home and not go on three or four day getaways - I think the coyotes would end up finding a way into the yard and having a feast.

BEAUTIFUL KOI

At the hotel where we stayed in San Diego we were right above the parrots and also the koi pond.  I took many photos of the Koi. 

SNOWY EGRET

Egrets and Herons - they look so much alike.   This is a snowy egret because of the yellow feet and black beak.  It is smaller than the Great Egret. 

Scott Simmons writes "  I became interested in birding and bird photography largely because of the beauty of herons and egrets, or what is known as the family Ardeidae (herons, egrets and bitterns). Herons and egrets are not biologically distinct from each other; an egret is basically a heron with pretty breeding plumage pretty--pretty enough that they were hunted to near extinction in order to make feather hats in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the species of Ardeidae commonly found in the United States, there are three species of Egret that are typically white in color as adults. I thought it would be helpful to show pictures of all three to help you distinguish between them.

 This helped me to identify the differences.

Anyway I posted some Egret photos several days ago - the egret standing in such blue blue water -

This time - I had taken these photos later in the day and the reflections were different.  I love to just take the time to watch these birds walk through the water - they always look so graceful.

Here the water was reflecting a bit differently.

Depending on what the clouds were doing above - the water changed colors.

Although once in awhile in they look a little clumsy.  

A DIFFICULT IDENTIFICATION

I posted a photo earlier of this bird a few posts back.  Here are the rest of the photos I got of him that day.  I spent quite a while figuring out what this is.

As far as I can tell it is a spotted sandpiper.

Here is what I read..

"The dapper Spotted Sandpiper makes a great ambassador for the notoriously difficult-to-identify shorebirds. They occur all across North America, they are distinctive in both looks and actions, and they're handsome. They also have intriguing social lives in which females take the lead and males raise the young. With their richly spotted breeding plumage, teetering gait, stuttering wingbeats, and showy courtship dances, this bird is among the most notable and memorable shorebirds in North America."

There are "greater and lesser yellowlegs" that look a lot like this - and when it is said that the spotted sandpiper  is a difficult to identify bird, that is so true.  It also looks like a yellow leg.

Anyway, here are the rest of the photos.  These were taken at Hesperia Lake where I also got a few pelican photos the same day as well as Goose babies. 

DUCKS, DUCKS AND MORE DUCKS - I MUST BE QUACKERS

Yes, I'm a little crazy over baby ducks.  These photos are still from the first day I saw them.  Yesterday, I didn't see them but it was windy and instead of walking the lake, we drove down and stood at the shore line near the lodge and put duck food in the water.  No babies appeared so I think they were tucked in their beds taking naps.  It's windy today but we will go walk the lake and hopefully I'll see more.  I'm anxious to see the baby coots in the water once the time is right.  They will only keep their orange and red hair feathers for six days - so there is a small window to see them.