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Pond birds
Jan. 5th, 2012 11:40 amApparently it's National Bird Day in the United States. I never know how these things are declared, but I'm happy to participate. The birds I've been focused on lately are the waders and waterfowl in the pond at the farm. Since early December I've been seeing wild ducks down there. They're not at all accustomed to human presence, which has made them hard to photograph; they fly away the moment my shape appears in the distance, and I haven't even managed to get close enough to positively identify them. (I need to take binoculars!) I'm sure I saw some mallards once, and another time the distinctive white patch on one bird's head makes me think they might have been teal.
Just left of center in this shot, there are four ducks flying away.
Slightly less shy, or at least slower, is the Great Blue Heron. I can watch it for awhile behind a thin screen of privet branches before it lifts up and beats away, landing just beyond the barbed-wire fence up the hill to observe me for awhile. We're encouraged to see it there, because it means that even after the pond dried up this summer, there are still at least some small fish and frogs to make attractive hunting.
Just left of center in this shot, there are four ducks flying away.
Slightly less shy, or at least slower, is the Great Blue Heron. I can watch it for awhile behind a thin screen of privet branches before it lifts up and beats away, landing just beyond the barbed-wire fence up the hill to observe me for awhile. We're encouraged to see it there, because it means that even after the pond dried up this summer, there are still at least some small fish and frogs to make attractive hunting.
