Flowers are blooming
The ponds are filled with ducks.
Mama Swan from Island Grove Pond counts her eggs.
All is well.
A chorus of Gulls
I can’t help it. I knew they looked familiar!
Mine! Mine! Mine! …If you saw “Finding Nemo” you understand. 🙂
Sights, Scenes and Travel of an everyday person
Mr. Majestic seemed to have life on the Grist Mill Pond well in hand so after observing for a while I decided to squeeze in a visit to one more place, Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.
Many of you may remember that this is one of my favorite places to go to look for birds and wildlife to photograph. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I’ve been back there. My last trip left me covered in deer ticks and then I got busy with “staged” photography for my cards. Well I don’t have my Deet with me but I’m only going to go sit in the blind for a while and see if anything is going on.
The parking lot was full when I arrived. Not surprising since it’s Sunday but I did feel my heart drop. Usually lots of walkers means less animal activity but I’m here so I’m going to check it out.
At the blind another photographer was watching the panne flats. I asked him if there was anything happening. His response, “Not unless you like Canada Geese”. Shortly after I set up he gave up and left. I settled in for a wait but it didn’t take long for things to pick up. Mama & Papa Canada Geese were giving their 5 goslings swimming lessons.
Into the water they went, swam in a small circle and then out to the shore again. This routine went on every 10 minutes or so, never venturing too far out.
Turtles were hauling out to sun themselves on every rock and log in sight, even climbing on each other.
Then I spotted another bird that I’ve only seen once before…a glossy ibis.
I must have spent an hour watching this beautiful bird forage in the shallows. He/she had rich mahogany body feathers with darker wings.
When the sun hit just right his feathers glistened with an iridescent rainbow of colors.
He wasn’t making it easy to get pictures. He was either behind the reeds or way out in the middle.
I had a 300-500 telephoto lens on the camera but it was still a reach. The pictures are better than my first try last year but I wish he had come closer or I had a bigger lens.
To paraphrase the line from Jaws “I think we need a bigger boat”….I think I need a bigger lens!
Time to head to the docks or should I say a dock. I’m heading out on an Eagle/Osprey cruise. I last went on one of these trips on a cold day in February 2011. Of course I picked the coldest day of the year to go at that time. https://aroundustyroads.com/2011/03/04/eagles-on-the-connecticut-river/
This time the weather seems a bit warmer even with the stiff breeze.
The cruise leaves from the dock at Eagle Landing State Park which is located in Haddam across the river from the Goodspeed Opera House.
I am always impressed by how personable and knowledgeable the crew of Riverquest is about the sights along the river and the birds that can be seen. They are the ones who first pointed out Gillette Castle and gave a thumbnail history. They also knew the ID and history of the impressive building that turned out to be St. John’s. Plus they have “eagle” eyes when it come to spotting birds!
Today the cruise is billed as an Eagle and Osprey tour and we certainly got to see Osprey. We also got off to a quick start with the eagles. Barely out from the dock 4 birds were spotted circling very high up. Binoculars came out and a discussion ensued but finally it was determined that there were 4, possibly 5 juvenile eagles soaring on the thermals.
Juvenile eagles are not as distinctive as their more mature counterparts. They start out brown and progress through stages as they age. An eagle expert can tell the age of a juvenile by how much “mottling” the feathers show. They don’t get the trademark white head until they are 5 years old.
We started watching Osprey right at the dock. A pair are trying to build a nest on the center tower of the swing bridge but are having a tough time because of the wind.
As we headed down the river it seemed like every buoy or marker had a pair of Osprey trying to build a nest. It was clear that there is a thriving population of Osprey on this section of the Connecticut River.
We also saw double crested cormorants, a peregrine falcon buzzed the bow of the boat, and even a red-shouldered hawk (as opposed to a red tail hawk) took to the thermals watching for prey. Common mergansers with their funny “bad hair day ” crest floated on the river while Black Backed gulls patrolled the skies.
We passed a mute swan and spotted a loon. And then we saw the large eagle nest on an island ahead of us. The captain brought the boat in as close as he could but even then it was pretty far away. At least it wasn’t hidden by leaves yet so we had a clear line of sight and there they were. Two adult eagles , fully mature, with their white heads gleaming in the afternoon sun. As one moved off the nest to a nearby tree we could just make out the head of a baby eagle above the edge of the nest.
The pictures aren’t great because of the distance but lack of pictures didn’t dampen the excitement of seeing these gorgeous birds in the wild.
All in all it was a successful and enjoyable trip down the Connecticut River and I will continue my quest for that iconic photo of an eagle in the wild. Maybe I’ll get a chance in Alaska!
Progress …that’s what we’re making. Sandy agreed to the combo tour of the Saxman Village and the Totem Park and we made that reservation. Now we have to tackle what to do when we reach Juneau our 2nd port of call.
Juneau is the Capital city of Alaska and the 2nd largest city by area in the US. It is also home to the famous Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau also has WHALES! We’ll be in port from 8:00 am to 9pm so we have a full day to explore.
Usually my sister and I are pretty in tune as far as tours go but here we almost had a rift. I didn’t want to force a “photo” tour on my sister but I really wanted to take the opportunity to get some coaching because the glaciers can be a challenge. I want my pictures to move to the “next level” beyond the post card , snapshot stage. But Sandy is not “into” photography the way I am so I wasn’t sure if she would want to go on a Photography Tour.
In the end both tours were going to the same place at the same time so I decided to go with the tour Sandy liked and do my best with my pictures on my own. The tour description for her Whales and Mendenhall Glacier Trail sounded more interesting than the Photo Tour which talked about photographing the moraines.
Also located in Juneau is Mount Roberts which has a tram ride to the summit. The “Whale Mendenhall Tour” is about 5 hours so we can take the tram in the afternoon.
I can’t wait to compare the actual experiences with what I’m telling you here because so far this is just guidebook information.