B. Everett Jordan Lake

Tag

By Tight Fit

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River:  In the prior post, we looked at a whitestar morning-glory (native to NC) during the night, when it was resting and closed.  In the growing daylight, the whitestar blossom begins to open.  The blossom is almost irresistible to the eastern bumblebee.  The bumblebee is just a little bit smaller than the wee whitestar blossom. There is an advantage to the whitestar in this tight fit.  As the bumblebee wedges itself down into the flower, to reach the nectar, the insect picks up the pollen of the whitestar.  The bumblebee backs out, carrying her load of pollen and heads for the next blossom.  Pollination for the flower and nutrition for the bumblebee!  The eastern bumblebee narrates her story and I think she does a fine job…

By Fledgling Bald Eagle

Jordan Lake, Haw River:  Oh Joy!!! The fledgling bald eagle was going to land very, very close.  I concentrated.  Snapped a photo and got the moment of intent just before the landing. The fledgling disappeared into the boughs of oak leaves.  I waited.  Then I waited some more figuring he would get hungry and fly out.  1 hour and 20 minutes later I was still waiting, and, had to leave for an appointment.  The youngster won the patience round, by default!  Ah, well, I did get us a great look at his precise landing.  Did you notice the set of talons he has???

By Property Rights …

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River: Great blue herons are very territorial, and are that way from the moment they fledge from the nest.  Each bird wants his share on the shoreline … and will fight to maintain control of the area.  The fledgling great blue heron tried to land on the shore of the riprap.  He was promptly flattened by a subadult great blue heron – about 1 1/2 years-old – who had a stake on that piece of property.  The ensuing fight was loud and quite aggressive on both sides.  The fledgeling is the one whose head is mostly a mottled brown and the subadult has a lot of white on his face and the beginning of the black striped cap of an adult.  Neither bird seemed worse for the fight as the fledgling, for the moment relinquishing thoughts of acquiring the piece of shoreline, headed for the opposite side of the river.  It finally got quiet on the riprap.

By Fishing Practice

The sun was hot and bright.  The Haw River was running gently.  A great blue heron fledgling was fishing … sometimes he got his fish … sometimes he missed.  Practice is both the key to the catch and the key to getting the fish from the front of the beak to inside the beak and down the throat!

 

By One Big Fish for a Fledgling Great Blue Heron

Jordan Dam, Haw River: How does a great blue heron go about swallowing a fish that is bigger than his own head and throat? Remembering that birds are living dinosaurs and therefore closely related to reptiles, I think the birds work at relaxing the muscles of their jaw and throat until they can work their way around the fish. You will see several pauses while this fledgling heron goes utterly still – I think that is when he is resting and allowing his muscles to stretch. That’s my take on the situation. He also occasionally dips the fish back into the water to keep it wet and maintain its slipperiness. The whole episode took more than 10 minutes … I have put up only the last part of the heron’s work. As to the trash, I wish people were more careful about the environment and took their trash out with them.

 

By My Friend Needs Help…

Jordan Dam, Haw River: I had seen the black vulture flock come into the parking lot earlier.  They are always looking for left over hotdogs and fried chicken pieces. They are quite adept at taking the lids off the trashcans and helping themselves to the human throw-aways that are inside.  My attention was drawn back to the vultures when I heard the lid of the trashcan hit the pavement.  I started photographing as one of the younger vultures noticed the sign … I could almost hear him thinking, “my friend is stuck in the trashcan, he needs help, and well, just how am I supposed to dial 911 when I don’t have an iPhone?”.  I put my camera down, quietly walked up on the flock, gently tipped the trashcan over on its side freeing the vulture inside of it. The flock chirred their thanks and we watched the embarrassed vulture walk away.  Sometimes, you just never know what will happen at the lake…