herons

Category

By Jordan Lake Dam Neighborhood, 4 photos 11-18-2018
Time for a Ramble in the Jordan Lake Neighborhood
 
The Cooper’s hawk is small, swift and often takes medium-sized birds while in flight.
 
 
 
Cedar waxwings are winter visitors here.
They love cedar berries and you can see the red “wax” at the inside lower edge of this one’s wing.
 
 
 
 
 
The first time I saw a Bonaparte gull I thought it was some species of tern.
These are dancers just above the water as they hunt for fish.
 
 
 
 
Immature great blue herons often look like they are feathered in a wash made from grey and pink pearls.
 
 

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 Neighborhood: Ranger Cove, 5 photos, 06/30/2018
Ranger Cove, Jordan Lake Neighborhood
 
The glitter of a ruby-throated hummingbird against the soft glow my lens made of the background foliage.
A quizzical northern cardinal made me smile.
 
Bright eyes, startling gold against the iridescent deep purple-black of a common grackle.
The snowy egret’s translucence allows you to see the bones and joints of its wing: of its shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers.
Note too that his feet have yellow socks!
 
Perched probably 60 feet up at the top of a tree, it is a little startling to see an immature great blue heron surveying the cove.
Actually great blue herons of all ages often spend a great deal of time way up in tall trees.

By doc ellen is NOT upside down …
doc ellen is NOT upside down
neither is the great blue heron way up the tree …
and the tree, well …
my friend and I were sitting under that tree
when the great blue heron flew in, landing directly above us
the bird proceeded to watch us down below as we looked up at him
I got to thinking that if the bird flew out I could get a neat slo mo video…