wild birds

Category

By Great Horned Owl!!!
Oh, wow.  Oh, woowee.  Or is that who, whoo, whooo …..
My second favorite place to go birding is Lake Mattamuskeet.
I did a quick day trip yesterday – and got a delightful surprise!
My first ever great horned owl.  
She and I spent spent some 35 minutes watching each other.
Eventually  she walked toward the trunk and her camouflage took over and she disappeared.

By JL Raptors all over the lake!
Raptors all over the Lake!
 
This pair of adult eagles spent several minutes circling each other before straightening out and together heading west.
 
 
The fledgling osprey on the left has a fish.  The fledgling bald eagle on the right wants it!  The osprey held onto his meal.
 
 
A female fledgling very proud of her fish.  She caught it, went to a perch and removed its head before flying off to find a safer place to eat.
 
 
Some time later I realized I was looking at a now well-fed female juvenile osprey!
 

By I Can Do this
The imperative for Life is to Live.
This is one of this year’s fledgling bald eagles. The injury to its wing is large.
Yet, he is fishing successfully.
Animals realize something is different when injured like this.
But the imperative stands: live.
This eaglet will keep flying and fishing until there is no life left.
I hope he is the 1 in 10 of each year’s fledglings that makes it to adulthood.
If you should want to read more of my thoughts about disabilities, differences and life,
or my soon to be published ebook: Jordan Lake Rescue: Grayced

By Youngster Playing
Youngsters!
This juvenile red-shouldered hawk had a prize in his talon.
When he came out of the trees I thought he had a mouse.
But, no, it was a pinecone.
I have watched all sorts of immature raptors playing with sticks and pinecones.
Great way to build strength and agility for the hunt and future nest building.

By JL Neighborhood 4 photos August 26, 2017
The cooler air has a lot of birds out and about.
 
This fledgling osprey has a nice sized fish dangling below her wing and her “rivets” are glowing.
 
 
A spectacular osprey launch.
 
 
Accipiters can be tricky to identify.
I believe this is an immature Cooper’s hawk who zipped past me and into the far pine trees.
 
 
It is always a little disconcerting to see long legged birds way up in trees.
However, they often do just that!
But I didn’t let that stop me from photographing this great egret.