Jordan Lake: We have a resident population of double-crested cormorants here at the lake. The residents stay here all year around. However, come the cool weather of late fall and through the winter, we have hundreds of migratory double-crested cormorants that gather at the lake. Here are just a few of them. It is awesome to go to one of the boat ramps or fishing piers early in the cold mornings and look at the hundreds of these birds standing there piled up shoulder to shoulder.
Jordan Lake: Sometimes I admit that I wish I could read a Bald Eagle‘s mind. For instance, this two-year-old bald eagle, this morning, looked at me as if I were some how or other an odd object on the shoreline. I am certain this youngster has seen humans before! But, I did wonder what she was thinking about…
Jordan Lake: it is the first day of December 2021. I think since it’s also Wednesday, it would be a good time to have a mid-week smile! Up in the sky this morning, I found a ghost merganser flying. I’m not certain whether or not it was a hooded merganser or a red-breasted merganser but definitely one of those very sleek water birds. Smile! Take care, be safe, stay well.
Jordan Lake, Bald Eagle nest report: H&G nest. I watched as Mom Godiva flew past me with some kind of bird in her talons. She had just gotten past me when I realized there was another eagle trailing her. By time I caught up with the other eagle it had started to land in the nest – almost on top of Godiva. It was one of the fledglings from this year‘s hatching at H&G nest. Mom Godiva was not going to have anything at all to do with the offspring. As you can see she promptly threatened it and said no way are you sharing this bird. The fledgling bailed out. Most parent eagles have finished any supplemental feeding of their offspring by about September. This youngster tried for food and it didn’t work. Please remember, nature is never cruel but she is harsh.
Here is a prime example of my father‘s favorite kind of temperature gauge. I photographed this red shouldered hawk yesterday morning when the wind chill factor was 35°F. Even if I had been sitting in my warm truck, I could have glanced over at this hawk and known that because he is almost as big around as he is tall … the air is cold. He has all of his feathers fluffed up as a nice warm blanket. Also note that he’s got his body lowered so that his feather blanket is mostly covering his feet … just like our warm winter slippers would do.
doc ellen's journey 