There is a resident pair of bald eagles in Juanita Bay. Originally, I had got some shots of the two of them which were going to be the basis for this post. Since then, I have seen them a bunch of times. They have been flying around together, swooping across the bay and hanging out on the osprey perch to either eat their food or watch for the next meal. I figured I could just share a bunch of photos of them either together or individually. Enjoy…
I’ve had a run of good luck with the beavers recently which have resulted in some close up shots of the little critters. It pays to not have the long lens sometimes because they get so close but for the majority of shots it still comes in handy. Here are a couple of the better views I have got of them since last I posted on my beaver exploits.
If you see a kid wandering along the beach of through some woods, what are the chances that they will be wielding a stick that they have picked up? Apparently, this is not limited to humans. A family of ducks was swimming across the bay and one of them had a small twig in its beak. At first I thought it was mistaken in grabbing it or had it stuck but it dropped it and then picked it up again swinging its head around with the stick swiping anything in sight. I guess all kids are similar!
We get a ton of flickers in our area. This species of woodpecker is very common and the spring is the time when they love to thrum on the gutters of the houses to mark out their territory. However, I have had a really hard time getting pictures of them. They are very easily spooked. We sometimes get them in the back yard poking around in the grass for food but if they even detect your movement, they are gone.
I recently had one back there and managed to get some shots through the windows of it. Double glazing is not ideal to shoot through but you get what you can. I also saw some in Juanita Bay Park where I was able to shoot through some branches to get a few more distant shots. I have yet to get one flying which is a shame since there is a flash of red from the underside of the wings that I think would look great to capture. I’ll keep trying!
While looking at some shots of this otter swimming in Juanita Bay, I noticed it was breathing out through its nose and creating some bubbles in the water ahead of it. It seemed like a silly thing but of course will happen all of the time when they are swimming. However, I like the idea that it is being silly and doing it on purpose so let’s go with that instead.
I was watching the water in the bay looking for the beaver to come out and feed. I saw something swimming across the surface and at first thought it was a beaver – if only a small one. It didn’t look like it was moving like an otter but it also didn’t seem like a beaver. A while later, I saw some more movement on the water heading for the shore. It looked a little different but I couldn’t say what it was. It then climbed out on to the bank and ran along a log.
I grabbed a few shots and thought it looked a bit like an otter but somehow different. I then lost it again and carried on shooting other subjects. When I got home, I went through the shots and realized I had been looking at two different creatures. The first one will get its own post in due course. The second one had me confused. I started googling images of stoats, ferrets and so on until I got to mink. The pictures of the mink look exactly like the animal in my shot. I think that is what it is. I have never seen a mink in the wild before so this was a pretty cool find for me.
One evening after work, I decided to head back down to Juanita Bay to see if I could get more shots of the beavers. I had been pleased with my first encounter and wanted to see whether there was a chance of getting some more shots. The weather wasn’t so nice but I had nothing on for the evening so decided to hang out for a while. I was there with nothing happening and the light gradually fading so set myself a target of 7pm. If nothing happened by then, I would go home. With about a minute to go before the top of the hour, a guy came out on to the deck I was on.
I figured I wouldn’t leave as he arrived since it would look like he had driven me away. I would wait to give him time to get bored and leave. Instead, a couple of minutes after I had planned to leave, out came a beaver. It swam straight towards me along the shore eventually coming right under where I was standing. I only had the long lens so it ended up way too close. I should have used my phone to be honest. I would never have seen it if it hadn’t been for his arrival.
I had a repeat a couple of days later. I had seen a pair of beavers swim by – not so close this time – and they had gone around into the inlet and I hadn’t seen them return. I was beginning to think I was not going to see them again but got a message from Nancy (who was traveling) to say she could chat. We had a call for a short while when I noticed a tree shaking not far from me. I told her I would call her back. One of the beavers had come across the land and was chomping on the tree. A little while passed and then it came down to the water, dropped in to the lake and swam right past me. I was ready for it to be so close this time. Another lucky break that I would have missed if it hadn’t been for the call.
We have a few otters that are regulars in Juanita Bay. One afternoon, while waiting to see what would show up, one of them could be seen swimming along the shoreline across the inlet from where I was. It seemed to be on the move rather than hunting so the question was where would it go? It headed right into the inlet and then came along the shore. It would pop out of the water on to the land and wander a little before slipping back into the water.
It came around the edge of the inlet and up towards where we were on the boardwalk. Would it try and cross under us? No, it continued along the edge of the water swimming and then climbing on to land again. Back to the water, around the edge of the inlet and then around to the open part of the bay. It stayed close to the edge but kept on moving and disappeared around the corner and to the larger lake. At its closest, it was in the long grass which meant getting a clear shot was tricky. Still, it was pretty close for a long time which is unusual for the otters.
I have spent a lot of time at Juanita Bay recently photographing wildlife. One thing that you won’t have to wait long to see there is a Great Blue Heron. They are a regular feature of the bay and they often come very close to the viewing decks. Consequently, I have got a lot of shots of them. Here is a sample of some that I have recently seen. I haven’t got bored of shooting them but I certainly don’t rush to shoot them when they show up like I used to!
Ducks don’t make for the most exciting photographic subjects but, when you are testing out a new camera, everything is fair game. The eagles had been flying around Juanita Bay but they had been keeping their distance from us. A whole host of coots had been near the shore just tempting the eagles to come hunting but they hadn’t bothered. Consequently, I photographed the coots and the ducks instead.
