As Captain Doug and I floated around one of the exposed sand banks at Jordan Lake, we found this trio of greater yellowlegs. I see an occasional greater yellowlegs in migration but this is the first time that there were 3 wandering the shoreline.
Jordan Lake
CategoryJack-in-the-Box
Jordan Lake. Jack-in-the-box … Just how tall can a great blue heron stretch its neck? This morning at the lake I had to laugh and laugh. I hope you too find some laughter in the great blue heron’s antics!
Mussel Snack
Jordan Lake. A pair of American crows showed up foraging on the shoreline. One of them found a freshwater mussel. Watch how it uses it’s beak to wedge open the shell and enjoy the snack.
2 Crow Species
Jordan Lake. The first crow we see is an American crow. Listen to his call as crow voices can help you id the species. He finds a very small freshwater mussel and tries to wedge his beak into it to open it up but then gets distracted. The second crow we see is a fish crow. Once again listen to the voice. It seems the tidbit that the fish crow ate made him very thirsty!
Clean Feathers are Best
Jordan Lake. The great blue heron has special feathers on its chest. These feathers grow continuously and they fray and almost make a powder as they grow out. The heron grabs a bit of these white powder feathers and uses them as a washcloth to remove dirt and oil from its feathers.
Floating Past…
Jordan Lake. On yesterday’s cruise Captain Doug and I came upon this fledgling bald eagle, one of this year’s babies. We ever so gently floated past it. For its part of the interaction, the youngster seemed to decide that we just weren’t a probable food source and so we got ignored. Which was just fine with us.
doc ellen's journey 