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
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