Sparrow
Tag Archives: birds
Photo of the week~ Week 16
This week there were 3 possibles for the Photo of the Week. After much consideration and close examination of the technical aspects of each photo, the Tree Swallow was the chosen photo.
Scenes from Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary
After the drama on the pond in Plymouth I headed up to Marshfield and Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. I was hoping to add to my deer picture collection but It was a little too early when I got there. I settled into one of the blinds to wait.
There were turtles, turtles and more turtles. As I sat in the blind there was a steady stream of people who were not bird watchers but rather turtle watchers and counters!
There was a water mammal of some kind nibbling on the reeds. I think it must have been a muskrat. I can tell you it wasn’t a beaver. One of the people in the blind with me called it a water-rat. I still think it’s a muskrat.
Of course there were the ever-present Canada Geese.
But a bird I’d never seen before made itself at home among the geese.
It’s a Glossy Ibis. While I watched a second one flew in. The bird seemed to be almost a rusty red when the sun hit it just right. The bird book describes it as having dark maroon plumage with iridescent green and purple coverts.
The little birds that make me think of swallows continued to swoop over the water and then one landed on a bird house right near the blind and I could see it was a blue bird. It didn’t stay long and it was off again swooping and sailing after tiny bugs that we couldn’t even see.
Around 4:30 I left to check out the secret meadow. Along the way enjoying the blooming trees and flowers.
The meadow was empty. That’s unusual for this time of day but I am seldom here on a Weekend. There were a lot of people so that may have caused the deer to stay in the woods longer. I waited for about 15 minutes and had 3 groups of people pass by me during that time. It was definitely too busy for deer. I’ll get them another day.
On Grist Mill Pond
It’s not quite On Golden Pond which was a story of human love and caring that was played out in a beautiful setting. No, but what I witnessed at the Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth on Sunday had all the earmarks of devotion and love but in the animal world.
When I arrived at the pond Mr. Swan was putting on quite the display. At first it just appeared that he was a bad-tempered if beautiful bird.
He was expending a lot of energy chasing every goose that crossed his path.
He was one seriously nasty bird!
He even took them on in pairs!
Smaller birds like the mallard stayed far out-of-the-way under the trees along the bank.
The cormorant took a break from his fishing to get out of the way and dry his feathers.
Eventually I found the cause of Mr. Swan’s angst.
It appears the Mr. Swan is going to be a dad. On the far side of the pond was a nest. It was almost completely camouflaged until Mrs. Swan raised her head. As I was getting the “long lens” to get a picture of this domestic scene, Mr. Daddy Swan returned home.
You could almost believe you heard “I’m home dear”! 🙂 Both Swans began preening and then set to work reinforcing the nest with weeds and muck from the pond. (And we thought we had a hard day at the office !)
Activity on the pond returned to normal.
Off near the bank, under the trees, a shy female duck joined the Mallard as well.
The robin returned to the bank to resume his hunt for a meal.
Looks like I’ll be keeping a look out for baby swans…they’re ugly ducklings aren’t they?
A couple more birds
I got the Bluebird at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Cardinal photo still isn’t quite where I want it to be but it is getting closer. Got this one at The Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth. He surprised me. I had just taken the camera out of the car and I turned around and there he was. I had about 2 seconds to try to get a picture before he flew off. Silly red birds just keep teasing me!
