Walk Like An Egyptian

Goose that is.

Swim like one too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Seen at Etra Lake Park in central 

New Jersey, this bird is 

most certainly an escapee and not a 

wild bird visiting from Africa.

Domestic Dispute

Clearly he did something wrong.

Imagine ...

You're young ...

... and rich ...

(at least your parents are rich)

... Carnegie rich ...

... no mere shore house ...

... shore mansions ...

... one for each child ...

(the tire seems to be holding up)

... with indoor pools and tennis courts ...

... on your own private island ...

... with a fleet of cars to get around ...

... imagine.

~~~~~~~~~~

You would be imagining Cumberland Island of days gone by.




.

A Pornithological Moment

It was a gorgeous day so I decided to take a walk at a local park, Amico Island. The south overlooks overlook a heron rookery.

This is approximately 2/3s of of the rookery. There are thirty some nests in this image. An apartment complex for herons. And if you look closely you can see twenty-five birds.

Including these two.

Who seem to be enjoying each other's company.

And trying to add to that twenty-five number.

Happy Spring!

Timberdoodle

The american woodcock has an elaborate courtship ritual.

The male bird starts his ritual after sunset. First he "peents" repeatedly, then he takes off and flies in a wide spiral, his wings twittering. He descends from a height of around seventy to one hundred meters, chirping as he does, in a zig-zag pattern. He then lands silently.

And starts the whole thing again. Continuing for about an hour.

Fascinating to watch.

Impossible to photograph.

It took me three days to get this one image. I've plenty of blurry ones. And forget about flight images.

(Most times I couldn't even find the bird in flight.)

But sometimes you get lucky. And luck favors the prepared.

This bird is a creature of habit. Beginning and ending on the same patch of open ground. So on the third day I setup with my camera focused on that spot (I had pre-focused while it was still light). And right on schedule he appeared. I think he liked me because he kept landing closer and closer. Which made focusing nigh impossible in the dark.  

And I got one good image. This one.

Snack Time

(And a hint!)

Feeding time for the gulls on our ferry ride back from Cumberland Island. The birds had been following the boat, seemingly looking for a handout. And this fellow was happy to comply.

Umm ... doritos!

The gulls in Georgia were much more genteel then those in New Jersey. These birds were very tentative when approaching the handout. Our native birds swoop in and steal your food if you're not watching. These would come up to within inches of the chip and then veer off. Except for this one bird, which kept coming back for more.

Tucked In

The northern saw-whet owl, at eight inches tip to tail the smallest owl we have in these parts.

And as you can see, one which likes to roost in tight spaces.

It is a species I've not seen in the wild since 2007. Until today that is, when a friend led me to this one. First found on a Christmas bird count, it's been hanging around for at least three months.

Given where the bird was in the park and how tucked into the tangle it is it's a wonder anyone found it at all. Despite my friend pointing it out and me looking right at it I did not see it at first. She had to position me exactly before I could see it. I fired off six shots and then made my exit, not wishing to cause the bird any distress (but if it's been there all this time, with people coming to see it, it can't be too perturbed by us humans).

I glad I got to see it (I've been skunked on several other owl excursions this year) and hope it didn't mind my visit.