A Feeder Day

With the year drawing to a close, I ventured to Great Meadows again, to see what was there.  With a weather forecast of a high of 50, I envisioned a banner day of photography.  Perhaps, I would see the Virginia Rail reported by David Swain.  Maybe something new or interesting would appear at the refuge.

Initially there was a little excitement.  A harrier in the distance was cruising up the side Upper Impoundment but continued on his path towards, Concord center and Sudbury.   There was something large and different near the trees by the waste water treatment plant...but it turned out to be a bit of tree broken off in last nights thunderstorm, oddly light by the rising sun.

But that was it for excitement.  The warm weather had melted all the ice.  The coots and geese were well dispersed across the impoundments.  I didn't see the Bluebirds and House Finches that had been recently visiting.  Even most of the ducks were either elsewhere, or in hiding.

So in the end, it was a nice walk on a windy, but unseasonably warm day.  Most of the birds that I did photograph, I could have photographed at the bird feeder at home, or at a local park.  Even those that I did photograph often were posed in less than ideal perches and poses.

That's what's interesting about Great Meadows.  Some days are unusual and interesting, others just pedestrian.  You never know which it will be, until you are ready to leave.  Enjoy the photos.

Ice Capades

Monday morning was sunny and cold. The winds were not scheduled to arrive until late in the morning. Hoping that the cold temperatures, had frozen part of the impoundments and brought birds closer to shore; I bundled up and headed to Great Meadows with my long lens.

Arriving at the refuge, I discovered that the overnight temperatures had been too effective and the impoundments had totally iced over. The ducks had departed to the river, leaving the impoundments to the Canada Geese and the American Coots.

While geese were content to sit upon the ice, until their scheduled departure time; the coots were much more interesting. There were several large groups and a steady stream of coots walking between the groups headed from the far end of the upper impoundment towards the lower impoundment.

Like a person in street shoes trying to cross a hockey rink; walking on ice is a task that coots are singularly ill suited to accomplish. Either they would have difficulties getting going, or once going they could hardly stop. Enjoy this brief video of them in action.



I was sort of hoping that the eagle would stop by, because that would have been a dramatic photographic opportunity. However, I did feel sad for the coots huddling together, trying to stay warm; while suddenly locked out of their food pantry. In the end I was glad the eagle didn't appear.



If you don't like coots, you can stop now. However, since today was so different. I tried to enjoy capturing them as they dealt with the icy conditions.












Notice the ice crystals on some of their backs. Is this frozen from some of their last dives?


After a while the purpose of their walking became obvious. They were in search of open water and food. The migration continued to the edge of the Cross Dike Trail. Unfortunately, the passing joggers scared them back into the upper impoundment. Finally they prevailed.












As Will pointed out the Coots are more like Rails than Ducks because they preferred to walk rather than fly. Late in the morning the wind started to pick up and they were forced to fly more. This provided some rare photos of them in flight.










Maintaining their footing was especially challenging between the slippery ice and the forceful gusty winds.








The temperature warmed ever so slightly opening some water in the lower impoundment. A group of coots discovered that the water was still flowing under the Cross Dike Trail bridge. I almost didn't want to bother them, but after getting some close up photos, I had to pass over the bridge on last time to head home.

One Cold Day

The weather report for the beginning of the week looks less than ideal for photography. Today was supposed to be sunny, but cold. The overnight low of 19F was sure to bring ice to the impoundments. So I made my plans to wake up before dawn, dash to the refuge for a little photography, and then dash back home to change and head to church.

I should know better than trust a weather forecast. When I arrived at Great Meadows at sunrise, they had gotten the cold part right, very right; but rather than clear skies there was a lot of broken cloud cover.


Parts of the lower impoundment were frozen, with wind blown patterns


Elsewhere it was a mix of ice and open water



It was so cold, you wanted to get out of the shade into the sunny portion of the refuge. Of course that means shooting back into the sun. So here are a few silhouettes.






Suddenly the light started to get better as the sun started to peak out from the clouds which were starting to break up. With an interesting sky, I found a place to catch that reflecting back in the impoundment. Do you like the portrait (first) or landscape (second) better?






Near the outflow of the lower impoundment, there was a group of Canada Geese and American Coots hugging the lee side of the reeds. Intermixed among them, were some Ring-necked Ducks.








Though I have lots of Canada Geese photos, you have to shoot something to make the finger numbing, bone chilling walk in the cold worth while. Several groups departed quite close to where I was standing, so I got some nice tight shots of geese in flight.




The Canadian Snowbirds don't fly patterns this tight


Watching geese preen can be entertaining. But with such cold temperatures, I wasn't going to stick around for a lot of these type photos.






In spite of blasting the heater on the way home and a hot shower, I only started to feel warm towards the end of the sermon. I remember some cold days last winter, but none quite this painful.