Great Blue Herons are Back...and so is Alan

The forecast was for clouds, but the sun was sneaking above the trees when I awoke this morning.  So I quickly grabbed my gear and hot footed it to Great Meadows.    My choice of parking spots was restricted due to the number of cars in the lot.  What a difference over February, when any spot could have been mine.

Walking down the Dike Path, I realized that 1/2 of the cars must belong to photographers and they were all focused on something down by the river.  With my luck, if I rushed down there, I would probably "just miss" whatever was there.  Instead I took my time getting there.  Because I did, I was treated to a pair of Wood Ducks flying by, in great light.  Thankfully, I had checked all my camera settings upon exiting the car.  The result is one of my best Wood Duck photos to date.



When I arrived down by the river, Ken and Michael were all over a hawk that was posing in a tree.  It was not bothered at all by the people that walked by on the path below.  The tree could have used a little pruning.  The stray branch made it tough to get a really clean image.



Wandering around the lower impoundment, we were treated to the inevitable Red-winged Blackbirds.  A pair of Goldfinches in summer plumage, were flitting from cattail to cattail.  Most of the geese today were in pairs. Many are already sitting on nests.  One pair decided to turn a muskrat lodge into a two story tenement.







We continued to walk around the lower impoundment.  A flock of 20 to 30 Tree and Barn Swallows were swarming in the sky.  Along the way, I was fascinated by the stages of buds on the trees.  They were like miniature flowers.





Down near the spillway the carp were starting to congregate.  Today, they were content to feed on whatever came rushing past.  I expect soon they will be trying to work their way across the spillway into the impoundment.  

A skittish Great Blue Heron took off from the reeds when he saw us.  Another decided the fishing must be better across the path. We were stalking our prey (photographically speaking), trying to get some good photos of the heron amongst the brush.  In the distance, I spied another sign of spring.  Alan has returned from his southern migration and had his cart out, beginning to pick up some of the litter that had accumulated over the winter.





We spent a while catching up and enjoying the wildlife.  Several more Great Blue Herons arrived in the vicinity.  They would periodically, launch and relocate to some other area.  They are all decked out in their breeding plumage.

Government Shut Down?

I hadn't been able to get to the refuge this week, first our daughter was in town visiting, then there was helping my wife with her campaign.  In the midst of all that, I got sick and was bed ridden for two days.  Not knowing what would happen if Congress and the President couldn't reach an agreement on the 2011 budget, I figured I should get over to Great Meadows to check things out.

It was a cool morning.  Though I arrived about an hour after sunrise, there was still frost on the ground, and fog was slowly evaporating from on top of the impoundments.











A typical spring morning the clean, crisp air, was a pleasant tonic, for the way my body felt.  The Red-winged Blackbirds, were greeting the morning sun, serenading walkers along the path.

Some of the animals resembled our government. Each had established their position and was attacking anyone who tried to get in their way.  Rather than positions on the budget, the animals were driven by mating and nesting instincts.  Several times I saw aggressive Canada Geese attack and drive off others that wandered too close.

I was fascinated as a pair of Mute Swans landed in the upper impoundment, attack and drove off another Mute Swan that had up to that point been peacefully enjoying the morning; just paddling and feeding.







A few of the other highlights were enjoying the designs of the maple buds, the mass arrival of a large flock of geese, and the chipmunk who stopped running along a log for a brief moment to pose in the shaft of sunlight.

April Fools

Yesterday, I awoke to no power.  I almost immediately learned my dependence on electricity. There was no heat, no internet, no computer, no television to watch, and dead batteries in our emergency radio.  Reading was a possibility but, I'm between books and it was too dark.  So I bundled up in warm clothes and headed out to see how the refuge looks during a storm.

Here are some of the images I captured from the morning.  I may expand this post later, but this weekend with campaigning, a wedding, church, and enjoying our daughter's returning for a visit, I am way to busy.  So this time the images will have to tell the story.  I hope you enjoy.