photography

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By nest builder

I was sitting up on the hill, waiting for an eagle or osprey to perhaps go past.
There was a quick flicker of motion in a tree across the way.
I started watching the activities of a pair of blue-grey gnatcatchers as they built their nest.
In 3 days the nest has gone from a shallow bowl 1 inch high to the cup you see in the photo below.
This tiny bird is only slightly larger than a hummingbird.
It uses lichens, pieces of leaves, bark and spider webs for construction materials.

WALK2920 Jun 01 2015 @ 07-45-33 Ebenezer Jun 01 2015 @ 07-45-33 blue grey nest

By twister

Ospreys frequently go completely under water when diving after fish.
This leaves the bird with a lot of very heavy water as excess weight on its body.
They solve the weight problem by shedding the water.
Like a dog, they start at the beak and do a full body, very vigorous, twisting shake back to the tail.
I caught this osprey at the point of the shake reaching his midsection; his beak almost back to its normal position.

WALK2216 May 30 2015 @ 07-33-59 Ebenezer Osprey shake

By eagle family report: Ice

Mom Kate is plainly telling Ice that he better mind his eagle manners when he gets into the nest.
Her scowl and body posture are easy to see.
I think both parents are tired of hearing Ice screaming for food – you can hear him all over the cove.
I don’t know that he has made any effort to fish.
He made quick work of the fish Kate had just brought into the nest.
And then Ice proceeded to fly to where Kate was perched and landed on the same limb and began his begging all over again.
Kate left in a hurry.

WALK2015 May 29 2015 @ 09-53-11 New Hope Kate and Ice 1

By shiners and shadows

When the lake is still and the sunlight is just above the horizon
the clay that often occurs in the lakebed reflects and tints everything with a burnished brassy hue.
These shiners and their shadows clearly stood out as they slowly swam past the point.

WALK2129 May 29 2015 @ 10-43-41 New Hope Shiners shadows

By worried deer

I was walking the Jordan Lake shoreline after the long Memorial Day holiday.
I stopped and watched when I saw this deer step from the woods.
It glanced at me and proceeded to browse the brush on the shoreline.
Then the deer saw the grill – something totally outside the deer’s experience –
and well it should be, as having a fire anywhere but in designated places is unsafe and forbidden.
The grill is an expensive piece of trash that has to be picked up by the rangers or volunteers.
The deer eventually eased back into the woods, watching the grill monster the whole time.

WALK1844 May 28 2015 @ 10-20-37 New Hope Deer grill

By eagle family report: Ice is hungry

VIDEO of Ice trying to get his father to feed him is at http://youtu.be/l5KEIkWotRs

The video is an interesting look at how tough a bald eagle parent has to be.  
In the video, Ice, the bald eagle fledgling, is hungry.  
That is him draped across the branch to the left of his father, Petruchio.  
Ice works his way all the way across the branch to his parent.  He gives hunger cries (the weep-weep sound).  
He tries lowering himself into the begging posture of a chick.  He uses his beak in the baby gesture of opening and closing the bill.  
Finally he gets right in dad’s face.  To no avail.  
It is time for Ice to begin to fish for his own food and he won’t hunt unless his parents quit providing most of his food.  
It is a hard lesson.  But necessary as 40-50% of eagle fledglings don’t make it to their first birthday because they never become proficient at fishing.
In the photo below, Ice has chased Petruchio all over several large trees, begging for food, until dad finally bails out.
WALK1336 May 26 2015 @ 08-19-50 New HopeIce Chases Dad