Hello Eagle Friends,
It was an exceptional day in the valley today. The weather was a step up from cool, and hung right between almost hot and just right. That and I only found one wood tick trying to climb from my waist, yes all of it, to my back.
I found no activity on nest 7 and none on nest 8. I was actually at nest 1 with full intentions of hiking there first, but I got sidetracked by a strange, wingless, bumble bee look-alike bug that was tugging at a slug in the sand. It was interesting to watch, and eventually he was able to pull the slug out of the sand.
The spring azure butterflies were hatching and flying around with crinkled wings, butterflies so eager to fly after hatching they didn't wait to pump up their wings for their first flights, or, they fell from their perch while pumping out their wings to make them
look like starched and ironed.
They are among my favorite spring butterflies. I also saw my first black swallowtail today, a female.
I decided not to hike out to Daedee and Dancer's but to do my other nests first and then come back and finish with nest 1.
I'm glad I trusted my instincts. I found Judy sitting on the edge of the nest with 32 day old Terry Gail, and the shots, although taken from a distance, were very endearing.
Then I moved on to check on the two Canada geese families on the first marsh. Tragedy took number 7, and left only the 6 pack. The other family still had their 3. I again laughed as I watched them dipping and diving while learning how to take their baths. I chuckled as the third gosling dove under the water, in fact I thought he was snatched by a turtle as he didn't surface right away.
Then up he popped, literally, between his siblings. Then he dove under and did it again. He has the best lungs of any gosling I have ever seen.
I moved on to nest 6 where I found on the nest box 5 family who also have lost one gosling leaving only four.
If they survive another week, they'll likely make it. The mink, the otters, the eagles, the coyotes, turtles, among other predators will take their easy meals when they can get to them.
Linda was up on the nest with the twins. I couldn't see the twins today.
I moved on to nest 5 where I found the two eaglets 33 and 31 days old wobbling back and forth while their mom, who was perched above the nest, looked down on them.
There were two sandhill cranes that were fishing in another marsh. I wondered if they are planning on nest back there? I would love to do a documentary on them raising their little long necks.
On nest 3 I found no activity. Absolutely quiet. Then I heard the piercing cry of an eagle and looked up to find two immature eagles racing after a red tailed hawk who was wrangling a wild four foot snake, at least, in his beak. The problem I could see was the hawk went about his snake hunting all wrong. Normally, they hook them from the head, this hawk snatched the snake from the middle section and the snake was able to twist and strike the hawk.
Maybe the hawk should of given the eagles the snake. I don't know if the snake managed to get away or not, I would doubt it would survive a 500 foot drop however. Of course, I watched flying lizards being catapulted towards unwanted beach guests on a island while at the movie, Nim's Island, so maybe the snake would survive, too.
Nest 4 was up feeding their eaglet(s).
The Canada geese with the three goslings, all of 7 days old already, were doing well.
I stood for awhile photographing a great blue heron in the dried grasses. He had something stuck in his throat and made numerous attempts to shake it out. I wondered if it was a stickleback minnow.
I saved Daedee and Dancer's for last and hiked out with limited time left to shoot images. The light was right. The eagles were resting peacefully by mom, and I finally got what I call my "Ditto" shot.
The one where the eagles sit close to mom, and the sky is blue behind them, the green leaves are coming out, or already grown out like the past few years, and they have their mouths agap from the heat and humidity. The eaglets are adorable in their "teddy bear" gray suits and every year when I see this photo opportunity happen again, and it only happens a few times each year, I think of Daedee sitting their with Ditto, her first eaglet. That's why I call it the "Ditto" shot.
In a week, maybe two, the eagles will already have their feathers coming in. So I pray for good weather this next week. I don't feel I've hardly gotten any shots this year of the eaglets. Today was worth the long wait.
I packed up and headed to Rochester.
I had tea party with Em planned. We came home and made up and cooked our little cookies and drank our tea (Kool-Aid) while reading our Beatrix Potter stories, and after those, our Frog and Toad treasury. Em fell asleep in my arms and then her rabbit curled up next to her and fell asleep. It was a great day. I hope the rabbit had some good sleep as he has a big day at Show-n-Tell tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to day 122.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
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