A Bonus Day

Our plans changed.  The morning was free.  The sun was shining.  Amy had the day off.  So we wandered over to Great Meadows with our cameras in hand, while the sun was still low on the horizon.

The Fish & Wildlife folks were just towing a boat down to the launch as we arrived.  We later saw them patrolling the river.  We couldn't catch up with them to find out what they were up to.





There were already a couple of photographers on the dike, with their long lenses and tripods.  I got quite a chuckle of their rolling lens cases.  I can't imagine it helps them get close to their subjects.



It's hard not to stop and take a few photos of Red-winged Blackbirds in the early sunlight.  I've had a mental image of what the perfect shot of one would look like.  This year, I keep getting closer, but am not there yet.





Further down the path we admired the Ring Necked Ducks.  Further up the path we encountered a swimming Wood Duck  in nice light.





The mammals were quite busy too.  Most of the muskrats were shy and reclusive today.  But this one did not seem phased by our appearance in the distance.  No sooner have the trees started to break bud than this Red Squirrel started to eat the tender buds.  They probably are a welcomed changed from the winter cache of nuts.







Continuing around the lower impoundment, I noticed a pair of swallows sitting on an old snag.  Last year, I photographed a pair feeding their young in this tree.  Hopefully, this pair will set up housekeeping here too.


Much of the green growth is below the surface of the water.  One pair of geese which werent sitting on a nest were busy munching away on their aquatic salad.

A Monochromatic Day

Saturday morning was cold, gray, windy day.  It's said that "Bad weather makes great pictures".  Today was the corollary, that "Drab days, make drab photos".  However, since the morning was free & I had plans for the rest of the weekend, I chose to go anyways.

After the large influx of people a few days ago, today was almost a solitary day.  I encountered a solitary jogger.  Like the birds, each one has their own colorful outfit.  Maybe I should compile their photos into a poster - "The Joggers of Great Meadows".



Maybe it was the day, maybe it was that the wildlife was hunkered down out of the cold; but I struggled to find much of interest for my lens.  After walking a lot, I stumbled upon this mix of new growth and dropped buds floating upon the dark water.  It reminded me of a Jackson Pollock painting, so I took a photo.



One thing you will notice at Great Meadows are the American Lotus.  During the summer they are prolific filling the impoundments with flowers.  During the fall they die back and their seed pods remain.  During the winter most of the seed pods drop onto the ice and water.  With the spring thaw and flooding, they float away.  It's interesting to see where they collect.  Some get caught up in the reeds and form piles.  During the high water, occasionally one ends up where it doesn't belong.  Others are still on their final journey, being moved by the water to new planting grounds.







I watched this Song Sparrow foraging amongst the seed pods and reeds.

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.