Birds

 There is a little island on our lake that houses many species of birds.  This past weekend, I got up at the crack of dawn, and decided to try and photograph a few.  I found this Black-crowned Night Heron. 

 He saw me.  Then he made his exit.

 He thought he could sneak around in this tree and I wouldn't see him.

 But I saw him alright.

And he sat there like a statue for the rest of the morning, waiting until night time when they start their day.

And then I saw this Eastern Kingbird.  He had a pretty voice.

But my favorite find of the day was the Green Heron.  I normally will hear them cackle from above, and finally found a few resting in the trees.  They are amazing to watch. 

 They can sit and look pretty.

 They can stretch their very long neck out to make them look like an entirely different bird.

 Or they can stretch their neck out just a little and pose for a portrait.

 They can dance.  (well, not really)

 The color of their feathers really brightens up once the sun hits them.

I want to be a bird when I grow up.

Raccoons

Yesterday was an exciting day in my back yard.  My dog managed to find two baby raccoons living in the bushes.  After cornering one of them, and scaring the poor thing half to death, I was able to call off the dog, grab my camera, and begin to make a couple of friends.

They were scared and very shy at first.

After a few minutes, they figured I wasn't going to hurt them, and they posed for me.

 

 But then the sun came out.  They looked at each other and decided to head for the woods.  It was their bed time.

Angry Bird

 

She is a beautiful Bird, the Great Blue Heron.

There is a park in town that is beautiful.  It has birds and ponds and flowers and ducks and waterfalls.  There is a Great Blue Heron that likes to sit by the waterfall and wait for dinner to swim by.  Yesterday, I tried to get a great picture of this guy and there was a fish jumping out of the water.  It was a very LARGE fish.  So large, in fact, that it looks fake in this picture.  But it's not fake.  I got this guy jumping out of the water.

 

 She can ruffle her feathers like the best of them.  And dive in for food.
But don't get in her space.  If you do, she gets ANGRY.

 

The Geese found this out the hard way.

Then, off she went.

Mamma duck and her little ones were minding their own business like a good duck family should.

Walking through the Park

I love frogs.  Maybe because I rarely see them, but I love them.  Yesterday I found this guy on my walk through the park.  A dragonfly found a nice place to rest.

 Then, I saw this guy.  Have you ever seen the rear end of a Great Blue Heron?  It looks like he is wearing jazzy pampers.  I think I scared him away.

This Chickadee stopped to strike a pose.

And then there were a few deer.  It was dinner time!

Baby Ducks floated by.

Be Warned

There was a swan sitting on her nest at the island in our bay this weekend.  The geese seem to be pestering mom and I caught dad letting the goose know who's boss.  I was a very loud event.

Dear oh Dear

There is a park in town that has many deer.  They hang out in large numbers and if you are very careful, they will stay put while you snap a picture or two.

Some will let you get very close.  Some will dance.

Some of the little ones are just curious.

 And some lift their head from their afternoon nap just long enough to check you out.

Muskrat

It's not uncommon to look out on the water and see a muskrat swimming around.  But lately, this guy and a few of his friends have taken up residence in my yard.  I'm afraid to lift up the row boat for fear of finding an overly crowded muskrat condo.