Jordan Lake Dam and Tailrace Area are Open! Please be very careful as the Haw River is flowing very fast and forceful. I would avoid going on the riprap rocks! A slip could be dangerous. I made the clip this morning and it has the Haw River, ospreys and great blue herons fishing.
photography
CategoryThere’s a World Out There
This great blue heron youngster, from this year’s breeding season, has an expression that I have also seen on five-year-old humans. He seems to be saying “OK, I got here to this place. Not sure what this place is. Now, what am I supposed to do next?”
Sky Leopard
The sky leopard roared, pinned its ears back, ruffled its neck, lunged upward in anger at all of the storms that had been happening. It decided to gobble up all of the clouds and perhaps stop the blinding lightning strikes, booming echoing thunder and torrential rains.
Feathered Air Conditioner
Great blue herons, in an effort to keep cool, do what looks to us like a dog panting. It’s not the same process however. The great blue heron flutters its gular … its throat tissues. With the heron’s mouth open, the damp throat is rapidly fluttered and causes a living form of evaporative cooling! Almost like an air conditioner with feathers.
Shade!
Ospreys don’t have roofs over their nests, so no shade. Excessive heat is dangerous to all animals. Osprey parents, especially mom, give up their own comfort in order to actually make shade for their chicks. The parent will stand with wings outspread for incredibly long minutes to make sure their chicks are cool. Here are three examples of mom osprey as she becomes a life sustaining shade.
doc ellen's journey 