It was about 20 minutes after sunrise, the golden hour was tinting everything with brass.
Godiva, the mother of the H&G nest, appeared and dove on what looked like, to me and apparently to her, a fish.
She pulled out after grabbing the object with one talon and then instantly releasing it.
She circled, took a second look, and didn’t try again to catch the “fish”.
You can see the “finned” white object about 12 feet to the left of Godiva. I still don’t know what it was.
I just know Godiva wasn’t going to waste any more time on the “non-breakfast” item.
neighdoctor
Author…and the take-off
Thought y’all might enjoy the other end of the fledgling osprey’s flight.
After being puzzled by watching us watching her,
the youngster took off to practice her new skills.
stick the landing
The leap into the open space surrounding the nest is one step.
The next is to safely stick a landing.
This female osprey fledgling seemed as intent on watching my friends and I
as she was in making sure her feet were going to meet the branch at the right angle.
And, yes, she made a great landing!
flying towards three years…
See the fading of the dark on the beak?
And the more fierce eye?
This 2 year-old bald eagle is well on the way to it’s 3rd year of life at Jordan Lake.
I hope to see some of you at the Eagle Lecture tomorrow at Jordan Lake.
carnivorous trumpets, 2 photos
In April and again in August, when I go to Lake Mattamuskeet, I slow down in one section of the road near the lake.
I am looking for my favorite patch of carnivorous plants to photograph.
In the first photo: the tall pitcher plants with yellow gold red-streaked hoods are trumpet pitcher plants and the hooded structures are hollow leaves that fill with water that traps insects that fall in. The pale solid green hooded leaves belong to a different pitcher species and I couldn’t identify it. What is neat about the first photo is the dark brown blossom that is at the lower left – that is the flower of the trumpet pitcher plant that has matured and is going to pop open and spread its seeds. In the second photo you can see the early trumpet pitcher plant blossom and get some idea between the two blossom photos of why this carnivorous plant is called “trumpet”.
eye-ring update and my error…..
Ah, dear Friends,
As is my wont, I asked some of my birder friends to help me identify the bird I posted yesterday as a new life list bird, a blue-headed vireo. Included in my inquires was a letter with the photo to the NC Museum of Natural History through their Ask a Naturalist program https://is.gd/KuSTMK. I had studied my photo. Studied the identification points in my Crossley Guide and Stokes Birds books. I was pretty darn certain that the bird was a blue-headed vireo and so were the birder friends I had sent it to. Alas, here is the reply from Dr. O’Shea at the Museum…and it appears that he was startled by the similarities of the bird to a blue-headed vireo.
“…Hi, although I had to do a double-take on this one, it is a Pine Warbler. The broken eye-ring and “spectacled” look is exceptionally bright on this individual, but there is some variability in this species in the Fall, and for that reason it is one of the most confusing of the warblers at this time of year. In general, the stocky shape, thick bill, lack of streaking, and the fact that it was with a flock of Pine Warblers also argue for the ID. Hope this helps, Brian”
Brian J. O’Shea, Ph.D.
Collections Manager for Ornithology
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
11 W. Jones St. Raleigh NC 27601
My apologies and back to the hunt for a true blue-headed vireo.
peace and grace and sheepish grin on my face,
doc ellen
doc ellen's journey 