I thought I would share with all of you a moment with Grayced the Cat who is my companion. A friend stopped by a few minutes ago to hand off some paperwork to me and a moth snuck in. Sigh. Grayced has spotted the moth. I will leave the light on in the kitchen and hope Grayced doesn’t wear himself out looking up at the light for the rest of the night.
As a veterinarian, I know better, but sometimes I swear cats are boneless. Take Grayced, this late afternoon as an example … neck what neck?
Mom Osprey needs to replenish her body and probably her spirits before she leaves for South America on the fall migration. Every once in a while two ospreys will sight the same fish at almost the same time. Mom osprey got to the fish before the male osprey did. The better part of valor makes him float up and over her and out. She happily hauls her fish away.
If you have a moment, I can show you how to tell a fledgling great blue heron from an adult. The quickest way to tell the age is to check the head! The adult has a head crowned with a white stripe that is enclosed in a black stripe and often a plume or two off the backside of the crown. The fledgling has a solid gray-capped head. It has no plumes. There is a big color difference in the body feathers too. Light pearl gray youngster and adult deep slate gray. There are other differences but for standing at the riprap and trying to decide is that a baby or is that an adult remember: it’s pretty much all in the head.
This morning as the sun rose over the Haw River at the Jordan Lake Dam, the ospreys began to fill the sky with graceful flights as they fished for their breakfast.
Quick survey of the breakfast flights at the Jordan Lake Dam tailrace riprap this morning. Just thought I would let y’all get a taste of how active the birds are being. At least three times I saw groups of 15 ospreys up in the air. There were 11 great egrets. 6 to 10 great blue herons. One green heron! If you get a chance, and even if you do not have binoculars or a telephoto lens, bring your chair and sit down at the riprap and just watch. The ospreys are fishing at the upper end of the river by the dam. I hope you get to go by and enjoy them.
doc ellen's journey 