Take a Second Look

I never really know what I have in my camera until I download the pictures into the computer. Sometimes I get a pleasant surprise when I get a chance to see the action frozen for a moment. Things I didn’t know I could see.

A bird’s tongue reaching out for the bug, a foot reaching over a wing to scratch a head, a particular bird’s particular taste in seedery.

While there are times when the camera puts me behind the moment and I miss just reveling in the experience in front of me. There are enough times when I am surprised and delighted by a capture of a moment and it makes up for the experiences lost as the images stretch and expands my experience in Nature and her children.

Yesterday was one of those days. I set out for the ponds with a mission in mind, I was hoping to find a spot to sit, get still and wait to see what birds would come out of the hiding around me after a 30 minute sit. But Buddy the WonderDog and the birds had a different plan.

Look a little deeper into these pictures to see what there is to see …

What is that juvenile Red-Winged Blackbird male looking at? Something startled him.

What’s wrong with this picture (below)?

After we cruised through the South Beaver Pond for a quiet look see, we headed into the woods east of Middle Marsh. I decided to climb a tree that was hanging over the pathway at an angle that seemed scalable.

The truck of the tree was spongy with moss and ferns.

As I climbed up. Buddy fretted. He didn’t like me being up in the tree. After a long whine, he decided to make the trip up the trunk.

Going up the tree was easy, it was the going down that was hard. Watching Buddy make an anxiety-filled descent, raised my anxiety level a bit.

I got up in this tree, now how am I going to get down? Buddy lasted another 10 minutes before he got serious about trying to get me down off of the tree.

Now, just a warning, unless you are my mother or my child or my best friend, you may not find Buddy’s behavior as endearing as we do. When Buddy says, “Get outta that tree, NOW!” he means it. (Turn down your sound.)

I thought perhaps I could get away with sitting only a few feet off of the ground. But no way.

“Get down on the ground or hear about it,” Buddy said.

A Walk in the Rain

I wrote in my column for tomorrow that I was going to finish the column and head out in the rain for a walk. I did.

Buddy the WonderDog and I jumped four pairs of Ring-necked Ducks. They didn’t seem too worried about us, they headed for the Middle Marsh to wait it out until we left their happy home. I’m hoping they’ve decided to nest here. From what I have read, the Ring-necked Duck prefers shallow ponds, and the South Pond and Middle Marsh definitely fit the bill (so to speak).

Since going on the nature walk with the Godseys of the Friends of the Seminary Hill Natural Area, I have been more aware of the plantlife springing up underfoot. It was pouring down rain, but my new Bogs boots and hooded jacket kept me dry and warm.

Life is good. 🙂

Ring-necks, Wigeon, a Bufflehead & Buddy

When Buddy the WonderDog and I arrived at the pond this afternoon there was a pair of Mallards, a pair of Ring-necked Ducks, a pair of American Wigeon and one lone Bufflehead.

The Mallards took off right away. But the Ring-necks and the Wigeon hung around for a little while.

This guy really loves his little Ring-necked Gal … see video slideshow here

Long after the pairs of ducks left the south pond for the middle marsh, the lone Bufflehead stayed and allowed us to watch her dive.

I wondered where her boyfriend could be. I hate to think of her all alone just as the Spring Fling Mating Dance is about to begin …

Some ducks just seem to need to get a running start before they take off, this Bufflehead seems to be one of the running start water birds …

I haven’t been allowing Buddy the WonderDog to go out with me on these duck jumping trips because I was afraid he would chase them off before I could even get a single shot off.

Maybe he knew he had been kept home for a reason. Today he swam the pond …

But he stayed behind the camera. If he would start to stray towards the ducks, I’d whisper at him to get back and he would.

Buddy isn’t called the “WonderDog” for nothing.

Of course, maybe he was just too full from his earlier meal. I don’t know what it was he dug out of the ground and ate, but it had a long tail and grey fur.

He said it was pretty tasty. I doubt it.