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By Doc is Angry and Heart-Sick
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE FISHING LINE BEHIND, PLEASE.

     Doc is Heart-Sick and Angry about 3 young birds at Jordan Lake. All 3 are in trouble because someone couldn’t take the time to put broken line in the trash. A few steps to save a bird is all I am asking. Please remove trash of all kinds and help the birds and fish and people have a clean environment.

     Today we found 3 different birds in trouble at Jordan Lake – ALL three due to carelessly left behind fishing line.
     1) This young cormorant has line wrapped through it’s bill and then wrapped around its neck. You can see the swelling behind the line on the throat. This bird probably won’t make it because the line will restrict his ability to swallow a fish.
     2-4) This is an immature great blue heron – one of this year’s babies. There is a cluster of fishing hooks snagged in its neck. There is fishing line trailing from the hooks, down around its body and trailing behind it. This bird might make it if the wound in the neck doesn’t get infected.
     5) I don’t have a photo yet of the 3rd bird – it is one of this year’s fledgling ospreys. It has fishing line wrapped all around one foot and the foot is swollen. The osprey can still fly so we have no way to catch it. The Rangers are closely watching the youngster. If it becomes immobilized they will do their best to get to it to help.

By Videos
The first half of the slideshow is about one of the H&G Nest bald eagle fledglings making a successful fishing strike.
The 2nd half shows the 2 year-old bald eagle who decided to visit Doc this morning.  She was about 50 feet from me.
This is the 2 year-old in the video posted earlier today.
My little iPhone tries hard when making videos, but it can’t bring to you the stills that my Canon camera does.

By Jordan Lake Bald Eagle Visitor! 07-13-2019
Bald Eagle Visitor
The crows harrassed this 2-year-old bald eagle into flying into the tree about 50 feet from and above me.
The youngster looked down at me, once, and apparently decided the crows deserved more of his attention!
We shared the space for several minutes:
me canted over the back of my chair trying hard to be steady with my iPhone as I looked up and recorded the eagle.
My what an unexpected visitor!

By Jordan Lake Fishing Free-For-All 07-10-2019
Jordan Lake Fishing Free-For-All
I was busy this morning and hardly knew which bird to follow!
There were fish schooling and the ospreys and cormorants had found them.
Cormorants would pop up, swallow their fish and dive, again and again.
Ospreys lined up like planes on a runway and zipped down to fish almost on top of the cormorants!
Don’t miss the fish that got away, to the right of the osprey, in the 2nd photo!!

By Jordan Lake Bald Eagle Flight Detail 07-08-2019
Flight Detail
As an equine veterinarian, I sometimes did still photography to help diagnose lameness problems.
But, Doc, why didn’t you use video since the problem was one of movement, you ask.
The bald eagle shown here, the wing beat captured in 2 cycles, is the reason for the stills …
I can see the stretch of the body and the pull of the wings on this healthy eagle.
In a video I would have to stop the movie, hoping to catch the moment of a problem.
With the stills I could more easily see the changes in a horse’s gait.
Or, if this eagle were in flight trouble, I could better see where in the cycle the problem occurred.