Building Inventory Before The Storm

I had been planning to meet a couple friends at Great Meadows this afternoon for a bit of photography. However, the forecast for thunder storms combined with a long commute dampened their desire to come and get rained out.

So I wandered to Great Meadows by myself with the objective to check on the Black-Capped Chickadees. Some of my first winter blog posts also contained Chickadees. My how the colors and background have changed. I hoped to obtain a prize winning camera club competition image. One challenge is like all parents of newborns the parents look quite disheveled. I got close, but I can hear the judge's critiques now. I certainly increased my inventory of Chickadee photos. Which one is your favorite?











The sky was starting to grow ominous. The other two cars in the parking lot decided to leave. The rumbles in the distance didn't seem to bother the animals. Several of the bunnies were out feeding at the base of the tower. Do you think this Mallard was looking for the Duck Trail? He decided to just sit down and ride out the storm in the parking lot.









As the storm moved in, I tried to get a photo of lightning in the distance. Unfortunately, most of the bolts were behind the trees on the right. I missed the few that were straight ahead. Soon the storm was almost upon me. I rethought the wisdom of taking photographs out an open car window at the base of a tall metal tower. Moments later the rain was pouring down...the Mallard just sat down and watched it all go by.

Changing Seasons

The animals are telling us it is still spring time, but the weather is starting to feel like summer. They had been up for a couple hours when I arrived shortly after seven this morning.

It is getting more difficult to see things on the Dike Trail. The Cat Tail reeds are getting taller. Soon I will only be able to photograph the impoundments through a few select openings. The Marsh Wrens that were displaying from the tops of reeds are now generally hid deep within the reeds. This one found one of the few cat tails from last year that was tall enough for an encore performance.






Just past the boat landing along the upper impoundment trail a snapping turtle was laying her eggs. She was busy digging and laying eggs for at least an hour. I don't know if I am projecting human emotions onto the turtle. At one point it looked like she actually shed a tear while laying eggs. Then again being aquatic maybe she was only keeping her eyes moist.








I ran into Alan Bragg who introduced me to a few new birds. They were


Common Yellowthroat


A Brown Creeper - which behaves similar to a nuthatch, except it starts at the bottom of the tree and works its way up



Along the way various things caught my eye. Sometimes I was attracted by their color, the lighting, their shape, or because I didn't know what I was looking at.


Smootish Hawkweed






On the way back to the parking lot, he showed me where a Wood Thrush was nesting. I hate to admit I walked under this nest only two days before and didn't notice a thing. The parents were busy gathering food to feed their young. Click on the last image to see the full size version. You can just see the young chick eating. It must be quite new because you don't see many feathers.

An Hour In The Sun

There is a snag at Great Meadows that is in the sun for about one hour each day. Normally, a stump with a hole in it sitting in the sun would not attract much attention. This stump is different because this year a family of Chickadees has decided to take up residence in that hole. Because of that I found myself at Great Meadows, sitting on a stool, watching that stump.

If you are patient, you will see the parents periodically flying back to the nest with food for their young. The nest is so deep that you can't yet, see or hear the babies. But you have to know that they are there based upon the frequency of trips made by the parents returning with food in their mouth. Here are a few images from the afternoon.








Taking out the trash


My doctor said I need to get more exercise, so I thought a quick 1.7 mile walk around the lower impoundment would make him happy. I did stop to take a couple quick photos that caught my fancy along the way.




Two weeks ago the aquatic vegetation had not broken the surface, now it is tall enough to hide the geese as they munch on their aquatic salad bar.




On the way back to the parking lot via the edge trail, I encountered this chipmunk in a shaft of light. I could not resist.