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By Jordan Lake Dam birds, 4 photos 10/01/2018
Doing a little catching up with some birds from the last couple of days.
 
I have put the great blue heron first because I think he is asking just why is his lake full of trash.
He can understand in his way the tree trunks and limbs and vines but the trash just bewilders him.
If you zoom in you can all kinds of human debris in the water.  This is at the foot of the Jordan Lake Dam Tower.
 
 
The beautiful adult female bald eagle is searching among the debris for a fish to capture.
 
The 3-year-old eagle has caught a fish in amongst all the debris and trash.
I was startled that I caught so much of the reflection, at the distance I was shooting.
 
 
 
Oh, my a chimney swift!  There were about a dozen of the birds out chasing flying insects.
A life list first for me today.

By Jordan Lake Dam update, 5 photos 09/28/2018
I realized this evening that I have been concentrating on water, water, flooding water everywhere.
So, let’s catch up with some of the other events in the Jordan Lake Dam Neighborhood.
 
While trying to catch the fog lifting above the long leaf pine meadow, a flock of double-crested cormorants graced the rising sun.
 
 
A fledgling bald eagle, one of this year’s babies, seemed to challenge the sun and flew into the east.
 
 
Here is an adult bald eagle, very intent on something way across the main lake, near where the Haw River joins the Middle Creek.
 
 
If her stout beak had not protruded way past the clump of leaves where she perched, I would have missed the female belted kingfisher.
 
 
And then there are the small winged creatures, like this common buckeye butterfly, that try to sense if I am to be avoided or dismissed.

By Jordan Lake Dam, post flooding 09/27/2018
Jordan Lake post flooding:
You are correct: this is not the normal hues of the river water.
I was tweaking the photo to bring out the colors of the great blue heron when I realized that with a tad bit more of “blue” I could show you much better the anger of the waves of the Haw River as it escapes the dam’s tailrace. The tweak also allows you to see the water starting to lap once again over the fishing pier which is where the heron has landed.
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

By Jordan Lake Dam update, 5 photos, 09-25-2018
As of this evening, the lake level is down to 232.15, hooray!
Still a long way to go to normal pool level of 216 feet.  All access to the lake except at the dam is still closed.
 
Sunrise in the lifting fog at the dam.
 
 
The foggy landscape cleared just enough for me to take this long shot of an adult eagle heading south over the lake.
 
 
Not long after the adult eagle flew past, a 2-year-old eagle caught my attention as it was heading northward up the lake.
 
 
Looking puzzled, the great blue heron lets us see how turbulent the Haw River has become as it escapes at the higher flow rate the Army Corps of Engineers gave it.
 
 
As I was packing up for the day, I was given a moment of laughter:  this crow zipped past, beak filled with 2 acorns.
 
 

By Jordan Lake Dam, post Hurricane Florence, 1 slideshow 09-19-2018

Jordan Lake Dam this morning, post Hurricane Florence and in the midst of many rivers flooding. Where I could, I provided photos of before and after the storm and the ongoing river flooding. The dam is doing EXACTLY what it was built for: flood control. Without the Jordan Lake dam and reservoir, the flooding downstream would have been even more devastating. My thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers for helping to keep us safe and mitigating the wrath of the hurricane.

 

By Jordan Lake Update post Hurricane Florence 09-18-2018
Jordan Lake Update 09/18/2018
 
While we wait for the waters all around us to go back home and Jordan Lake to reopen,
I thought I would spend some time posting Jordan Lake raptors and birds of all sorts 
and interesting odds and ends that caught my fancy 
but got put aside because of the bald eagle nest reporting.
 
This American crow, the day after Labor Day, flew over my head to a nearby tree.
He was proudly carrying about a third of a donut.
The limb was slippery and the crow tottered on his landing.
I bet you know where his prized donut went!
A crow below him, on the ground, quickly stole the bit of sweetness and headed around the bend.