Bug Week

It was bug heaven at the Fish Pond this week. I think just about every kind of bug I've ever seen made an appearance at one point or another. A couple of times it looked like it was raining there were so many bugs hatching off the surface of the pond.

Late every afternoon the spiders went to work stringing together large webs in preparation for their evening feast. They would freeze in place whenever their new creations would vibrate because one of the millions of gnats, mosquito's or fly's would be unfortunate enough to get tangled in it.

It seemed like they were using the vibrations to determine where in the web there next meal was located and once they figured it out they would scurry to wrap it up. I was amazed to see how fast they can string up a disabled bug.

The buggiest thing of the week had nothing to do with insects though.

I have been trying get a photo that is clear enough to let me read the letters on the leg band of my favorite bald eagle for about three years now. I probably could have had several such pictures if I had opted to use bait to get her close enough to me but since I try to not interfere in her life in any way and feeding bald eagles has been described by the wildlife biologists I have been speaking with as "a real gray area" in regards to the Endangered Species Act I have always felt it better not to try it.

In quite a few photos I have of her you can see what are two distinct white blurs on the band that the biologist who helped band her and I are certain it is the number over letter code that identifies her. In one or two photos we have even been able to determine that the number in the code is a two.

In many photos the blurs do not appear though. Since the color of the band has always remained the same I have always just assumed this was because of the lighting, distance, or blurring caused by camera vibration or movements of the bird.

While reviewing pictures from an observation last Thursday I had about given up trying to read the letters I was looking for because of the reflection of the sun off of the band. Then, suddenly, it appeared in one of my photos. A distinct large single letter. Just as clear as a bell.

It seems as though we have either been seeing things in previous photos or I have actually been watching two different birds with the same colored leg band. This new discovery left me feeling confused to say the least but after reflecting on it for a day or two I am now more excited than ever at the possibility of have two of these magnificent birds to observe.

So now begins the search to solve this new mystery.

Have a great one! Get outside and learn something new about the wonderful world around you!

Kevin

A New Approach

Yes, there really are fish in the Fish Pond and for a small treat they will gladly let you take their picture if your fast enough.

I got a couple of chances this week to check out my favorite eagle's nest. Both eaglets are still there and beginning to stretch there wings. Since getting good pictures of the nest from almost a mile away is to difficult and it's unwise to try to approach an active nest with very young birds in it I will have to wait and hope they make an appearance with mom at the Fish Pond so I can get a good image of them to share.

With the leaves now filling out the tree branches the eagle has been blessed with a new hunting advantage. While she used to circle over the pond and then land in a high perch to look for prey she can now silently appear from just over the tree tops and dive down suddenly on anything swimming on the surface. The up side to this adjustment to her hunting style is that she doesn't spend as much time checking things out before she appears.


Thursday's weather was a nice springtime drizzle and mist mix. She came in from directly over my spot and dropped down to just a few feet off the surface. Seeing nothing she could grab easily she glided to the far end of the pond, tipped her wings sharply left and flew back almost directly at me. Unfortunately the branches of the cedar tree I was sitting behind obscured any photo opportunity.

Making her way about three quarters of the way back across the pond she again turned left and with a few large wing beats rose to a perch that was about forty yards from my position.

After spending a couple of minutes shaking her damp feathers and looking down into the shallow spot in the pond below her she leaned forward, spread her wings and departed. As always the two minutes she was there allowing me to watch her was worth the hours of waiting until she arrived.

Once again it was some of the smallest things around the pond that were some of the most fasinating.

You could sit near the waters edge for an infinite number of afternoons and never notice the webs that fill the tree branches around you. When the light is just right however they appear almost magically.

The geese with the two goslings who were at the pond everyday last week have disappeared. Perhaps the eagles have forced them out onto a larger body of water or maybe they have just wandered to another nearby pond. No female ducks with ducklings yet. Maybe next week.

Hey, have a great day. Get outside and learn something new about the wonderful world around you.

Kevin

Springtime On the Pond

The first little ones of the year have arrived on the the Fish Pond.

The Canadian geese I thought were a little more aggressive than normal earlier in the week had reason to be. They are the first proud parents to venture out onto the water with their young. The two goslings rapidly grow more confident in their surroundings, climbing higher up onto the banks and venturing further from moms side every day.

I'm sure the duck hens will reappear soon with their young in tow. I don't know much about how wood ducks raise their young yet but I know that the local mallards have not spent much time near the pond with their little ones in the past. I have seen mallard chicks in the stream that heads to a large nearby lake but never in the fish pond. I hope the wood ducks will take advantage of the heavy cover around the pond to raise theirs.


It has been my personal experience that one of the best times to see whitetail deer out in the woods is on those occasional wet and foggy or misty days. Days much like last Thursday.

When the ground and leaves are wet they are not as likely to hear you coming and their since their sight is limited by the mist or fog they are easier to approach.

The deer that frequent the banks of the pond have not dropped their fawns yet but I'm sure it won't be long. Even on nice days the does do not bolt at the first sight of people now. They prefer to not expend any energy unless they feel directly threatened.

As always mother natures mix of little warm weather and rain have begun to paint the banks of the Fish Pond with color. Apple blossoms and trillium's are blooming and their contrast with the other new plant growth make them stand out, for lack of a better metaphor, like stars in the night sky.

The return of the leaves to the trees and fresh plant life along the banks of the pond will soon completely change it's personality.


At the beginning of the week you could watch the entire sunset through the leafless trees as it spread across the horizon. Now you just catch glimpses of it after it drops below the top of the tree line and in the spots it does peek through the leaves its color almost appears magnified. Even though there were just little glimpses it was enough to catch my attention for the minute or so it was visible.

While it was this banded bald eagle that first led me to the fish pond it is the entire range of plant and animal life that keeps me coming back. It's just one small part of the wonderful planet on which we are fortunate enough to live.

Have a great week and get outside. Go exploring and learn something new about the world around you!

Kevin

The Waiting Game

Since the female ducks have all but disappeared from the Fish Pond I can only assume that they are busy sitting on nests of what will hopefully soon be tons of ducklings. They do appear occasionally to eat and to take a break but for the most part the Fish Pond has looked a lot like what you would imagine an old fashioned maternity ward waiting room would.

Nervous wood duck and mallard drakes skittishly fly in and out of the pond apparently looking for their nesting mates. Most of the time they have been around has been spent hiding in the branches that overhang the pond hiding.

Since this years eaglets are probably about a month old now the adult eagles that hunt around the pond are in feeding overdrive. The birds who frequent the pond seem to know it. While two weeks ago they would have merely kept an eye an any large birds that cruised over the pond they now seem to go to much greater lengths to avoid being seen by them.

Probably the most interesting experience of the week was with an immature bald eagle that I was quite surprised to see since the local adults have gone to great lengths to chase away any competition for the potential food the pond contains.

I can't tell you how many times I have gotten caught without my camera at the ready when I should have known better. Its one of the true Murphy's Laws of photography. If you cover a baseball game, the play of the game will happen when your changing lenses or focusing on someone in the crowd. When you cover a big car race the days only accident will happen when your in the restroom. If your photographing wildlife the most interesting animal will show up as soon as you step out of your hiding place and get just far enough away from it that you can't get back to it without ruining the moment. That is exactly what happened Saturday morning.

After sitting quiet and hidden for 2 1/2 hours I decided to grab the old wide angle lens and try to sneak to a spot where the sun coming through the trees created what turned out to be an only moderatelty interesting morning scene.

Just after I grabbed the shot and had taken two steps back towards my blind an immature bald eagle, a small trout firmly grasped in his right talon, appeared over the south end of the pond and started to look for a tree in which to land and enjoy his breakfast. He spent the better part of a minute looking for a suitable roost but couldn't find one so he headed west off over the treetops.

I would say that I spent the walk back to my photo blind kicking myself for not having a camera with a lens suitable for taking his picture with me but I really didn't. I was actually glad that I had gotten the chance to watch as this great bird as it flew from tree to tree stopping just short of an almost acceptable branch only to change its mind at the last moment and swoop off in a different direction.

Even when it almost landed in the top of the tree I was standing next to I never heard its wings make a sound. It was the type of moment one finds amazing no matter how many times it happens.

Another occasional and unexpected visitor to the pond was this small Merganser duck.

Diving ducks like mergansers do not regularly visit the pond preferring to spend most of their time on the bigger lakes in the area. They are fish eaters and even when they do make an appearance they do not appear to be feeding. They seem to be either chasing prospective mates or just taking a break on their way to somewhere else.

He did catch me off guard when, without any warning, he started his run across the top of the water to take off. It wouldn't have been nearly as surprising if he hadn't been looking right down the lens when he did it.

Of course one of the benefits of not having a lot of wildlife around is that it gives you an opportunity to observe and enjoy the little things around the pond.

Things like dead tree limbs in just the right light or the way the wind causes ripples on the surface of the water. Its all part of the big picture the makes he world around us such a fascinating place to explore.

Have a great one. Get outside and enjoy the wonderful world around you.

Kevin

Welcome to the Fish Pond

My name is Kevin Johnston and I am a working freelance photojournalist. While I am certainly not anywhere near a household name I do share an interest in wildlife and the great outdoors millions of others across the United States.

Large birds of prey are something I have always been particularly interested in. Something about watching a gracefull hawk or an eagle soar and glide while it hunts is something that I find amazing to watch. They are truely one of the many wonders that surround us everyday and they can be seen in almost any area in the country where their is a habitat that will support them.

For several years I have seen bald eagles soaring over the lakes in my area but I never knew much about where they frequented or how they utilized the countryside over which they flew. After seeing what I assumed was one eagle in the same approximate location on several occassions I decided to try to determine where she was going and what she was doing there. It was this eagle that led me to the Fish Pond which as it turns out is one of her favorite hunting spots.

This blog is a written and photographic record of the time I spend watching the eagles and the other wildlife visitors that frequent the Fish Pond. I will be posting my observations and photos from the Fish Pond each week over the course of the next several months. I will also periodically include stories and photos from other interesting wildlife experiences.

I hope you enjoy this blog. I will certainly enjoy sharing it with you.

Have a great day. Get outside and enjoy the world around you.

Kevin