Plenty of people walk their dogs in Juanita Bay Park. They do not always like the areas because the decking is pierced steel and is a bit harsh on their paws. This dog wasn’t bothered, though. Instead, it seemed more intent on finding a way to get into the shore area which was out of bounds. Watching it starting out under the fencing, I felt a little sorry for it!
(British spelling for this title!). Really no deep insight from today’s post. I was photographing the wildlife at Juanita Bay and a bunch of the ducks were busy feeding. They would take it in turns as they dipped their heads underwater and stuck their tails up in the air. Then, at one point, they all went under together. Is it a good use of my time to be watching ducks sticking their arses in the air?
The River Test runs through the grounds of Mottisfont and there is a diverted section of it that runs through a very unnaturally straight section of river near the house. As we walked along the path by this section, we saw a couple of fish in the water. As we moved on, we realized that there were loads of them. To my untrained eye, they looked like they might be trout but I am not an angler or any sort of sim expert. I got some photos of them but video seemed like the best bet so I had a good at that too. Can you identify them?
Until I started spending some time in Juanita Bay with other photographers and bird watchers, I had never heard the word leucistic. There is a leucistic sparrow that hangs out in the bay and is popular with the locals. Apparently, this is a creature with light pigmentation. It is not an albino but it has a lot of white in it. This sparrow was hanging around in some of the trees near the trail as I walked by. I figured it would rapidly disappear when I stopped but it wasn’t terribly bothered by me and was far more interested in whatever it was eating. It is a rather interesting looking bird.
As we walked along the shore trail in Stanley Park, we came up on a gull that had just caught a crab. The gull was intent on eating the crab, as well you might imagine. However, its lunch had also caught the attention of a bunch of crows (could hardly call them a murder). Consequently, the gull was trying to find a way to avoid the crows and eat its food. It was not going to escape them, of course. Instead, it had to do the best it could and accept that they were going to get a few scraps.
I made a trip up to Anacortes to help someone out with a project. I was surprised when I got up there that it was a really lovely day when it was cold and rainy back at home. I think there is a line just south of Mount Vernon where the weather changes dramatically. I had heard a few of the other photographers at Juanita Bay discussing the owls that were up in the Skagit Flats and, since I was coming near that area on my way back, I figured I would stop by to see if I could see any owls.
I had an idea of the location and put it in to the GPS but I didn’t know how obvious the spot would be. As it turned out, when I got there, the large number of parked vehicles on the side of the road gave it away. I pulled off the road, got out the 500mm and waited. Nothing obvious happened for a while. I had to get back for work so didn’t have a ton of time but I was hoping that I would see something. Then I saw someone nearby perk up and looked across to see if there was anything going on.
Sure enough, an owl was scooting across the open land north of me. The light was great and looking at this little creature was so much fun. Even with a long lens, it was not a big target and it kept dropping down low where the cluttered background made the camera struggle to keep focus on such a small object. Even so, it was possible to get a few shots.
The owl was flying towards me so I kept thinking it would get closer and bigger. What I hadn’t counted open was that there was a strong southerly breeze and so it was effectively staying in the same place. Crap! Never mind. I was still tracking it when something flicked across the viewfinder. Turns out there was a second owl crossing in front and definitely closer. I quickly picked it up and it allowed me to get a few shots before it went off to another area further away.
This whole process continued for a while before I figured I really needed to get going again. I would have been quite happy to sit up there for a long time watching the owls and waiting for them to get closer but I did need to get back. As it turned out, when I got back, there was some urgent stuff to fix so I wasn’t wrong to leave but it was disappointing to pass up the opportunity. I wonder whether the conditions will be so good again when I am able to go up.
We try to keep the feeders stocked up for the hummingbirds. However, while there is never a shortage, they still get very competitive about access with dominant birds trying to keep the others away. If only they understood! As the temperature dropped and I imagine their food sources got sparser, one of the hummers decided to take up residence on the arm that the feeder hangs from. If I went outside, it would fly away but would immediately return as soon as I was gone. It meant it was easier photographing it through the window. The icicle hanging beneath it is a measure of the chilly conditions.
The winter is a good time for swans to show up back in Juanita Bay. They are there to eat and rest so are not always the most fun to shoot but sometimes they will get a bit more active. There is a bank of silt in the bay where they can stand and rest so having nothing happen for long periods of time is not impossible. I was there one Sunday morning and they were eating quite close to the shore. However, it was winter and, while the sun was out, they were in the shade.
Every once in a while, some of them would get energetic and I could get some shots of them taking off and flying towards each other. I’m not sure how competitive this all was since things never got terribly aggressive but they did seem to be sparring half-heartedly. A whole family came in to the bay at one point but, rather than flying in when the light was very nice, they just swam in. A touch disappointing but it is nature photography. What can you do?
A few times recently I have been down at Juanita Bay Park when the eagles have been hunting. While everyone thinks of bald eagles eating fish, they are also happy to eat birds if available. We have had large flocks of coots on the lake and they are a plentiful food source. They stay close together on the surface but, when the eagles fly close, the flocks will get startled and start fluttering around as they try to evade the predators.
The eagles are not bothered about the flock. They just want to isolate one of the birds which they can then take out. They will swoop around until they can take out one bird which they then land on top of and sit on it while it drowns. Once it has stopped moving, they take off and carry it back to the pole in the bay where they can eat at their leisure.
Before you eat a coot, you need to pluck it. The eagles make quick work of this and, with a breeze blowing, the air is quickly filled with feathers as they clean up their kill. Once that is done, time to tuck in to dinner. A coot is quickly eaten and then they fly off to a log to wash up before retiring to a tree to rest and digest. If there is anything left of the carcass, you can guarantee that the crows will be paying close attention and will close in to take care of matters.
My visit to Hatton Cross was to shoot airplanes but, as I came out of the tube station and walked along the A30 to Myrtle Avenue, I passed some fields that had a bunch of horses grazing in them. This seemed like such an incongruous thing to see. I was in amongst the housing and right next to an international airport with a major road passing through. Having so many horses there seemed like the last thing I would have expected.
Some of them looked like large working horses while others were either ponies or foals. I am not a specialist so can’t tell the difference. The approach lights for the runway were in the field surrounded by fencing which seemed to attract some of the ponies for some reason. They looked pretty tranquil and clearly had no interest in the planes passing overhead. How could they not be looking???
