All Things Winged

This weekend was a beauty, a true indian summer weekend, with warm temps and sunny skies!  We were also having unseasonably high tides due to the wind, so Mr. Tide offered to paddle me around in the tandem kayak so that I could rest my shoulders and back and also so that I could hopefully take some pics of wildlife.

We decided to wander way up to the headwaters of the creek, where the marsh grasses grow tall and the eagles live.  Though we've never found a nest, we know there must be one up that way somewhere, probably too far for us to reach before the tiny trickle of water is completely blocked by overgrown wetlands.

I was so happy I felt up to going, but even happier that I was able to use my big lens for at least awhile, taking frequent breaks waiting for something to fly overhead.  Of course when I got back, I had to play around with the images I had captured.  On the one above I gave it a bit of a 1950s nostalgic look to it.  I told Mr. Tide that I could see it in a hunting lodge from the 50s, probably decoupaged onto a large wedge of wood...remember those?!

The images in this post were taken over several days, and even though I was sore from shooting the first day, I couldn't resist going out and trying again because it was so nice to be on the water again, and I wanted to take full advantage of it while I could!  No pain, no gain right?!

I was glad I pushed myself, because I captured some wonderful images of eagles on one of the days.  I always have trouble catching them in flight, especially from the land, as they often fly behind the trees before I can focus on them.

And the same is true for herons, they are so quick to fly away long before you get anywhere near them, but if you sit patiently in a kayak, sometimes they fly right past you.

This particular heron was perched high atop a long needled pine tree out in the open part of the creek, and surprisingly he or she was more than happy to let me snap a few shots before taking off.  It's the closest I've ever gotten to one and with the setting sun, the light was perfect!

But by far, this last image is my favorite.  This egret let me take some pictures of it perched atop this piling, but then it decided it was time to take flight.  I love that it had only one tiny claw touching as it lifted off...it is a quintessential "bird taking flight" pose in my mind!

There is something about winged things that makes me smile each time I see them....well most things, just not bats!  The quote below is so fitting for each of these images, so I will leave you to ponder your own winged destiny.

“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
― C. JoyBell C.

Upon Closer Inspection

It seems as though fowl of all sorts are filling my camera lens this month, first the eagles, and then today the egrets were back.  As I've mentioned before in other posts about Great Egrets, they are skittish birds who rarely stay put if they see me coming with my scary big telephoto lens, but this one allowed me a few shots before gracefully flying off to fish in another part of the creek.

The egrets are as elusive as they are shy, so, unlike the Great Blue Herons that fill the creek year round, we are always happy to see an egret or two perched on an old dead tree that fell into the water along our property line.  Because they are so private, we can go weeks and even months without seeing one, yet every time I see one outside our window I feel like it's the first time I've borne witness to these elegant birds.

I still kick myself for not getting pictures a few months ago when we passed by a marshy area on our way up to DC.  We were rushing to get there so that I could get some photos in the city before the sun set, so we drove on by what I now assume was an incredibly unusual sight, at least in our neck of the woods.  There were dozens of egrets walking about in this mucky marsh, on their annual migration to where I don't know.  I should have known better than to let a photographic opportunity slip by, especially since I know that you rarely see that many grouped together. I hope they will be back next year so that I can make up for my lapse in wildlife photography judgement!

After snapping a few shots of this particular egret earlier today, I came inside to see if I had gotten anything worth keeping.  I didn't notice it at first, but upon closer inspection I noticed something different about his/her beak.  At first I just assumed it was part of a crab or fish I had caught him munching on, but then I realized that the beak was quite literally broken off.  Egrets, like most shore birds, have long slender and very pointy beaks to help them catch their prey.

This egret seemed none the worse for wear having lost quite a bit of his beak, but I had to wonder what sort of fight might have caused the damage in the first place?  Maybe a fight over a mate, though that would have been quite the fight.  I guess it will remain a mystery, one only the egret can share with the other egrets as they sit around cracking crabs and drinking saltwater.

Sometimes slowing down and taking a closer look has it's rewards.

Yesterday, before I got going for the day I noticed a few visitors down by the water...a lovely Great Egret aka Great White Egret aka Great White Heron.  Apparently this species of egret needs a few aliases, hmm makes you wonder why?! ;)

These lovely birds are so graceful and elegant, and after reading a little about them today I realized that I had accidentally captured something exciting...see that green around his/her eyes?   That is referred to as the Lores...or feathers between the eye and bill, and it is normally yellow in color on the Great Egret, except when it's mating season, then it turns the lovely shade of green you see above!

There were actually 3 Great Egrets just off of our pier yesterday, but I only got close enough to one of them to snap a few pictures.  I kept my distance, but eventually it took off with one of the other egrets and down the creek it went.

I just love where I live and all that it has to offer, I consider myself more than a little lucky and oh so fortunate!

To be able to look out my back door and see such beauty, and learn something new...like what color a Great Egret's Lores are during mating season...wow, how cool is that?!

Of course I never leave well enough alone, and have to play around with my images, but by doing so it makes me discover even more about my subject matter, and I love that too!

I also stumbled across this lovely poem by poet Judith Wright (who it seems was not just a wonderful poet, but a great woman!) while looking up info on Great Egrets.

Once as I travelled through a quiet evening,
I saw a pool, jet-black and mirror-still.
Beyond, the slender paperbarks stood crowding;
each on its own white image looked its fill,
and nothing moved but thirty egrets wading -
thirty egrets in a quiet evening.

Once in a lifetime, lovely past believing,
your lucky eyes may light on such a pool.
As though for many years I had been waiting,
I watched in silence, till my heart was full
of clear dark water, and white trees unmoving,
and, whiter yet, those thirty egrets wading.