Herons hunting for their food have been on here before. I have often been trying to get good shots of them making the strike as they go after a fish in the shallows. The effort to then eat that fish has also been covered here. Therefore, I am going to be repetitive today. I happened to be a lot closer than usual to a heron when it was fishing and I got some good close up shots of its head as it swallowed its meal. Looks like the fish didn’t have much of a chance!
Earlier in the year, I got to see the red winged blackbirds nesting in Juanita Bay Park and then defending their nest from threats real and perceived. The humans were not causing them any problems but the herons were happy to much on a baby blackbird. It wasn’t long before these babies had fledged and were out with their parents. As with many baby birds, they were very demanding regarding food and not interested in getting it themselves. I came across this parent and child along one of the boardwalks. The chick looks like it should be able to take care of finding food but instead it just hung around making a ton of noise while the parent was busy trying to find something to keep it quiet!
Tracking moving birds can be tricky, particularly if they are small ones that are very agile and move fast. There was a chickadee perched on the railings of one of the platforms in Juanita Bay Park and I got a few shots of it as it hopped along the wood. A couple of times it launched into the air as I was tracking it. The shots are not that sharp as I was not prepared for it to move and it was quick but I found the look it is – as if it was jumping up – to be rather interesting. A cute looking bird.
Much of my heron photo collection is of them hunting for their lunch as they stand at the water’s edge. However, I do occasionally get photos of them in flight. Now I like most things that fly but I do think that the heron is not the most elegant bird when it is flying. The long outstretched neck works for a swan or a goose but, for a heron, it seems rather out of balance. With the large wings, it is an efficient flyer but it doesn’t have the look of a bird that is having an easy time of it. This one was heading across Juanita Bay and over the the shore where another heron had been hanging out and, as is the way of wildlife, it was determined to drive the other bird away whether it needed to or not!
I have taken a ton of photos of the hummingbirds that come to our feeders in the back yard. However, a cooler shot is one that involves real plants rather than a metal feeder. We have hanging baskets which have sometimes provided food for the little critters but the majority of the flowers in our baskets this year do not seem to have interested them. Only one of the flowers seems to get some of them to feed and it is a narrow trumpet shaped flower that seems to thrive on the far side of the basket away from me and the light.
Of course, the sun does move so, with a little patience and forethought, it is possible to get in position and try to stay very still so as not to scare away the blighters. I have had some backlit results but they aren’t very appealing photos. They are better than nothing but getting on the right side of things is the goal and one I have finally managed to achieve. If I could get better angles, that would improve things but there are a good start. Now to spend more time waiting for them and try to avoid freaking out the neighbors in the meantime.
Nothing special behind today’s post. It is just that I have a bunch of photos of wood ducks that I have taken over recent months and I figured they warranted their own post. No story about how it was taken or that they were doing something unusual. Just a bunch of duck photos.
A recent post showed some of the closest shots I have yet got of cormorants. What I didn’t originally realize when I was shooting them but which soon became apparent was that the structure was not just a place to hang out for them. A pair of birds had built a nest within the metalwork. At first, this was a little obscured from where I was and hard to see. As the ferry moved out, though, I was able to get a good view of the nest. The main area was shaded from the sun, understandably, but it was still possible to get some shots.
This heron was standing around on Juanita Bay when mum and I were there. It wasn’t showing any sign of hunting so I assume it had already eaten well. The sun was out and it was pretty hot so, after a little preening, the heron adopted a pose I had not seen before. It opened out its wings and faced the sun. I couldn’t work out whether this was a position designed to absorb the sun’s rays or whether it provided a mechanism for cooling by maximizing the surface area exposed. Whichever it is, it was curious. I also shot some video of the bird which is below.
There are no prizes if you know that one of my favorite birds is the cormorant. They are just so cool in my eyes. I am constantly struggling to get good shots of them as they are pretty reticent about being close to humans. Who would have thought any wildlife would view us suspiciously? One place that they do like to hang out is the structure around ferry terminals. They are isolated from the land so have a measure of protection. They can also go straight in to the water whenever they need to fish.
I got the camera ready when we boarded the ferry in case they were close to where we were. Sometimes the light angle is bad, sometimes they happen to be on another structure. Fortunately, on this trip, I got lucky. I was really close to them. The light angles were not ideal but it was still pretty good compared to anything I have ever got before. The sides of the ferry are open so there is the risk that you can spook them. However, there is something about the boat that seems to be less concerned about your presence. It is a bit like seeing deer when you are in a car and looking out of the window.
The eagles that live around Juanita Bay are busy hunters. However, hunting requires a load of effort and it is surely easier to steal someone else’s meal. An otter had caught a fish and climbed on to one of the buoys that mark the protected area of the bay to eat it. As it got close to finishing, one of the eagles swooped in and grabbed the remainder of what it had. The otter didn’t seem too bothered so maybe it had eaten the best of the meal and was okay to let the eagle take it without a fight. The eagle went to the osprey perch and then ate whatever was left.
