neighdoctor

Author

By Looking Heavenward

This bald eagle totally, absolutely ignored Captain Doug and I. I wondered what had her attention. Leaning back, I looked up and up and up. All I could see was sky and a few clouds. It was obvious however, because of her attention heavenward, that there was something there that I, mere human, just could not bring into sight.

bald eagle

By Egret Wash Cloth

Egrets and herons, on their middle toes, have a special edge that acts like a comb. They use this pectinate edge to reach up into the special soft feathers on their chest and gather up some of the extra fine fluff that lingers there. Placing the fluff in their beaks it becomes a wash cloth to help clean all the fishy leftovers from their feathers. Here you can see some of that fluff at the end of the beak of this great egret.

great egret

By thank you dear vulture

September 6, 2025 is International Vulture Awareness Day. I certainly wouldn’t want to live in a world without vultures scattered within it. They do such an excellent job of helping our environment stay clean. Vultures help to control a lot of otherwise harmful debris. Yes, their diet is filled with decomposing carcasses and that is okay with me. Join me in my thanks to these marvelous birds such as this black vulture at Jordan Lake.

black vulture

By Dramatic Plumage

Captain Doug and I were out cruising the lake last week. We found a young bald eagle surveying the shoreline. We could see that it was at least three years old – heading towards four. The first photo is the left side of the face. The in-flight photo shows you the right side of the face. I think the plumage patterns in the three-year-olds going towards four-year-olds are some of the most spectacular looks on an immature bald eagle.

left side of face
right side of face