Category Archives: wildlife

Trumpeter Swans Back In Juanita

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 Coot For Dinner

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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.

https://youtu.be/xy8UeqNzxRQ

Hatton Cross Horses Ignore The Planes

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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???

Finally Seeing The Mandarin Duck

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For as long as I have been going to Juanita Park, I have been hearing about the mandarin duck. We have tons of wood ducks but there is one mandarin that lives in the bay. Everyone talked about whether they had seen it. However, it was never wherever I went. Finally I broke that “duck” (apologies for the awful pun). It was hanging out in the bay in nice lighting conditions and seemed busy playing with some root. After this visit, I was back a little while later and there he was again. I guess I am trusted enough now for him to hang out!

Green Heron

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The great blue herons are a regular feature of Juanita Bay but I had seen a few local photographers had managed to get shots of a green heron. By the time I next visited the bay, I figured I might have missed out but was rather pleased when someone said the heron was in amongst the grasses. It did mean he was hard to photograph since he was well concealed. I figured this would be all I could get but there was some other creature in the grass – a rodent of some sort I think. This spooked the heron and it flew out on to the log nearby and I was able to get a clear shot. He squats down a bit when resting but, when relocating, the length of the neck was clear. That is what allows the hunting to be successful when he lunges at his prey.

The Kingfishers Stop Being Shy For A Change

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There are some kingfishers that live around Juanita Bay but I have never previously been even remotely close to them. They seemed to live around the outlet of the creek and head straight out into the bay so they were but a speck from where I was. However, for some reason, a pair of them were out and about. When I was on one pier, one flew right past me and I was too slow to realize what it was. However, luck was on my side.

It was heading for another one over the other side of the inlet and they then started spiraling around before heading back towards me and then straight overhead. I was lucky enough to get a few shots of them as they went by. I headed around the inlet later on and they were flying again. This time one landed on the deck where I had previously been. No doubt, that wouldn’t have happened if anyone had still been there but it was funny to see.

Swan Family (And What Is With The Foot?)

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There were lots of swans in the water along Caen Hill Locks. Some families were swimming around together with the cygnets well grown. One of the families had a member that had one foot up and out of the water. I have no idea whether this is a normal behavior for swans or the sign of an injury but the swan did not seem to be having any problems.

At some point, a couple of the swans got into a little bit of hassle. I don’t know whether this was a territorial thing or a case of swan flirting but one of them was really chasing another and seemed to be intent on getting them out of the way. A little separation was enough to stop all of this so I don’t know what it was all about.

Ryde The White Swans

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You’ll need to be of a certain age or musical interest to get this title I suspect. The seafront of Ryde is home to a lot of mute swans. I knew a few lived on the boating lake but the seafront had loads of them. It seemed you couldn’t move anywhere without seeing some more. Swans do seem to have been a bit of a theme for our vacation as I think about it further.

They were swimming around in groups in the sea and some were sheltering in the marina area. Occasionally some would fly from one spot to the other when swimming seemed like it would take too long! From where I was, it did look as if they might get in each other’s way but I guess that is just the effect of distance on my perspective.

As we walked back along the seafront, a few of them took off from the sea and headed towards the boating lake. They were flying straight towards us at one point (although I failed to get a good focus on them so those shots were wasted) but then turned inland to head to the lake. The sound the swans make as they beat their wings is quite noticeable. If we didn’t have things to do, I could have spent ages watching them.

You Weren’t Expecting Me Were You?

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We did some work on our backyard this year including replacing the grass. Previously, the rabbits had been giving free reign in the yard since the grass was in poor condition. Once we replaced it, it was time to stop them coming in and “spreading weeds”. We have successfully blocked most of the access points that they had but there are still some areas where they have been tenacious enough to find a way in. I stepped out on to the deck recently with camera in hand. There, right in front of me, was a rabbit. I was quite surprised and it looked pretty surprised by me for a moment too. I grabbed a couple of shots of its slightly startled look and then, as soon as I moved, it bolted. I encouraged it back out the way it had come and then replaced whatever it had pushed out of the way. The battle continues…

Ducks Fighting The Current

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The River Itchen runs through the center of Winchester and, just downstream of the old mill building, the water is very shallow. The river bed provides a good location for a lot of weed to grow and the ducks seemed to enjoy feeding on this weed. However, it did require a fair amount of effort on their parts as the current was flowing fast in the shallow areas. It was fun watching them either paddling furiously or bracing against the river bed while dipping their heads under water to feed. The water would sometimes roll up across their backs while they fought to stay in place. After watching this for a while, guess what I chose to have for dinner!