Jordan Lake. Single bright white down feather cast into the air as a black vulture preens. Sometimes the only picture of a vulture we carry in our minds is that of a vulture during its meal of carrion. Yet, like bald eagles or African lions who become a mess during a meal, vultures also soon cleanse themselves. I would not want to live in a world without vultures and their necessary task of helping to clean our environment.

The male northern cardinal tries hard to look quite classy at all times. However, as you can see here, he is very disheveled. Molt, the normal replacement of feathers, in cardinals occurs in late summer. His only way foreword is to preen and wait for the new feathers to appear. Soon he will again be crimson elegant, beak to tail.

Jordan Lake. It is often said the devil is in the details. In this case the details are in the bald eagle. I often tell people if you can’t see a bald eagle: look for bright yellow feet or maybe all you will get is a glimpse of a bright yellow beak. Captain Doug and I came across this eagle last week and he sure put on a beautifully detailed launch.

bright beak
launch
bright yellow feet

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Featured:

“Killdeer Launch”

I usually hear a killdeer before I catch sight of it. Their sharp kill-dee, kill-dee is quiet distinctive.

Jordan Lake. I was working my way through the trees on the shoreline when I came upon this great egret. I asked myself: is the egret interested in his own reflection or more than likely is there a fish on the other side of that reflection.