Sometimes its the everyday things you take for granted that can bring you the greatest delight. Playing hide and seek with the Seagulls and watching them feed during one of my visits to the pond this week was a perfect reminder of that.

I've made it a goal to find a better spot to photograph the local Kingfishers from. After finding a suitable place next to ponds inlet stream I setup my temporary blind to wait for them to begin their daily hunting excursions. Unfortunately they must have spotted my setup since they took great pains to avoid the perch I was watching.

While I have yet to have any luck getting the shot I want I have seen plenty of other wildlife to keep it interesting including regular visits from the local seagulls.

Like most people who live anywhere near water I see sea gulls on a daily basis. I have gotten so used to seeing them getting free handouts I sometimes forget what a beautiful bird they are when observed in a more natural setting. They also seem surprisinly intelligent as far as birds go.

The first Seagull to appear last Saturday did so quickly and quietly. I hadn't noticed that floating only twenty feet or so away from me in the shallow area next to the flow of the inlet stream was a dead trout. The Seagull saw it almost immediately from half way across the pond and made a bee line right for it.


The fish looked to be about ten inches long and I certainly didn't think the gull would be able to swallow it whole. I was partially right.


He got the whole thing down into his throat but only for a few seconds. It came back out faster than it went in.


It didn't discourage him to much though. He took off , did two low level laps around the pond and landed again right next to the floating fish. This time he was only about fifteen feet in front of me and ready to try it again.


While maneuvering the fish around to get it into a swallow-able position he suddenly noticed my quick and dirty blind. He dropped the fish right where it was and jumped from the water taking flight directly away from my position. Between his apparent frustration with the size of the fish and his uneasiness with my presence he didn't even bother to circle the pond as the gulls normally do when they depart. He just aimed for the lowest point in the tree line and left.

Thirty minutes or so later, what I assume was the same gull showed up again. After that length of time I would have expected he might have forgotten where he had noticed me at or possibly even where the fish was.


He hadn't though. He came back in from directly over my spot and began to circle into the pond. His first time around was just above the top of the tree line then the next time around a little bit lower. The procedure usually includes about three laps before they land. This time he made about ten partial trips around making sure to keep his distance from my location. When he did finally land it was out in the center of the pond.

He settled into the water directly behind the dead Tamarack tree that sat at the waters edge just of to my right. He stayed there for well over half an hour and we played the waiting game. Him keeping one eye on me through the branches and one on the Raven's that flew back and forth above him while I watched him through my camera.


He stayed there and only ventured back toward the fish once and then only after a Mallard drake made his way by me without noticing me. He quickly dashed in and made a grab at the belly up trout but missed and bolted away.


Unfortunately a second gull had noticed the fish while flying over the pond. It, like the first, dropped directly down towards it. Unlike the first however, he spotted me almost right off the bat. He swam off to the middle of the pond chattering at me while looking back over his shoulder. He made his way to almost the same spot that the first gull had just taken off from and I had to decide whether to leave and let them eat or settle in for round two of the waiting game.

I decided that since my new spot had already disturbed the ponds routine far more than I should have let it, it was time to leave. Before I could make it away from the pond the gulls were both back and circling. Since I have observed gulls eating several times I know that they are not ones to share a lunch if they don't have to. I hope the first one is the one who got to eat.

It was one of the funnest sessions at the Fish Pond in recent memory and, for a little while anyway, I will be sure to make note of even the most common of animals in the world around me.

Get outside! Just go sit in your yard if that's all you can do. Enjoy the chance to slow down for a few minutes and watch the little ones around you. They are a big part of what makes our world so wonderful!

Kevin

A Lagre Visitor Makes an Appearance

After an extended absence the female Wood Ducks are returning to the Fish Pond. I'm not sure where the males have gone but the females are back.

As usual my friends the Kingfishers are busy feeding young. From my photo blind I can hear the little ones calling whenever the female leaves the nest for too long.

The female seems to be the more proficient of the two adults when it comes to hunting. She can make four or five successful trips during the hours they are active compared to the males two or three.


Her hunting was interrupted briefly last Saturday morning. Normally when she returns to the nest with food she stops to quickly check out the pond before flying into the woods. On this occasion she sat motionless, and looking nervous for quite some time before disappearing into the trees.

She had obviously noticed the large Heron sitting in a tree over the path she needed to travel back to the nest. I didn't see him until he spread his wings to lift off.


When he came off his perch he dropped only slightly before his large sweeping wing beats leveled his flight and he half flew, half glided the length of pond landing on the lowest point of the bank.

After only about a minute he flew back across the pond and landed on the bank almost directly below the tree he had been perched in. He hunted there for several minutes and then started flying around the pond, landing in different locations to fish.

He stayed for the better part of an hour which I was very happy about. My experiences with Herons in the past has been that they are extremely shy and will disappear if they notice even the slightest hint of a person or movement of a blind.

My furry beaver friend also showed himself Saturday morning. I hadn't seen him in so long I was beginning to think he had packed up house and moved away.

I first saw him moving slowly though the overhanging branches directly across the pond from me. He climbed up onto them and chewed on a small branch for a few minutes.

I'm pretty sure he saw me moving my camera to get a better view of him. He looked right at me and quickly slipped into the water. He swam towards me for a short distance then went back and forth almost like he was trying to decide what to do before diving.

He resurfaced in the center of the pond then dove again. I could see the top of the water moving as he swan right towards me. When he got closer I could see him swimming in the shallower water. He got so close I lost sight of him behind the trees that make up the left side of my blind. I assume he disappeared under the bank where I was sitting. At least I know for sure now that my blind is indeed almost right on top of his den.

While I didn't have a lot of time to spend at the pond last week the time I did spend there was great. As usual each visit offered something new to discover and observe.

Have a great one and get outside! Its a wonderful world!

Kevin

Summer Approaches

The week began with some of the windiest weather to hit our area in over ten years. While I'm not one to normally be bothered by a little shower the threat of pouring rain or lightning will usually keep me indoors. Throw in heavy winds and not only won't I be able to take photos but I usually don't sleep a lot.

I know its not nice to "not" trust mother nature but there's just something about a ton and a half of eagles nest swaying in a steady 35 to 40 mile per hour wind that makes me wonder just how much one old pine tree can take. It drives me nuts. I spend more time watching the nest than I do sitting at the pond.

The forecast for Monday night had been for wind gusts up to 80 mph and I was very worried that the nest would come down or one of the eaglets would lose its grip and be blown out. Fortunately for the nests young residents it seems to have survived this latest battering.

Conditions are finally right for our resident turtles to begin to appear. I ran into one very large one while checking the nest yesterday. By northern Michigan standards it was huge.

He had wondered out onto the road I travel to observe the nest. At first I thought someone had left a large rock on the gravel where it meets the end of the pavement. He was still damp from his 25 yard trip up from the lake and his back was covered in moss.

He sat almost motionless until a passer by saw me laying on the road taking his picture. She was kind enough to pull up behind me to see if I was alright but when she got out of her car this wonderful prehistoric looking guy slowly raised himself onto his slow but steady legs and made as much of a run for it as he could. He didn't look like he was in the mood for many more photos so I didn't pursue him into his grassy hiding place.

Eagle sightings at the pond itself have been few and far between of late. Partly because of the recent weather and part of it may be because of the age of the area eaglets. The young birds have started to make their way out onto the branches that support the nest and I'm sure it won't be long until they fledge. This might be keeping the adult birds closer to home.

My friend the Green Heron has apparently decided to hunt here at the Fish Pond on a regular basis. He snuck up on me the other day appearing rather suddenly at the stump end of a fallen tree that the Kingfishers use as a perch. He spent a fair amount of time making his way out to end of the tree stopping along the way to groom and fish before flying to the opposite end of the pond.

The Kingfishers are still in a continous feeding mode. As much as it would make for some great photos I am resisting the urge to try to figure out where their nest is. About three years ago my young daughter stuck her head into one of the shrubs in front of our house scaring a female finch off of her nest. She never came back and the chicks in the nest died the next day. Ever since then I have been very nervous about approaching nests of any kind.

Kingfishers are a lot of fun to watch especially when they make what I assume is their first trip to the pond every morning. They appear out from under the trees and straight into the water. They splash around for a few seconds and then jump up to a low perch. They shake and fluff themselves then jump back in and splash around a couple of more times before heading off to hunt. I could watch just them and the herons all day long.

As promised, I have started collecting questions from readers and begun forwarding them to a true eagle expert for answers.

Michael Watkins is a wildlife biologist who works for the Army Corp of Engineers in Kansas. He has been actively involved in the banding and studying of the American Bald Eagle both as part of his job and as a personal hobby for the last twenty years. Mr. Watkins as well as Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Dan Mulhern have been a great help and source of information for me in the time I have been watching the eagles at the Fish Pond. I can't tell you how much I appreciate their time and willingness to share their knowledge. Mr. Watkins has kindly agreed to field your questions and help all of us learn a little more about this beautiful bird.

This Posts Reader Question and Answer from the Eagle Expert.

From: Liz in Missouri

"Hey have any of you ever seen Bald Eagles eat carrion? My hubby said one was in the field several days where we were cutting hay, and would take off with what looked like turtles that the cutter had hit. I thought it was strange, but I believe him as he knows what they look like."

Answer:

"Yes, bald eagles will definitely eat carrion. Although they are very proficient hunters, they will take advantage of an easy carrion meal when the opportunity arises. The carrion must be relatively fresh however, they will not eat older decaying carrion like turkey vultures do. I have personally observed bald eagles eating dead fish and road kill deer."

Thanks Mike and everyone else, KEEP THE QUESTIONS COMING!

Have a great one and get outside, its a wonderful world!

Kevin

There's a New Kid in Town!

It has been a very interesting week at the Fish Pond. There were several new visitors including the first Osprey, first frog and the first snake of the year.

There also appears to be a new kid in town!

I was just about ready to leave for home one evening when this fellow showed up. He flew into one of the perches normally used by the other eagles so I just assumed it was one of them. I grabbed a couple of quick shots before he left then packed up my gear and headed out of the woods.

When I sat down to review my images from the day I noticed right away that this was not a mature bird I had seen before. If you look at its legs it is not banded and it is the first mature eagle I have seen at the pond that has not been.

The resident pair of Belted Kingfishers must have a nest somewhere up the hill near the ponds inlet stream. They were very busy all week and their behaviour certainly indicates that they are feeding young.

One would appear from the stream entrance and fish until it caught something then return back up the stream. Within two minutes the other would make the same entrance and repeat the routine. They stayed busy all week, even while it was raining.

I did find out just how fast a male Kingfisher can change direction in mid-air though. During one of the weeks rainy periods, while there was a fog hovering over the waters surface, he was following one of his normal paths across the pond, one that takes him down the corridor of trees that line the outlet stream.

When he popped out of the fog thirty or so feet from where I was standing he was headed right at me. I'm certain that at that very instant the same thought was going through both of our minds. He hit the breaks, coming to a complete stop in mid air about ten feet in front of me and flapped like crazy to make a hasty exit up and to his left.

I have to admit that in three years of visiting this pond I have never seen a Green Heron here until this week. I have seen them at nearby bodies of water but this is a first for the Fish Pond.

They are one of the funnest birds I have been fortunate enough watch and the one that showed up today was no exception. It was great to watch him as he would slowly stalk one section of the shoreline stabbing at the water to catch the small fish hiding along the shore. I hope to see lots more of him in the coming weeks. They are a very pretty bird.


After not seeing any in more than two weeks I also got a very brief visit from a lone female Wood Duck. She appeared from out of nowhere and with a couple of soft peeps landed almost right in front of the spot I was shooting from. She went straight to the mouth of the inlet stream where she took a quick bath and then made a rather odd trip around the pond.

At first I couldn't figure out what she was doing. She would put her beak down into the water and slowly swim towards one of the bunches of floating vegetation. She looked like she was trying to be a crocodile.


Just before she would reach the edge of a bunch she would go to full speed and charge up onto the vegetation. After she did it two or three times before I figured out what she was up to.

She was hunting the dragon flies that were resting on the plants. She managed to grab and eat two that I saw and then she quickly swam to the far end of the pond, turned into the wind and took off and flew back in the direction from where she came.

The end of the week came rain. Friday it was soft and warm and it seemed to change the landscape around the pond every few minutes. When it would start to sprinkle the warm falling drops would create a fog on the waters surface when they mixed with the cold pond water.

After the rain, as the mist would clear, you could hear water drops falling all around the pond's banks as the trees shed the left over rain. It would then become quiet, clear and still with only the sound of the flowing streams murmuring in the background.

As you can see its been an interesting week. I hope it stays this way.

Have a great one! Get outside and explore someplace new today!

Kevin