tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003687531921245822024-03-12T19:07:19.926-07:00BirdmandeaBirding and nature in the South Puget Sound area of Washington State.birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-69464044940197269102015-11-11T15:46:00.001-08:002015-11-11T16:28:21.090-08:00A time to lick your wounds. A couple days ago my wife and I were taking a walk before sunrise. We stumbled upon a yearling fawn without it's mother. The fawn seemed confused and stayed close to us as we walked slowly. The rut had started and Mom was busy running with the boys. <br /><br /><br /><br />For those of you not familiar with the term, the "rut" is the time of year when our quiet little Black Tailed Deer mate. The male deer known as "bucks" fight among themselves to establish a clear understanding among themselves as to who has the right to breed with the "does". Some fights are ceremonial and over quickly. Some are bloody, violent and can end in death. <br /><br />Yesterday I was passing through an area where last year I took this photo. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/273.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_273.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='186' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />An off ramp on the Interstate offers an ideal vantage point for these two bucks to rest and chew their cud. As I approached this hiding spot I notice a deer walking along a dirt road. <br /><br />From a distance it was easy to see he was limping and something was wrong with his antlers. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/274.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_274.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Sometimes when a deers antlers are growing during the spring and summer they might injure or damage one while it is still in the soft velvety stage of growth. <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/275.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_275.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/276.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_276.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />This poor guy had grown a healthy pair of matching antlers but was in a fight with a bigger stronger buck just a short time before I stumbled upon him. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/277.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_277.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />During the fight his left antler was broken off. Notice the hair on his neck. Each one of rough spots is where a larger buck gored him with its larger and heavier antlers. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/278.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_278.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />The fight was out of this deer as he allowed me to take these pictures with an IPhone. He will be bigger and have shiny new antlers next year. But he is out of the competition for this year. No cute doe would date a buck with a broken antler. <br /><br />One day he may sport a monstrous rack like this guy! <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/279.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_279.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='208' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />More then likely he'll just get this big. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/11/11/280.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/11/11/s_280.jpg' border='0' width='186' height='280' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /> Next year there will be payback. Right now, he's just looking for a place to go lick his wounds.<br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-34523774133608750182014-12-08T05:55:00.000-08:002015-02-16T19:18:31.069-08:00A leg to stand on <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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As a kid I read a story about a king. This king loved to eat. He had the finest chef in the land prepare his many daily meals. His appetite ruled his wealth and the king sent purveyors to the far corners of the world for the best of things to eat. Every manner of creature was fair game for the kings table. The chef dutifully prepared every dish for the king. One of these meals was
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The chef could not resist the aroma. One small taste lead to another and another and before he knew it he had eaten a whole leg. With juice running down his face the chef heard the king demanding his meal. The chief panicked. He knew the king wasn't the kinda guy that wrote unfavorable reference letters. There were not other dishes ready to go so the chef covered up the missing leg the best he could
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With great fanfare the Roasted Flamingo was paraded in to the king. When the cover was removed the king and court gasped. The king became enraged when he saw the one
legged bird on the plate and demanded punishment for whom ever took the leg. </div>
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The
chef wanted to keep his head as well as his job and quickly pointed out that Flamingos were a one legged bird. He directed the king’s attention to the sleeping flamingos
in the nearby fountain. They were all standing on one leg. Bla, bla, bla. The king relaxed and ate
his meal and the chief kept his head. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It was a lame story so I started to ask people in my life why birds stood on one foot. I found that there were three schools of thought on the topic.</div>
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One foot was either cold or tired. <br />
Because they can.<br />
And last but not least, Why do you care?</div>
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So why do birds stand on one leg? For that matter why do they chose to stand on ice or in water? From recent personal experience as a new yoga
student it’s not easy. Yet birds do it
in their sleep, with their head under their wing with one eye open! Or did you think there were really one legged birds in the world?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Making it look easy.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ9tJws2s4Y/UVMD7wQxDjI/AAAAAAAACfQ/uAkmyUmk9Pw/s1600/IMG_0741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ9tJws2s4Y/UVMD7wQxDjI/AAAAAAAACfQ/uAkmyUmk9Pw/s320/IMG_0741.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></div>
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Great Blue Heron</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gXn3536284o/UVMD9pFesTI/AAAAAAAACfY/UeyOThV9sIc/s1600/IMG_1646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gXn3536284o/UVMD9pFesTI/AAAAAAAACfY/UeyOThV9sIc/s320/IMG_1646.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Marbled Godwits</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--onqgOuXoPc/UVMECM2ECsI/AAAAAAAACfg/bwQsbGfgCOw/s1600/IMG_2281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--onqgOuXoPc/UVMECM2ECsI/AAAAAAAACfg/bwQsbGfgCOw/s320/IMG_2281.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Chinese Goose. </div>
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This bird flocked through with a band of Crackling Geese a few years ago. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IkETd0m4nuI/UVMEF9Wb66I/AAAAAAAACfo/hv0Z1yvD95U/s1600/IMG_2289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IkETd0m4nuI/UVMEF9Wb66I/AAAAAAAACfo/hv0Z1yvD95U/s320/IMG_2289.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> Extremely wary and completely wild this once barnyard bird seems defies gravity.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pulnXWIQPM8/UVMEHw3WY7I/AAAAAAAACfw/WRh_kloZ680/s1600/IMG_3782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pulnXWIQPM8/UVMEHw3WY7I/AAAAAAAACfw/WRh_kloZ680/s320/IMG_3782.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Canada Goose. Big birds do it just as easily as the smaller ones.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PhQ879KP9AA/UVMESjg8EWI/AAAAAAAACgA/4I0jP6QTbJk/s1600/IMG_7377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PhQ879KP9AA/UVMESjg8EWI/AAAAAAAACgA/4I0jP6QTbJk/s320/IMG_7377.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Red Tail-Hawk. </div>
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Talons aren't a problem either.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3C6Xp4COufc/UVMEbkC5p1I/AAAAAAAACgQ/loBlfTwVFlM/s1600/IMG_8663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3C6Xp4COufc/UVMEbkC5p1I/AAAAAAAACgQ/loBlfTwVFlM/s320/IMG_8663.JPG" height="320" width="228" /></a></div>
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Great Blue Heron. </div>
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This bird takes it's nap the on the very edge while on one leg!</div>
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<b><i><u>NAMASTE!</u></i></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5CUdijIl54/UVMEfVVXjEI/AAAAAAAACgY/Rtn2DDU-_dA/s1600/IMG_9278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5CUdijIl54/UVMEfVVXjEI/AAAAAAAACgY/Rtn2DDU-_dA/s320/IMG_9278.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Gull playing wind vane.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hh22wArw8PY/UVMEhI3rwFI/AAAAAAAACgg/JfabBXx0fQM/s1600/IMG_9394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hh22wArw8PY/UVMEhI3rwFI/AAAAAAAACgg/JfabBXx0fQM/s320/IMG_9394.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Double Crested Cormorant. </div>
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With thick stubby legs set so far back on the cormorants body they can barely walk yet work just as well and any other.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SiBNAKjaFWA/UVMElr6k2II/AAAAAAAACgo/8ShX_HNvkEY/s1600/IMG_9481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SiBNAKjaFWA/UVMElr6k2II/AAAAAAAACgo/8ShX_HNvkEY/s320/IMG_9481.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Female Mallard. </div>
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Peeking with one eye while napping.</div>
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So if you have two feet you can lift one any time you want. What if you only have one foot?</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3htE1796xig/UVMENE643nI/AAAAAAAACf4/foR1jpkeABw/s1600/IMG_5322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3htE1796xig/UVMENE643nI/AAAAAAAACf4/foR1jpkeABw/s320/IMG_5322.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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American Robin</div>
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During a migration wave of American Robins headed south a few years ago I noticed this female.</div>
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She lingered at the fountain trying to perch and not fall in. The other robins pushed her around without mercy. They didn't seem to do it intentionally, she just couldn't be as aggressive.</div>
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Predator, injury, deformity or disease, your guess is as good as any.</div>
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Good new, bad news</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kdfGAR0Ua0o/UVMEVDmZY5I/AAAAAAAACgI/tHsTzcZuR_w/s1600/IMG_8138+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kdfGAR0Ua0o/UVMEVDmZY5I/AAAAAAAACgI/tHsTzcZuR_w/s320/IMG_8138+-+Copy.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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Canada Goose with healed shotgun wound.</div>
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Geese and ducks on the other hand have something nature had not planned on. Steel shot pellets. With lead shot being banned many years ago the number of injured waterfowl surviving being shot has increased. The steel replacing lead in shotgun shells is not as dense but is non toxic. Birds wounded have a better chance of surviving if the don't have to deal with lead poisoning while recovering. I'm sure this would start an argument in a few circles but each January I find a number of waterfowl that show foot, leg and wing injuries. I have seen several Canada Geese with foot and wing damage survive for months while recovering near the local dam. Eventually the Bald Eagles ate every one. This Canada Goose has survived a serious hit to the undercarriage. S/he was with a small flock of twelve other "whole" geese and had no trouble keeping up the pace as they grazed across the lawn under the flag pole on Fort Lewis. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m9jdBYDAzGs/UVO6i5Uz56I/AAAAAAAACg4/9hbM133l7Y4/s1600/One+legged+Mallard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m9jdBYDAzGs/UVO6i5Uz56I/AAAAAAAACg4/9hbM133l7Y4/s320/One+legged+Mallard.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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This Drake Mallard has a very hard time walking and swimming. His injury appeared to be fresh so his fate is unknown.</div>
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Moral of our silly story,</div>
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Chef, good job on the quick thinking. King, pay attention. </div>
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New question.</div>
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Did Tyrannosaurus Rex and their kin sleep standing on one foot?</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-90929316961092569422013-12-28T19:33:00.001-08:002013-12-29T06:55:56.776-08:00A Hate, Hate RelationshipMy last blog was about an Eagle unsuccessfully ambushing an Osprey for a fish. <br /><br />http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-enemies-enemy.html<br /><br />This blog is a closer look at those two birds and their families. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2103.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2103.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Remember these two? They are the resident breeding pair I have been writing about for a few years now. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2104.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2104.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />In the past seven years they have raised fourteen offspring. Each year has been getting harder. Seven years ago a pair of osprey built the first nest on a train bridge I have watching since 1975. The distance between them surprising close. 570 yards. (Measured with an app on a tablet device). I could only make out two offspring, do not know if they fledged.<br /><br />Six years ago I witnessed the eagle pair and the osprey pair engaged in battle just feet above the water. For the next three weeks the male osprey flew up and down the length of his territory carrying branches and fresh fish while screaming endlessly. Looking for his mate? I never saw her again. Late in the summer the male found a new mate, they sat on the bridge, collected sticks but didn't have any young. <br /><br />Five years ago a pair nested on the bridge while 2.5 miles inland a pair of osprey nested on a cell tower behind a local KFC. <br /><br />Four years ago both of the above as well as a third pair with a new nest on pilings of an old pier one mile up the coast.<br /><br />And for each of the past three years a fourth pair of osprey built a nest on the train bridge just yards from the first nest. In the past three years alone in this 2.5 mile arc six bald eagle chicks and anywhere from four to sixteen osprey chicks. The mortality rate of both bird species are high the the first few years but playing the odds the osprey are winning. If winning is an appropriate term. <br /><br />In July of this year I was watching the eaglet pair exercise their wings and take short flights from tree to tree. The male sat high on his overlook as the female flew North up the canyon. The male let out an occasional scream as the two young eagles both made their way back to the nest. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1732.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1732.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />Time passes differently when watching animals. I scanned and fiddled with camera settings and scanned some more. I looked up and the male eagle was gone. I heard screaming but it wasn't and eagle....rabbit?If you have ever heard a rabbit scream you know what I am saying. A rabbit screaming up in the air? Yep. The fastest rabbit in Western Washington. <br /><br />The female circled in front of the nest five times calling to the eaglets to follow. The rabbit was running at full speed and screaming its lungs out. The female took the rabbit and flew back up the canon calling back to the young. Neither made a move. <br /><br />I lifted my glasses and stuck my face to the back of the camera to look at the pictures of the eagle and rabbit. <br /><br />Seconds in to my drooling over my pictures I heard a panicked screaming of the male eagle. As I looked up a female osprey was hot on his tail both coming from the direction of the two nests on the train bridge. The eagle was flying flat out when the osprey hit it the first time. The eagle tumbled head first. This was where I thought to my self, self USE THE BIG ASS CAMERA YOU HAVE BEEN CARRYING EVERYWHERE !<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1733.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1733.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />The camera is shooting eight frames per second. The male eagle's wing span is about six feet or a little more.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1734.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1734.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />This is the first pass photographed. I missed the first two. <br /><br />Here is the start of the next sortie. <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1736.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1736.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />The eagle was screaming and panicked. Twisting and turning violently. If I were watching two people arguing in the say way I would say the eagle was pleading for mercy and trying everything possible of get the hell out of this situation but doing what it needed to do to fend off the talons. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1737.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1737.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />I thought the eagle was going to catch a break here he might have too when she pulled up so high. That ended pretty quick when the osprey turned. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2105.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2105.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1739.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1739.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1740.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1740.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='188' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1741.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1741.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Four frames. One eagle wing beat. One half second. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/1742.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_1742.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='175' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />I would conservatively say the osprey was traveling 50MPH+. Possible faster if we could calculate the curved angle as it looks as if the osprey is traveling from us toward the eagle. 60+? 70+?<br /><br />These attacks were relentless. The eagle made a run for his high perch. The osprey dropped out of site on the far side of the ridge. <br /><br />But it wasn't over.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2106.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2106.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Full speed full attack! Look at those talons!<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2107.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2107.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />This pass unseated the eagle and he fell from the tree. The instant he got back up...<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2108.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2108.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />She was there.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2109.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2109.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/28/2110.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/28/s_2110.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />This time both fell back over the ridge line and were gone. If the fight continued I don't know. Both did survive and have been seen many time since in good shape. <br /><br />What ever the eagle did over the ridge it was something the osprey was sure to point out was not going to be happening again anytime <br /><br />Watching wildlife is great but most of the time it's pretty static. Here in a hand full of pictures covering several heartbeats life and death struggles play out so fast if you blinked you may have missed it. <br /><br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-54295378209447218142013-12-26T16:37:00.001-08:002013-12-26T17:15:49.334-08:00Fog Rise OwlThis morning we had a typical Southern Puget Sound "fog rise". Cold clear nights under a high pressure front leading to thick fog in the mornings. It was 8 AM, light enough to see but too gray to see colors as I stepped outside to let my ducks out of their hut. Two Steller's Jays were screaming from the Filbert tree over the hut. This happens nearly every morning. I had figured it was a local Barred Owl or Cooper's Hawk roosting in Cedars behind the a Filbert tree. <br /><br />As I peered over the gate into the duck's yard my eyes locked on a visitor's eyes.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1962.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1962.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />The Jays were harassing him/her from the cover of the Filbert but it was too dark to see them. I quietly pulled back from the gate and rushed into the house to grab the camera. <br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1963.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1963.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />S/he was still there when I got back!<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1964.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1964.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />The camera was on a preset I had programmed just for this situation. Through my big lens these pictures were taken at 1/15 of a second with the ISO pushed up to 3200. If you don't know what that means that's OK. It was dark. Many of the pictures I took were blurred and deleted. <br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1965.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1965.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />So after bracing the camera on the fence for the good stills I got I took a chance with a flash. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1966.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1966.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Cool. Still there. One more. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1970.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1970.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Three more jays arrived and the owl was surrounded. At the trunk of the tree to the left of the owl's head is a jay in the shadows. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=13/12/26/1971.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/13/12/26/s_1971.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='187' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Blur away.<br /><br />S/he moved deep into the cover of the cedars. They jays kept up their harassment well past 10am before moving on. <br /><br /><br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-80151929464637190822013-10-23T16:18:00.001-07:002013-12-28T10:41:36.929-08:00My Enemies' EnemyThere are a trio of Osprey nests north of my house and a favorite fishing location for some of the adults to the south. During this summer Osprey made dozens of sorties to and from. Return trips included a variety of fish. Young salmon, small Starry Flounder and ugly green bumpy fish were the most common. Others were too difficult to identify. The Osprey were often followed by Bald Eagles some distance behind both coming and going. Where ever you find Osprey you will find Bald Eagles looking to steal from them. <br /><br />My resident family of crows took offense to the first few intrusions when the Osprey first returned from the south but quickly recognized them as no threat. Bald Eagles, Ravens and Red Tailed Hawks were rarely given a free pass. My clan of crows is just one of dozens along this flight path.<br /><br />On a beautiful Sunday morning and an Osprey flew South overhead. I walked into the house grabbed a coffee refill, the camera and a chair on my way back out. I adjusted the camera for the conditions settled in and few sips later a large southbound eagle appeared. Instantly two of the three crows were on her. She turned to the east and took cover in the tall Douglas Firs that crest the ridge line. <br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MVlKGda6HqQ/Umc5zVdbFzI/AAAAAAAAC28/jqeA7HgWllI/s1600/IMG_8278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MVlKGda6HqQ/Umc5zVdbFzI/AAAAAAAAC28/jqeA7HgWllI/s320/IMG_8278.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Just moments later a north bound Osprey appeared. She was higher then normal and climbing fast. As I found her in the viewfinder I saw why. The eagle that had just passed was ambushing her. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3joxABX6EyQ/Umc5zFeINmI/AAAAAAAAC20/U3yv2vTh8XQ/s1600/IMG_8283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3joxABX6EyQ/Umc5zFeINmI/AAAAAAAAC20/U3yv2vTh8XQ/s320/IMG_8283.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The Osprey had a pretty good altitude advantage going into this ambush but the prize in her talons was now a serious problem.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OxH_tvakk6M/Umc5zCOQMYI/AAAAAAAAC24/4wzOwcJvCXk/s1600/IMG_8287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OxH_tvakk6M/Umc5zCOQMYI/AAAAAAAAC24/4wzOwcJvCXk/s320/IMG_8287.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />It only took a few powerful wing beats and the eagle closed the gap. The Osprey increased her angle and began spiraling clockwise upward. This cut her airspeed and the eagle closed to within inches of the flounder.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P8JvWgYDCnM/Umc5zslungI/AAAAAAAAC3M/A2Do6O_T2i0/s1600/IMG_8295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P8JvWgYDCnM/Umc5zslungI/AAAAAAAAC3M/A2Do6O_T2i0/s320/IMG_8295.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />A change of tactics was needed and needed fast. The Osprey turned sharply and began to spiral downward counter clockwise toward the east.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3CMb0xz-2sY/Umc5ztPNnFI/AAAAAAAAC3A/8BW75DuoD3I/s1600/IMG_8296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3CMb0xz-2sY/Umc5ztPNnFI/AAAAAAAAC3A/8BW75DuoD3I/s320/IMG_8296.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-daa9PI3cA4E/Umc50WpSQ5I/AAAAAAAAC3c/Do3jMukbLHQ/s1600/IMG_8301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-daa9PI3cA4E/Umc50WpSQ5I/AAAAAAAAC3c/Do3jMukbLHQ/s320/IMG_8301.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />At first this maneuver gave the osprey a burst of speed that left the eagle far behind. Once the eagle nosed down she closed that gap in seconds.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVt1xqQDBzc/Umc51ud_kGI/AAAAAAAAC4I/Dw85QtY8YH4/s1600/IMG_8305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVt1xqQDBzc/Umc51ud_kGI/AAAAAAAAC4I/Dw85QtY8YH4/s320/IMG_8305.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tT3U2pLcBQA/Umc50qGCKCI/AAAAAAAAC3Y/3yGqPXZOfBI/s1600/IMG_8310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tT3U2pLcBQA/Umc50qGCKCI/AAAAAAAAC3Y/3yGqPXZOfBI/s320/IMG_8310.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_RLDNrg2Tc/Umc51II042I/AAAAAAAAC3k/HaX8nY8_eBo/s1600/IMG_8313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_RLDNrg2Tc/Umc51II042I/AAAAAAAAC3k/HaX8nY8_eBo/s320/IMG_8313.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0RG8iuMgLuo/Umc51ZyadYI/AAAAAAAAC3o/N73KyZM3Xnc/s1600/IMG_8321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0RG8iuMgLuo/Umc51ZyadYI/AAAAAAAAC3o/N73KyZM3Xnc/s320/IMG_8321.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The Osprey has had to deal with this before and while fancy flying might eventually get her safely home with her fish. She had a better idea. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6sxq-iYSc3o/Umc51jVZlSI/AAAAAAAAC3s/H8KKIZsZ1bI/s1600/IMG_8325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6sxq-iYSc3o/Umc51jVZlSI/AAAAAAAAC3s/H8KKIZsZ1bI/s320/IMG_8325.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />She simply flew head on into the trio of pissed off crows rising up to drive the eagle away. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-676C5yOHUI8/Umc515aciNI/AAAAAAAAC34/NcUllBQCuLc/s1600/IMG_8330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-676C5yOHUI8/Umc515aciNI/AAAAAAAAC34/NcUllBQCuLc/s320/IMG_8330.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-whDxzenMZkU/Umc53SjIhnI/AAAAAAAAC4Q/Z2IB2SX_1DM/s1600/IMG_8331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-whDxzenMZkU/Umc53SjIhnI/AAAAAAAAC4Q/Z2IB2SX_1DM/s320/IMG_8331.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cF4rCDINJRY/Umc527XfquI/AAAAAAAAC4M/Z5l0z4IbvCY/s1600/IMG_8332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cF4rCDINJRY/Umc527XfquI/AAAAAAAAC4M/Z5l0z4IbvCY/s320/IMG_8332.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xd64LaedWCk/Umc53rni5TI/AAAAAAAAC4Y/H583qDXATP8/s1600/IMG_8334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xd64LaedWCk/Umc53rni5TI/AAAAAAAAC4Y/H583qDXATP8/s320/IMG_8334.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LDSfxn8AvZQ/Umc53Sh_UlI/AAAAAAAAC4k/TaTY0yKPCKE/s1600/IMG_8335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LDSfxn8AvZQ/Umc53Sh_UlI/AAAAAAAAC4k/TaTY0yKPCKE/s320/IMG_8335.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k-sViR0UleU/Umc53w0I6eI/AAAAAAAAC4w/97oI9CliCwI/s1600/IMG_8343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k-sViR0UleU/Umc53w0I6eI/AAAAAAAAC4w/97oI9CliCwI/s320/IMG_8343.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RS2km6j-Ckw/Umc54Dr-l_I/AAAAAAAAC4s/GAuKFqwJ4yM/s1600/IMG_8344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RS2km6j-Ckw/Umc54Dr-l_I/AAAAAAAAC4s/GAuKFqwJ4yM/s320/IMG_8344.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />After a couple orbits to "rest" the Osprey pulled up sharply into another clockwise spiral. In these few moments in crows cut the corners and closed in on the Eagle. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkbKbsaGPHI/Umc54o9Ys8I/AAAAAAAAC44/cxXBaSm7dlI/s1600/IMG_8347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkbKbsaGPHI/Umc54o9Ys8I/AAAAAAAAC44/cxXBaSm7dlI/s320/IMG_8347.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vOhxUZKfU_M/Umc54_fiTAI/AAAAAAAAC5M/a80zh9rjrcU/s1600/IMG_8348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vOhxUZKfU_M/Umc54_fiTAI/AAAAAAAAC5M/a80zh9rjrcU/s320/IMG_8348.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cltNambqHzc/Umc55Exp3AI/AAAAAAAAC5A/7jH0IWPcDCM/s1600/IMG_8349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cltNambqHzc/Umc55Exp3AI/AAAAAAAAC5A/7jH0IWPcDCM/s320/IMG_8349.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Too much work for the Eagle. The Osprey kept her fish. The Crows defended their home front. The Eagle reset the trap. This drama played out several times this summer. Following the same basic flight path the attacks varied with the Eagles sometimes chasing Osprey that did not carry fish. But they only attacked them as they headed North, toward the nests of both. <br /><br />You never know who your friends are. <br /><br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-79556429339491415622013-09-15T15:48:00.001-07:002013-09-17T08:01:46.605-07:00Frog Blog Two<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We had a very pleasant summer this year. A long sunny dry spell with a few cool breaks and some </span>disappointing<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> thunderstorms near the end. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One thing stood out. I had only seen three Pacific Tree Frogs in the yard for a four month period. My "go to" frogs over the front door were gone. the fountain frog was gone. Yet there were salamanders with gills in spring fountain outback. I did not see the mother Gardner snake but I did see one of her male suitors ( she had three last year) and three baby snakes. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Life is cyclic. Not every year is going to be as good as last or next for that matter. But I really wanted to work with some frogs. My “Frog Blog” blog from a few years ago was fun and I wanted to collect more photos of their diversity and more of their ability to change to match their environment. They have been hard to come by in the past few years. With the dry summer it looked like it was going to be on of those really bad years for the frogs.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My first blog about frogs was in 2008.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My hopes were rekindled when I walked past this unassuming gas pipe at the corner of my house. He didn’t think anyone could see him. We had just had three days of heavy rain. The rivers were running and the Coho were jumping at the dam. I’ll get to them soon.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I saw him. That meant the moisture was bringing them out. That night I did a sweep of the garden but found nothing but slugs.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A few days later we took a walk in the Nisqually Wildlife refuge. I left my camera home.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Yes, It never fails. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Along the board walk near the twin barns there was a short stretch where there were scores of frogs sunning themselves in a rare 90 degree August Sunday afternoon. The remainder walk was are rare and pleasant treat.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The next morning I started early planning on being back at the frog location when the heavy morning fog burned off. The day before we had seen the frogs at 1:30 PM so that was my target time. I maximized the morning and was on on the spot with tripod and two cameras at 1:00. I started taking pictures under a dismal grey sky. There was more fog then the day before. Over the next hour I took these photos as the sun burned through. Some were taken with a macro lens some with a 100 - 400MM. They are mixed up but will give you a glimpse of their varied packaging.</span></div>
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Warning, there are a lot.</div>
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Among the frogs were a few other notable creatures.</div>
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Even the portable restrooms had their own frogs.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Which did you see first. The frog or the the snake?</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Here is a short video of the snake looking for the frog. It is on my Flickr page, still trying to figure out all of this computer stuff. Frustrating.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/9785690872/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/9785690872/</a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Age check. what song had the lyric,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“ And he who made kittens put snakes in the grass”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Think it over, no cheating the answer will be at the end.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> This Eden has it’s serpent. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Things are good or bad but never either for long. What was a bad year for the frogs in my yard on the hill by the sea was a good year in the marsh on the delta.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>The rivers are full of crocodile nasties</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>And He who made kittens put snakes in the grass</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.songlyrics.com/jethro-tull/bungle-in-the-jungle-lyrics/">http://www.songlyrics.com/jethro-tull/bungle-in-the-jungle-lyrics/</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Bungle in the jungle. Jethro Tull. </span></div>
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I'll start working on "Frog Blog Three" with the next frog i see.</div>
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birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-27506124207661403452013-09-02T18:40:00.000-07:002013-09-02T19:32:29.394-07:00Window of Opportunity <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I took this photo five years ago in the first week of June. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you could only have seen the </span>thirty<span style="font-family: inherit;"> seconds that </span>come<span style="font-family: inherit;"> before it. Your breath would have been taken as mine was. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To tell you the truth it was what rekindled my long burning desire to photograph wildlife. That's what I wanted to capture, the action, the drama and the story. I see it all of the time but not everyone goes where I do when I do. Not everyone can or would.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I studied the photo afterward I started to plan on how I was going to get a better one. (The monkey and his plans.) At first it looks fairly straight forward, go sit there a take another picture go home. As time passed I realized there were some very specific circumstances that had lead to this moment. Getting what I have </span>was just plan<span style="font-family: inherit;"> lucky and luck when </span>photographing wildlife only happens when you can control everything but what is happening<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Were to begin. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The cast of players</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Geese. </span></div>
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<i>Just hours old the young geese take to the cold brackish waters of the estuary.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These are Lesser Canada Geese. The most noteworthy attribute of these birds is their ability to adapt. Over the past century with the decline of so many bird species these birds are doing better now then when the settlers first came to the shores of he Salish Sea. You are most familiar with them as the geese that leave the big ugly droppings in parks and golf courses. These are not "park rats". These birds are making there way in the wild margin at the edge of our world. </span></div>
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<i>Small bits of greenery and gravel make up the goslings first meal. They retain a fat reserve from their yolk when they were in the egg. If the weather is bad when they hatch they can survive a few days without eating. </i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The adults start nesting as early as late February and the young hatch from late April through early July. They nest in hidden locations on the ground along the fresh and brackish waters of the creek above and below the local dam. There is a strategy at work here. If spring weather patterns that turn bad it could wipeout a whole year worth of goslings. The first nests to hatch out normally have one to four goslings. A few weeks in to the season it is common to see larger family groups with as many as twelve. About this time another seemingly intelligent plan plays out. Groups of goslings band together under the care of a few pairs of adults. These adults </span>Shepard<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the goslings to the freshwater side of the damn in the evening and out to the </span>brackish<span style="font-family: inherit;"> mud flats in the morning. Again, isn't that nice? Hold that thought. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4kS9X4EJTE/UcYOS7rfvwI/AAAAAAAAClA/AlQGf5ifILs/s1600/photo-25.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4kS9X4EJTE/UcYOS7rfvwI/AAAAAAAAClA/AlQGf5ifILs/s320/photo-25.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nature has a funny little trick it plays here. Just after the gosling hatch and start to band together the adult birds begin to molt. They lose all of their flight feathers in a very short period of time. If confronted with danger they can not fly off. They are more irritable and aggressive during this time but tend to look ahead and avoid danger by gently guiding the goslings around situations. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bN15nHXDqo/UcYOaBAux6I/AAAAAAAAClI/Ic0HEl2-6eA/s1600/photo-26.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bN15nHXDqo/UcYOaBAux6I/AAAAAAAAClI/Ic0HEl2-6eA/s320/photo-26.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Feathers litter the shore line where the adults preen. At first thought this is an awesome adaptation to keep the adults on the water with their young and protect them. Hold that thought. We will come back to it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A mixed age group is herded around the dam and into the estuary. </span>Two months have passed. The adorable fuzz balls now look like a clumsy, bottom heavy pack of a duckbill dinosaurs just moments before the great meteor strikes the earth at the end of the Jurassic Period. </div>
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The age difference between the young birds may only be days but you can see how dramatic the difference is.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Eagles</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Eagles have prime nesting site. Starting in December of each year they spruce up the nest and reestablish their territory. To their West are the Southern reaches of the Salish Sea while the South and East sides are a protected by small canyons and an estuary where the creek drains to the sea. To the North is a security fence limiting public access to their little peninsula. Beyond the fence is a County Park that protects the canyon that cradles the creek from an urban lake upstream also held back by a small dam . </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Upon returning to the nest in mid winter the female announces to all they are back. This pair of eagles have a two eaglets each year for the past five years that I have recorded. The Golden Bald Eagle in my last blog may very well have been raised in this nest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From May to September the eaglets are </span>voracious. Both parents bring food to the nest from dawn to dusk. Anything they can pick up they will bring home, the male can not lift loads as large as the female can. Fish are obviously the eagles main food but the also feed on ducks, Geese, mammals up to the size of an opossum. Larger fish and game is carried in pieces to the nest in their crops or talons.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> They are white at first but are not often seen when they are low in the nest. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Around the end of May the eaglets begin to move up and out of the bowl of the nest. Mid June and they venture out of the nest hopping from branch to branch </span>stretching<span style="font-family: inherit;"> their new wings. </span></div>
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They sport their new feathers and begin to move around on the branches. In July and August they begin flight training and are gone in September. The adults wander off for a vacation and return in December to start all over.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The Solar Dance.</span><br />
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<i>June sunset over the Olympic Mountains.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Solar energy bathes the earths surface in it's warmth while the gentle magnetic tug pulls and pushes the tides and churns the core. </span></span></div>
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<i>Super Moon June 2013</i></div>
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The Salish Sea follows the rhythm of the orbits with the winter solstice hosting the highest tides and the summer solstice the lowest.</div>
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<i>Mt Rainer from the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge</i></div>
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When the tide pulls the water from the shore it exposing thousands of square miles of mud that had not been exposed in months. But like most things good or bad it doesn't stay that way for long. The low tide only lasts for a few hours twice each twenty four hour period. One of those tides is usually at night and is of no use to the day dwellers. </div>
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So now all of the players are in place...except for one. The loose nut behind the camera. In the past five years I had gradually upgraded my equipment. The original photo was taken with a low mega-pixel point and shoot with an external lens extender. It had great optical zoom but was slow to react when when you wanted to capture real action. But equipment alone doesn't get a picture. Everything needs to line up. I can not control the weather. I can not use the night time tide. I can not make the geese get into position and even if I got all of these plus the sun and moon nothing says the Eagles would want to do their part. All I can do is control the things I can and anticipate the things I can not and hope for the best.<br />
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It is the first week of June. Present.</div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Hundreds of adult and fully fledged Lesser Canada Geese sitting on a barren mudflat pierce by a ribbon of shallow fresh water. Two adult geese have escorted a group of mixed age goslings around the dam and down stream to the freshest eel grass in the deepest part of the stream. This choice spot can only be reached at the lowest of the tides and just happens to lay at the base of the eagles aerie. </span></div>
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The tallest tree just right of center holds the eagles nest. Look to the first open spot going down from the top. The tree to the left of the same height is the roost of the Male Eagle. Look closely, he is sitting there now. The stream in the foreground is flowing toward the eagles and is gently carrying our flock of geese closer to danger.</div>
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Everything is in place, Eagles. Geese. Low tide. Weather. Light. Equipment, Coffee. Here I am with it all laid out before me. I could see the Male Eagle and the geese and they could see me as well as each other. </div>
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Something was missing. </div>
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The female Eagle was no where to been seen. The trap was set! She was there hiding in the canopy somewhere and she was watching all of us. I scanned the canopy on the far side of the creek and could not see her. For their size and striking white head and tail Bald Eagles can just disappear when sitting in the trees. Their dark bodies blend in to the shadows and the bright white feathers meld into the mosaic of light and dark pattern agains the background sky. A soda can sized white spot in the canopy does not look like an eagle with a six foot wing span. </div>
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I watched for a few minutes as the goslings moved in to the "best" ambush spot. Being a primate my attention span was not as long as the eagle's. Anything shiny or distracting is all I need to lose track of time and and drop my guard. A few crows moved off the mud flat and landed in the trees near where I was standing. I slowly moved out of sight of the "trap" and became distracted by a pair of grooming crows. They sounded a half hearted alarm at my approach but settled into a detailed feather rearranging. I started to fiddle with the camera settings to compensate for darkness of the crows and then it happened.</div>
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It was an alert call from upstream, the King Fisher was first then a simultaneous chorus of crows, mallards, great blue herons and lastly the geese sounded the alarm. Fast and low the female eagle was rocketing along the water's course headed straight to the goslings. I've seen this before in fact you have seen it also if you have read a past blog of mine, "Speed is your only friend".</div>
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<a href="http://dmandea.blogspot.com/2011/01/speedyour-only-friend.htmlbir">http://dmandea.blogspot.com/2011/01/speedyour-only-friend.htmlbir</a></div>
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Just feet off the water the eagle was counting on all of the other birds taking flight to cover it's attack run. I started moving back to my first viewing point. I missed this first strike. I caught part of the second and this is the third pass at the gosling that had been singled out.</div>
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As I had walked out of the sight toward the crows the eagle had been watching, I imagine she was hesitate to hunt while I was there out in the open. </div>
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She saw that the goslings were feeding on the Eel grass and the adults were preening on the bank. After the first two passes all of the other gosling were no were to be seen.</div>
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This was the fifth pass, the forth I watched forgetting to raise the camera.</div>
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On each attack run the gosling would dive under water to evade the eagle. Lucky break for the gosling. Just a few yards either direction the water would have been too shallow to protect the it.</div>
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The eagle had a well practiced plan. By relentlessly circling back and and forcing the gosling to dive repeatedly the hapless gosling tires quickly. Pure adrenaline can only over power cold water and oxygen deprivation for so long. With the Eagle attacking the instant they breach the surface they have little time to catch their breath let along figure out which way to go.</div>
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This was the last pass at the gosling. I do not know if the eagle was tired or just gave up with the element of surprise gone. She pulled up early and let the gosling go. </div>
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Like a cork the gosling popped to the surface. After five harrowing escapes in less then a minute the little guy was spent. Squawking franticly it spotted the adults on the shore and rocketed toward them.</div>
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It was over as the eagle's wing beats slowed and she rose up from the chaos and confusion to a low perch that over looked the scene below her nest.</div>
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Sitting high in the top left corner the female eagle looks down on the regrouped flotilla of goslings in the lower right corner. The male and the young eagles were still sitting high above on their perches looking down on the failed hunt. The male screamed out his disappointment with the females shortcomings and she quickly replied with her own screaming more or less telling him to do it himself.</div>
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They both sat in their respective trees screaming at each other for at least fifteen minutes as the flotilla moved downstream and out of the trap.</div>
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I did not get another chance to see this again this year, I am sure the eagle did. </div>
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I have no confirmation on whether or not she have any luck. </div>
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So back up toward the beginning of this blog I pointed out a couple things about the geese. The adults pushed the young in to combined flocks while they themselves were molting. The goslings offer an easier target for the eagles while the adults are stuck sitting next to them. By combining their goslings the adults reduce the odds that any of their young would fall victim to predators.<br />
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The adults don't have to defend themselves from the eagles when the goslings are served up in herds.<br />
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So this was a blog about failure. </div>
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Mine. But a good kind of failure. Not every hunt is successful. </div>
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The geese and the eagles will return next year. The Sun and Moon and Earth will continue to do their thing. My task is simple. Wait a whole year for the big wheel to turn and bring us all back to the same spot.</div>
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Sounds easy. Let you know how that turns out.</div>
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birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-43090296033437023022013-07-15T18:48:00.001-07:002013-07-15T18:57:52.385-07:00Swallows Return 2013<html><body><p></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2481.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2481.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2482.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2482.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2483.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2483.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2484.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2484.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2485.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2485.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2486.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2486.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2487.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2487.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="text-align:center;margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"><a href="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2488.jpg"><img align="center" src="http://photo.blogpressapp.com/big_photos/13/07/15/2488.jpg" height="199" width="300"></img></a></p><br /><p style="margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;">For background on these birds please go to:</p><br /><p style="margin-bottom:15px;font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:15px;"><a style="color:#0000ff;text-decoration:underline;" href="http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html">http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html</a></p><br /><p style="margin-bottom:15px;font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:15px;"><span style="color:#000000;">Take care,</span></p><br /><p style="margin-bottom:17px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:17px;"></p></body></html>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-14651954535931241552013-03-27T06:39:00.002-07:002013-03-27T06:39:27.439-07:00Golden Bald Eagle<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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One of my greatest joys in photographing wildlife is when I
encounter an animal that I recognize. Usually
it is a color deviation that sets a bird apart but some times it is wing
or foot injury or bill deformity. With
the smaller birds it’s attitude and location. This is an encounter with one of my favorite
birds. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Young Bald Eagles do not obtain the classic white head over
dark brown body until their fourth or fifth year. Until then each time they molt out old
feathers the new ones change their appearance. So much so they could be confused for a
totally different bird each year. As
they reach their third year they start to look dirty adults. I have a few dozen photographs of one eagle in particular that had a golden hue that set it apart from the other eagles around the dam this week. </div>
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Here is a encounter with her one sunny morning.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6LT8BVgkPfE/UUp0ozHGCbI/AAAAAAAACck/JinxAn5VlJ4/s1600/IMG_3064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6LT8BVgkPfE/UUp0ozHGCbI/AAAAAAAACck/JinxAn5VlJ4/s320/IMG_3064.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I spotted this adult feeding below the dam from a half mile away and quickly moved in it's direction.</div>
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As I approached still unseen the eagle finished up and took off with a carcass in it's mouth. As it flies she pulls off this neat mouth to talon transfer. This is the female that rules this strip of waterway.</div>
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I took this moment to see what she had been eating. As you can see there was not much left to identify. Best guess... a male Common Merganser. The mergansers had been feeding heavily on recently release salmon. Tired and overloaded this duck was an easy target for the adult eagle. A two for one deal for the eagle, duck with a side of yearling salmon. </div>
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I was not alone. I felt a presents, a pressure a wave and for a fleeting moment I regressed to timid little monkey looking up in shock. The golden bald eagle pasted within feet of my head as she floated by silently. </div>
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I moved off the mud flat and sat at the base of a tree.<br />
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She made a several orbits sizing up my position, the adult eagle that had just left and how much of a risk the food was worth. She did not seem to want to land on the mud and took a couple more orbits looking for just the right spot to set down. The lesser of evils was to land on the wet rocks at the water line. Ever so gently.</div>
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Each foot set was placed carefully. An eagle tip toeing with a distain for mud. </div>
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The ever present crows dropped in for a quick look. She looked at every square inch of the duck debris and saw nothing worth walking in the mud over.</div>
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She hunched and looked upward just as I caught a shadow moving out of the corner of my right eye.</div>
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We were not the only ones looking at the feathers on the mud.</div>
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The second eagle is older. third or fourth year. I had seen these two sitting on the fresh water side of the dam the day before. I believe they are siblings from different years. </div>
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Apparently the older bird decided the scattered feathers were hers.</div>
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Goldie took issue with that decision and expressed her feelings with it. They traded a few half hearted swipes at each other and agreed there was nothing here worth getting hurt over. </div>
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Winner. Look, a wishbone.</div>
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Wish you had a duck?</div>
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On to better hunting. These photos were taken in April. You can see the wear and tear on the feathers. They molted out over the summer and she took on a golden "shield" on her back as her wings darkened. I followed her for two more years each spring and then she was gone. The thing is that I might still see her from time to time but I couldn't tell you if it was her, the gold is gone.</div>
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The adult that was feeding on the duck at the start I believe was a parent to both of these young birds. I had seen both of the adults flying and sitting with these two as well as two other young birds. Adult eagles entering the area during this time were not treated so kindly.</div>
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Below is a short film strip of all of the pictures taken during this encounter. The fight was short but exciting.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/8580566629/in/photostream">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/8580566629/in/photostream</a></div>
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Calling her "her". </div>
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I have read and through personal observation understand that female bald eagles are a little larger then a male. Unfortunately young eagles have larger feathers then adults. Think of them as training wheels for birds. That works fine if you have to eagles sitting side by side and don’t fluff out the feathers. So for the most part it's hard to tell them apart without experience and optics. Another diagnostic key is that females have larger bills. Some people have big noses. ? She has a big bill. The adult eagle in the first photos is the female from the nest. Look at how big her bill is.<br />
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Maybe it's time for an eagle head shot quiz...I'll pull that together for later.<br />
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<!--EndFragment-->birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-43801935928688313842013-03-17T14:58:00.002-07:002013-03-21T07:08:02.615-07:00Asphalt clams<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br />Visit any parking lot around the Puget Sound when the moon and the sun aline just right and you may get to see this.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h5ZDC9jrRrQ/UUYUQpZ5v_I/AAAAAAAACZw/CnxQ_jxNAko/s1600/asphalt+clams+(7)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h5ZDC9jrRrQ/UUYUQpZ5v_I/AAAAAAAACZw/CnxQ_jxNAko/s320/asphalt+clams+(7)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Fragments of tiny clam the size of a quarter along with and barnacle pieces</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DwE4YSFYQfg/UUYUMr21rBI/AAAAAAAACZo/_ZeF6-YyJzs/s1600/asphalt+clams+(6)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DwE4YSFYQfg/UUYUMr21rBI/AAAAAAAACZo/_ZeF6-YyJzs/s320/asphalt+clams+(6)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> The is an enormous number of piles of broken shell shards. They look just like sunflower seed husks littering the parking lots, sidewalks near the waters edge. Then the thought emerges where are all these little things coming from? and why are they there? </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XhFjeuCxrwA/UUYUCRv2B3I/AAAAAAAACZQ/VW822kb0C8Y/s1600/asphalt+clams+(2)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XhFjeuCxrwA/UUYUCRv2B3I/AAAAAAAACZQ/VW822kb0C8Y/s320/asphalt+clams+(2)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRD6keFd0dI/UUYUFBtCJgI/AAAAAAAACZY/6odPtKUddQ4/s1600/asphalt+clams+(3)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRD6keFd0dI/UUYUFBtCJgI/AAAAAAAACZY/6odPtKUddQ4/s320/asphalt+clams+(3)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />When the low tide coincides with daylight during good weather, the local crows rush in for a rare delicacy. The true definition of a delicacy, requires a huge amount of energy to grasp that tine morsel of goodness. The hard earned elusive prize that may be more of a status symbol then an end to a dietary need. </div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />So it plagues me how does a crow go about extracting this prize?<br />I know how he physically does it.<br />I just can not fathom why. </div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lb3BsGTbijI/UUYUJaQrpwI/AAAAAAAACZg/vNdyAgx04zY/s1600/asphalt+clams+(4)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lb3BsGTbijI/UUYUJaQrpwI/AAAAAAAACZg/vNdyAgx04zY/s320/asphalt+clams+(4)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />First these little treasures have to be found. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Not all of the crows know how to do this. Younger crows learn from their elders. Feeding baby crows this way would be very labor intensive but there are only a couple hours until the tide returns. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Seeing an adult crow share with another adult crow is moving.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NPb38361vVQ/UUYUUCXqqfI/AAAAAAAACZ4/2T2CYq02Nz8/s1600/asphalt+clams+(8)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NPb38361vVQ/UUYUUCXqqfI/AAAAAAAACZ4/2T2CYq02Nz8/s320/asphalt+clams+(8)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Transported to suitable location.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WZwSLYq3_qs/UUYUYPEx3pI/AAAAAAAACaA/clZPUF-hRag/s1600/asphalt+clams+(9)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WZwSLYq3_qs/UUYUYPEx3pI/AAAAAAAACaA/clZPUF-hRag/s320/asphalt+clams+(9)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Position for the best aero dynamic characteristics , calculate angle of impact and began your approach.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpcFvosrOtE/UUYUeMmfkaI/AAAAAAAACaI/M8a-Iu0n68E/s1600/asphalt+clams+(10)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpcFvosrOtE/UUYUeMmfkaI/AAAAAAAACaI/M8a-Iu0n68E/s320/asphalt+clams+(10)wtmk0000.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Lifted to a given height above a hard surface that is the balance point between the expended energy to do it while maximizing the amount of damage our nemesis gravity could inflict upon the clam upon impact.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K-0s0g8RFjg/UUYUhySFiJI/AAAAAAAACaQ/BmZv45vthZQ/s1600/asphalt+clams+(11)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K-0s0g8RFjg/UUYUhySFiJI/AAAAAAAACaQ/BmZv45vthZQ/s320/asphalt+clams+(11)wtmk0000.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3hl_h04i6RI/UUYUlzptnII/AAAAAAAACaY/8pNai8LV90o/s1600/asphalt+clams+(12)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3hl_h04i6RI/UUYUlzptnII/AAAAAAAACaY/8pNai8LV90o/s320/asphalt+clams+(12)wtmk0000.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Smack.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hwv8JdhjEwU/UUYVwqD-_0I/AAAAAAAACag/Q81Z1ehUWTA/s1600/asphalt+clams+(13)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hwv8JdhjEwU/UUYVwqD-_0I/AAAAAAAACag/Q81Z1ehUWTA/s320/asphalt+clams+(13)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Recovery. <br />Repeat as nessesary</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYkSNCUn5do/UUYV1WcL5iI/AAAAAAAACao/74udeAwxjgE/s1600/asphalt+clams+(15)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYkSNCUn5do/UUYV1WcL5iI/AAAAAAAACao/74udeAwxjgE/s320/asphalt+clams+(15)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> It is hard work and there are many who don't want to expend the energy but want the reward. Remind you of anyone in your flock?</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie85SJonRM4/UUYWm4vn2rI/AAAAAAAACa4/9i3A-JwIt1M/s1600/asphalt+clams+(18)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie85SJonRM4/UUYWm4vn2rI/AAAAAAAACa4/9i3A-JwIt1M/s320/asphalt+clams+(18)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Finding refuge to relish your hard won reward is to often short lived</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wG9lKJT6Hpw/UUYWr-iTrWI/AAAAAAAACbA/hqzM2QywIzs/s1600/asphalt+clams+(20)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wG9lKJT6Hpw/UUYWr-iTrWI/AAAAAAAACbA/hqzM2QywIzs/s320/asphalt+clams+(20)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Again in their world as well as ours, if anything is worth having is worth working for. Or stealing.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h5ZDC9jrRrQ/UUYUQpZ5v_I/AAAAAAAACZw/CnxQ_jxNAko/s1600/asphalt+clams+(7)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sL4qGjhNOkw/UUYW7bmMBHI/AAAAAAAACbQ/DPRb4vK0TQQ/s1600/asphalt+clams+(22)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sL4qGjhNOkw/UUYW7bmMBHI/AAAAAAAACbQ/DPRb4vK0TQQ/s320/asphalt+clams+(22)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Once the shell of the hapless clam is shattered the crow uses it's body as a lever and tears off tinniest of morsels.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2PyWEYPS6yw/UUYW-EKwZZI/AAAAAAAACbY/iyQQpOZBvaY/s1600/asphalt+clams+(25)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2PyWEYPS6yw/UUYW-EKwZZI/AAAAAAAACbY/iyQQpOZBvaY/s320/asphalt+clams+(25)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Down the hatch.</div><br /><br /><span style="text-align: center;">I can't imagine the crow is doing this to appease a refined taste. The tidbit just goes straight down. I have always wondered how much or if crows could taste their food. I have eaten clams. I am not a fan but I cannot imagine expending that much energy for the reward to gain equation. </span><br /><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bQSmkx8wSzY/UUYf3saGFQI/AAAAAAAACbo/5cYi1M2vEdo/s1600/asphalt+clams+(31)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bQSmkx8wSzY/UUYf3saGFQI/AAAAAAAACbo/5cYi1M2vEdo/s320/asphalt+clams+(31)wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />This technique the crow are using is not just limited to clams.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2KEaKPF-2Kk/UUYf61nNKqI/AAAAAAAACbw/aHDgOsKAfns/s1600/asphalt+clams+1wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2KEaKPF-2Kk/UUYf61nNKqI/AAAAAAAACbw/aHDgOsKAfns/s320/asphalt+clams+1wtmk0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Discarded peach pits and sometimes items that are not edible get the same treatment. The crows here are not all that different then any other crow. This behavior is common to their who family around the world. </div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_5G8d7jx2Lk/UUYgBBWGQoI/AAAAAAAACb4/Qw1vA-JjCRI/s1600/asphalt+clams+(28)wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_5G8d7jx2Lk/UUYgBBWGQoI/AAAAAAAACb4/Qw1vA-JjCRI/s320/asphalt+clams+(28)wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Crows are not alone with this skill. Heavy bombers have found their own delicacies.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0krI7LkLwlw/UUYgF6vaDQI/AAAAAAAACcA/bsvNhdbquAM/s1600/asphalt+clams+(26)wtmk0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0krI7LkLwlw/UUYgF6vaDQI/AAAAAAAACcA/bsvNhdbquAM/s320/asphalt+clams+(26)wtmk0000.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Here is a local gull with a Moon Snail. Moon Snails prey on other mollusks in the Puget Sound and are hated by many humans but loved by the gulls. They can reach the size of a baseball or larger so most of the time they are too heavy for a crow to lift to a sufficient height to damage the shell.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UEXzmVKgLv8/UUYtLqRGXiI/AAAAAAAACcI/sVN-IpBNIN8/s1600/asphalt+clams+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UEXzmVKgLv8/UUYtLqRGXiI/AAAAAAAACcI/sVN-IpBNIN8/s320/asphalt+clams+(5).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />So the next time the tide is low and the and he weather permits see if you can find a show. There is always squabbling and jockeying and stealing. I don't think they do it for the food. I thing they do it because they can, it is difficult and expends way more energy then returned. They do it to show the other crows that they are accomplished, skilled and a survivors. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Not to mention show offs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-54689154067907700082013-02-24T14:54:00.003-08:002013-02-24T15:29:42.736-08:00Hoodies in the NWR<div style="text-align: center;">
Last week I trekked out to the local wildlife refuge to follow a report of Great Horned Owl owlets that were about to leave their nest. I went out with sketchy directions and did not locate them. <br />
Three days later when I went back out they had fledged and left the nest just hours before I got there.</div>
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During my first visit I spooked a pair of Hooded Mergansers in a tide flooded back water along the river. Hoodies are small drab fish eating ducks with long, narrow serrated bills. They nest in tree cavities and normally keep their distance from people as all wild ducks do.</div>
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A hasty retreat.</div>
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Yesterday I happened to find my way back to the refuge. The weather was about to turn from bad to really bad but there were scattered sun breaks that made it worth taking a chance on finding the owlets. I headed out the trail when right there were the two little Hoodies I had seen last week. Completely unconcerned with myself and the camera. </div>
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A stiff breeze from the approaching storm front made is difficult for these little duck to venture out to deeper water to feed. </div>
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Pockets of calm water at the edge of the cattails made cozy little refuges in which they could preen and feed.</div>
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As the drake preened the hen bathed and chased unseen bits of food among the plants.</div>
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The crest of the Hooded Merganser can dramatically change the appearance of the drake. I have often had friends try to describe the Hooded Merganser to me with wild size, pattern and color claims.</div>
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Drab and nondescript, this gorgeous little girl shines when she comes out into the light.</div>
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Even with a photo in front of me how do I describe this to someone? She looks comical and sculpted.</div>
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The weather turned for the worse as forecast and the light quality dropped. I did find the owlets but the light did not favor them as it did the Hoodies. </div>
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We will do the owls another time.</div>
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<br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-91354734867208293632013-02-18T14:59:00.000-08:002013-02-21T19:22:31.110-08:00Repeat Offenders<div style="text-align: center;"><br />I have never denied that writing this blog is a therapy of sorts. Sometimes a chance encounter during the day inspires an enchanting story. Sometimes I just get pissed. This one has to be said now.<br /> <br />The Pacific Ocean according to Wikipedia is the largest ocean on the planet.<br />With a surface area of about 63.8 million square miles it is about forty-six per cent of the earth’s surface. For those keeping score that is almost half. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> (We all know how good the facts are we get from wiki and the quality of the writers who use them to support their arguments so just shut up and sit there while my rant move along.)<br /> Dozens of countries with millions if not billions of humans all taking a dump at the shore line while scraping and drilling and netting every single resource and organism that can turn a profit. <br /> But today a light on the horizon, could it be an answer? Yes, and in the news today a United States Federal Judge in the state of Oregon agrees with the brightest minds our government can afford on the topic of salmon restoration. With all of the issues lined up and scrutinized the answer is clear. From global warming to rising ocean levels decreased salinity increased acidity caffeine, antidepressants, antibiotics, hormones, cocaine and THC in the waters around the world. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />A vile insidious dark culprit has been identified as consuming as much as four per cent of the salmon stock in the Columbia River basin and must be dealt with. No mercy no quarter no more time.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />No you did not misread that, 4%. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />4%.<br />The Sea Lions must die.<br /><a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Judge-rules-Wash-Ore-can-continue-killing-sea-lions-191534291.html">http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Judge-rules-Wash-Ore-can-continue-killing-sea-lions-191534291.html</a><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d55ozuMQ66E/USG1CBaHLzI/AAAAAAAACV0/AYvqWUeEChk/s1600/IMG_9056wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d55ozuMQ66E/USG1CBaHLzI/AAAAAAAACV0/AYvqWUeEChk/s320/IMG_9056wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d55ozuMQ66E/USG1CBaHLzI/AAAAAAAACV0/AYvqWUeEChk/s1600/IMG_9056wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />In October of 2012 we traveled through Astoria Oregon headed south. On <br />the East side of town on Hwy 30 becomes Lief Erickson Drive. At 36th <br />Street turn into the parking lot on the river side of the highway and <br />you find a parking with a wild life viewing area sign. So, we pulled in <br />and took a walk toward the water. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uDyLNmqsgoo/USG04476kwI/AAAAAAAACVA/BRB1mhC7728/s1600/IMG_9013wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uDyLNmqsgoo/USG04476kwI/AAAAAAAACVA/BRB1mhC7728/s1600/IMG_9013wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uDyLNmqsgoo/USG04476kwI/AAAAAAAACVA/BRB1mhC7728/s320/IMG_9013wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Just a few seconds into the walk I <br />could hear Sea Lions barking.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2kevb3Kdt5c/USG06vgapwI/AAAAAAAACVI/KF8WhxpA6Z0/s1600/IMG_9019wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2kevb3Kdt5c/USG06vgapwI/AAAAAAAACVI/KF8WhxpA6Z0/s320/IMG_9019wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> These are California Sea Lions. They are protected by State, Federal and International laws. Once there was a fear that they as well as the Sea Otters would disappear as the Steller"s Sea Cow had. Remember them? Probably not. They were hunted to extinction within thirty years of being discovered.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-liS3IQIxcFI/USG061oUmfI/AAAAAAAACVM/9F2TCwpoLw8/s1600/IMG_9020wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-liS3IQIxcFI/USG061oUmfI/AAAAAAAACVM/9F2TCwpoLw8/s320/IMG_9020wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rQreuR5-r-c/USG10fpwHlI/AAAAAAAACV8/7HDfTyEszgA/s1600/IMG_9031wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rQreuR5-r-c/USG10fpwHlI/AAAAAAAACV8/7HDfTyEszgA/s320/IMG_9031wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZbuSsnfNo8/USG07jfqxwI/AAAAAAAACVc/S9hWUC0Pf9w/s1600/IMG_9022wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZbuSsnfNo8/USG07jfqxwI/AAAAAAAACVc/S9hWUC0Pf9w/s320/IMG_9022wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> A tag in the right flipper indicates an encounter with a government authorized agency.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AbRsNVVhDTE/USG061cHlCI/AAAAAAAACVQ/81K_JAeqlTo/s1600/IMG_9021wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AbRsNVVhDTE/USG061cHlCI/AAAAAAAACVQ/81K_JAeqlTo/s320/IMG_9021wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> I started taking pictures with reckless abandon and when the excitement <br />slowed I started to notice the scars on the backs of some of the <br />animals.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZbuSsnfNo8/USG07jfqxwI/AAAAAAAACVc/S9hWUC0Pf9w/s1600/IMG_9022wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hxef3RKhsps/USG0-aXAjuI/AAAAAAAACVo/x_3J1suRW4o/s1600/IMG_9023wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hxef3RKhsps/USG0-aXAjuI/AAAAAAAACVo/x_3J1suRW4o/s320/IMG_9023wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> They were difficult to see with the naked eye but the 300mm lens with <br />the 18 megapixel sensor thing in the camera suddenly brought the whole story <br />together in a flash.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8aAywFS0XoA/USG102NONVI/AAAAAAAACWI/wVOcILkec18/s1600/IMG_9034wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8aAywFS0XoA/USG102NONVI/AAAAAAAACWI/wVOcILkec18/s320/IMG_9034wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rQreuR5-r-c/USG10fpwHlI/AAAAAAAACV8/7HDfTyEszgA/s1600/IMG_9031wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> These are the trouble makers in the news for the past decades that eat <br />the fish at the base of the Bonneville dam further up stream on the <br />Columbia.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oeB-kRs0i74/USG13lPBonI/AAAAAAAACWw/fKUotNsVOGc/s1600/IMG_9050wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oeB-kRs0i74/USG13lPBonI/AAAAAAAACWw/fKUotNsVOGc/s320/IMG_9050wtmk.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Looking closer I realized the float they <br />were on and near was a giant sea lion sized box trap and the boat that <br />takes it up to the dam was tied up right there next to another batch of <br />trouble makers. </div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqKy-nx5usU/USG639ERINI/AAAAAAAACXY/yGUWB6ko1nw/s1600/IMG_9075wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqKy-nx5usU/USG639ERINI/AAAAAAAACXY/yGUWB6ko1nw/s320/IMG_9075wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> The sides of this boat are marked "RESEARCH"</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2PD2H--3d9o/USG11medSUI/AAAAAAAACWY/HoYI3zuDWck/s1600/IMG_9035wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2PD2H--3d9o/USG11medSUI/AAAAAAAACWY/HoYI3zuDWck/s320/IMG_9035wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> I do not know which method was used to mark these animals. I would assume liquid Nitrogen was used. Regardless it appears it takes awhile to heal and is itchy. The numbers on the tags are the same as the numbers branded into their backs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FWTw2EO-bRY/USG13RlyMxI/AAAAAAAACWs/vlQp7_EVdSE/s1600/IMG_9036wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FWTw2EO-bRY/USG13RlyMxI/AAAAAAAACWs/vlQp7_EVdSE/s320/IMG_9036wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> The number on the back of this sea lion appears to have healed completely. This is how the government employees will identify which animals are repeat offenders and identified for removal.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e8bqhI5LICg/USG11T65YSI/AAAAAAAACWQ/fmgJ357litU/s1600/IMG_9036+-+Copywtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e8bqhI5LICg/USG11T65YSI/AAAAAAAACWQ/fmgJ357litU/s320/IMG_9036+-+Copywtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />This is a closeup of the well healed brand. Makes you wonder how old the brand is. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IffxfCtAaWo/USG2NBGz5xI/AAAAAAAACW8/fX8Vv6iC-N0/s1600/IMG_9087wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IffxfCtAaWo/USG2NBGz5xI/AAAAAAAACW8/fX8Vv6iC-N0/s1600/IMG_9087wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IffxfCtAaWo/USG2NBGz5xI/AAAAAAAACW8/fX8Vv6iC-N0/s320/IMG_9087wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />The marks on this Sea Lion appear to be bites from another.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />How nice the Sea Lions must think that the stupid <br />humans tow their living room all the way up to the dam for them. Only to have the same guys start shooting bean bags from shotguns at you as the throw explosive devices to scare you off. THEN when you finally jump up from the icy water on to the float for a well deserved rest after gorging on fat juicily salmon, the door slams shut and you get a <br />dart in your ass, a hangover, a tag in your flipper and a number branded in you <br />back. And now marked for death.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Maybe later we will sit and talk about the tens of thousands of <u><i><b>nesting</b></i></u> Terns and Cormorants that are also protected under State, Federal and international laws being killed by our government just a few mile upstream from this location. Evil Terns, Evil Cormorants and their dangerous little tiny babies. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />I guess Sea lions are to fishermen as wolves are to ranchers. Oh were killing wolves too by the way. Again another government program that protects a species until it impinges on another endangered species so a permit is issued to remove individuals to balance. I would say with us using up far more then the lions share (ha-ha) there should be something left over for the wildlife.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> I have offered no solutions so my rant is pretty much useless. Just sitting here bitching. I understand how complex the problem is and if I can help you understand it maybe the future will have a plan that doesn't keep going circles wasting money and lives. I just though I would put a face on the repercussions of the decision. I am sure the fisheries people take no joy in killing the Sea Lions.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />When I as a kid my maternal grand father told me a story about a man looking under a light post for a quarter he had lost, when a second person came upon the scene and helped in the search. After awhile the second person became frustrated and asked the first if he was sure that he had lost his quarter here. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />He replied "No, I did not but the light is better here."</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />Sometimes it takes a long time to understand what someone is trying to tell you.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-13836095511754032992013-01-01T20:54:00.000-08:002013-01-01T20:54:02.163-08:00Avalanche<div style="text-align: center;">
Over the past thirty years I have been fortunate to travel to Southern <br />
Florida and explore most of the easily accessible and well traveled parts of the Everglades and surrounding areas to the East. If you start at the Atlantic Ocean in southern Florida and travel West you pass through a densely packed strip of houses, malls, retirement homes, hospitals and parking lots. Then it all drops away and there is a sea of flooded grass with scattered islands of trees. Very few east-west roads cross over into this vast open space, Griffin Road is one that only enters. On the east side of the "line" it is an asphalt thoroughfare on the west side it is a two parallel white gravel lines scarring the top of a dike holding the waters of the Everglades in check. </div>
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Looking to the South West</div>
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Looking to the South East. The power towers follow the "line".</div>
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On my last visit I took a walk on a hot afternoon. I have walked thousands of miles, we all will if we live long enough. I followed the white scars away from the "line". The amount of trash was amazing. No dig here I was just caught off guard. From the debris I looked mostly like beer drinking fishermen with cigarettes were the most common travelers. Years of trash have accumulated along this path and it doesn't look as if there is an agency or staff that take care of it. It is just a route from point a to point out westerly. Few bugs no birds as my feet crunched along in the gravel. The area on the right side of the dike was flooded while the left was dry. Both stretch to the horizon covered with tall grass. Occasionally I would hear bird call fro the tall grasses below but saw nothing I could take a picture of, </div>
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Nothing is more emblematic then an air boat in the EvergladesThe channel along the dike is a major avenue for those fast but deafening monsters.</div>
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Off in the distance I saw something on the left side of the dike</div>
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Looking West.</div>
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Not what I was expecting to see on the edge of the Everglades.</div>
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I took my pictures and reflected on what it was or what it meant. A ghost of some forgotten tragedy? Filling a painful void? I looked around. A flat breeze was doing little to keep the mosquitoes away. I saw need to continue any further out into the emptiness down the road. I turned back. As I walked my mind glazed over thinking about what I have just seen. I walked half halfheartedly scanning for animals, bugs or flowers. <br />
I do not remember how far I walked or how far I wandered in thought when suddenly that little monkey-slash-lizard part of your brain deep deep down at the root took control of the whole program .<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugvopWrlLhI/UOKMlJBUMnI/AAAAAAAACUY/ZC4f0zdjR2s/s1600/IMG_8094wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugvopWrlLhI/UOKMlJBUMnI/AAAAAAAACUY/ZC4f0zdjR2s/s320/IMG_8094wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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My body jolted with adrenaline as I saw the alligator off to my left <br />
down below at the waters edge. <br />
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There was plenty of room between us and I<br />
felt embarrassed at how startled I as when it's image crystallized and <br />
my ass puckered. I was in no more danger then as if I were looking at a<br />
dairy cow. Remind me to tell you my dairy cow story later.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rZEupIJctC4/UOKMqY6PHfI/AAAAAAAACUw/tFVcqwPc2Oc/s1600/IMG_8102wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rZEupIJctC4/UOKMqY6PHfI/AAAAAAAACUw/tFVcqwPc2Oc/s320/IMG_8102wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I moved around and took pictures of the alligator. It was about six to eight feet long. Look at it's head. At some point in this guys life something munched down hard on the right side of it's head. The eyes are out of line and the skull is misshapen. There is also that knob of scar tissue balled out on the head. The alligator was still, was it there when I walked out? How did I miss that? Something that big? It really bothered me that it as dry. If it wasn't there when I walked out how long would it have taken it to dry when I as looking at Avalanche? How long had I been out there? I had lost track of time and became UN-nerved. All this time I stared at the alligator, neither of us moved. Without any warning or a sound the alligator gracefully lifted up turned to it's left and slid into the water and stopped with it's tail exposed. </div>
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So, when you get to South Eastern Florida drop by and e-mail me an updated photo.<br />
Hwy 27 (Orange Drive) and 818 (Griffin Road)</div>
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Go West.<br />
Goggle Earth gave me these coordinates.<br />
26° 3' 32" N 80° 26' 57" W<br />
26° 03.5345 N 80° 26.9545 W<br />
26.05891 N 80.44924 W</div>
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Tread lightly. Take care out there.</div>
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<br />birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-25827450755265335802012-12-30T14:13:00.000-08:002012-12-30T14:13:20.549-08:00Angry Birds<div style="text-align: center;">
I have strayed. It has been over eighteen months since my last blog. In a weird way it was one of those light bulb moment ideas that was a no brainier that went horribly wrong when put in to action. </div>
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I went to the dark side, I bought an I Pad.</div>
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<br />I have been using computers since the late 80's. Started a HP-PC then tried a Mac in the early 90's. Did not know at the time Mac had gone to shit after Mr. Jobs had left. That left a bad impression and I wandered back to the PC's. I have slogged through desktops, laptops, notebooks, hard drive replacements, power supply replacements, routers, extenders, printers, scanners, Windows 98, XP, Vista 32, Vista 64, 7 basic and then seven pro when M/S so generously “gave” me 7 Pro for the $100 I had to pay the to ask them why the 7 Basic as such a piece of shit. I actually had a phone conversation in which I was told by a tech support “specialist” that I had to turn the computer of twice a day to allow the electricity inside to take a break, regroup and go back to work when I turned the computer back on. That surprisingly was not nearly as insulting as when my cable provider repair guy took a cable splitter out of my hand and gently bounced it in the palm of his had and said “ here is your problem, the splitter is no good, you can tell by the weight, it’s lighter when it is all used up”. ??? I shit you not. I have been working with electronics for thirty years, I eagerly passed his diagnosis along to his supervisor as he drove off. I hate computers. I digress.<br /><br />So imagine the moment when you realize you can turn on your I Pad, check and answer your e-mails, check your blog and Flickr stats ( I am a stats whore), catch up on your "words with friends" and read the local news all before the tiny guys in the laptop can shovel up enough electrons to bring the leviathan to a full head of steam. Stepping out from the PC fog to a touch tablet was like the landing in Oz and seeing in color. Then there were the APPS! The I Pad had so many shiny things my fourteen pound lap heater with a sticky “W” just lost out. Kicked to the corner to collect dust for months, cold and lonely. <br /><br />While this electronic platform battle was all going on so did life . I collected thousands of photos and dozens of blog seeds and less time to write. The last straw came today when my wife told me “no more <b>ANGRY BIRDS </b>until I see the birds from Florida”. That was thirteen months ago we went to Florida. <br />So, as warmup exercise to get the “w” and the now sticking “m” limber up as well as the lethargic electrons here is a recap of the last year with the promise to come back from the dark side and get back to getting the blogs out. I have to go back to the PC, make amends and get going.</div>
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Angy Birds</div>
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I installed a new fountain this spring. The first visitor as over joyed and played in the water for hours before another hummer found the oasis. The our little girl here got very angry.</div>
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Airspace over the house is jealously protected. This Osprey toyed with the crow following it, letting it catch up then darting away. The crow never had a chance.</div>
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Sibling Crow were scuffling on the tide flat while looking for food. The lack of pigment in the collective feathers may be an indication of a poor diet while still in the nest.</div>
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Nobody should mess with these angry birds.</div>
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Back patrolling the airspace a Red Tailed Hawk just swooped in and took a mouse that belonged to the crow's territory. The hawk did not kill the mouse when it caught it. Flying big slow circles over the yard with a screaming mouse in it's mouth the hawk drove the crows in to a frenzy.</div>
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Do I look happy?</div>
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Nobody gets to pass for free, even if you are a cousin. These to crows escort a passing raven out of their airspace.</div>
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Should I be happy? I live in a hole in the ground.</div>
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It is not the size of the bird in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the bird. </div>
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A lowly Red Winged Blackbird chases after a completely oblivious Bald Eagle the just happened to pass to low over the blackbird.s nest</div>
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Not every birds intentions or habits can be understood. </div>
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So with a new year coming fast I guess I should resolve to do better.</div>
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birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-86531959325424993472011-09-14T19:56:00.000-07:002011-09-24T19:48:05.344-07:00Happy Returns<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Vg6mtFCDHo/Tm9e-VOSdkI/AAAAAAAACPM/Zx1JLZC8W9g/s1600/sw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Vg6mtFCDHo/Tm9e-VOSdkI/AAAAAAAACPM/Zx1JLZC8W9g/s320/sw.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Shortly after moving in to our house seven years ago I ventured into the attic to locate the source of a water stain on the ceiling near the fireplace. It was late Summer and I wanted to get ahead of more water damage before our wet season started. Once I ventures in to the gloom and unknown I could see small shafts of sunlight piercing the blackness near the chimney's intersection with the roof line. I had to figure out how to secure the gaping fissures between the brick work and the roofing material from the inside. The roof at the time was covered with thin loose concrete tiles that would easily break under the pressure of my size fourteens.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> During some painful contortions between the ceiling joists and the sloping roof line my eyes adjusted to the dim light. I could make out several dark tubular objects littering the insulation between the joists. As I moved to look closer I started seeing them everywhere.<br />
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My flashlight beam and focus zeroed in on one. It took a second to understand what I was looking at. These dozens of dark objects were mummified baby Violet-green Swallows. I found several nesting sites with some built on top of other nests full of more mummified birds. This was very cramped, dusty and disturbing. The "worst" of the nests was four deep. I came back later with better equipped to clean up the area and the more I looked the more I found. To be honest I could not get them all.<br />
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Several cans of expanding foam insulation later I knew that I could not completely seal all of the gaps from the inside enough to keep the rain out or future swallows. It is not that the gaps were to large to plug, I just cold not get to them all</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Over the next few years the swallows would return each spring and shoot straight through the now smaller gaps and set up house keeping. I felt bad that by having filled many of the gaps it most likely would make it harder for the young swallows to find their way out of the attic. Fortunately I found that the days around when I thought the young I would leave the nests I left the garage door open half way. This would allow them enough light to navigate the flight through the rafters to the garage and then drop down and out to freedom.<br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A couple years ago I made a batch of bird houses with Chickadees and Wrens on my mind. I forgotten about the swallows. When they returned the nest in the spring I realized this tragic oversight. I was out of wood so I re-purposed a two of the unused chickadee boxes by turning them on their side and ova-ling out the entrance holes. Year after year swallow would fly by in ever tightening circles to inspect the new alternative to the gloomy doom in the attic. Year after year they chose the attic.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Early this Spring the roof was replaced. I made sure the two swallow houses I had placed eight feet off the ground were in good shape and looked welcoming. Spring showers would not let up. Cold weather pushed the swallow's arrival back a week or two then delayed their choosing a new nesting site. Pairs would circle for hours and then disappear for days<br />
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Then it happened, as if it had never been any other way. A pair of Violet Green Swallows took over and began to defend both houses eventually deciding on one. I had been using all of my Jedi mind tricks to project my preference. Laugh if you wish, think of me as a nut but I got what I wanted. <br />
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Over the past four years I had been trying to photograph the swallows in the yard with no success. In this case "no success" meant zero photographs. I had high hopes and delusions for this Spring as I had started working with a new camera purchased in late winter. Eight frames per second is not the fastest on the market but is was far faster then my three frame per second old timer.</span></span><br />
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The weather during the incubation and the first two weeks in the nest was cold and overcast. The week the babies hatched there were few flying insects to be found. The babies did end up spending extra days in the box. I do not know if the adults can slow the incubation speed or if the birds just grew slower with less food when they hatched. Any input out there?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Days before they did leave the nest the sun popped out and the waiting population of dragonfly nymphs morphed within hours and the game was on. The swallow activity exploded and the babies were saved from certain doom. I dropped everything and used these minutes to get my first pictures.</span></span><br />
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In the years of failure I took careful note of where the nest box placement would be the best for both the birds and my camera. Now I had a fixed spot in a void that a fourteen gram four inch long bird would pass through sporadically at high rates of speed. Simple.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For those who are as mystified by the metric conversion, fourteen grams is roughly equal to fourteen raisins or paperclips. Still? About thirty two birds to the pound.<br />
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This is "our" reward. I am sure the swallows are happier then I.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CF_GnAdNfcU/Tm9e_5EY75I/AAAAAAAACPQ/yItuoObysQo/s1600/sw+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CF_GnAdNfcU/Tm9e_5EY75I/AAAAAAAACPQ/yItuoObysQo/s320/sw+%25282%2529.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Female approaching the nest box.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vwQ9iOFIy4g/Tm9fAx84XZI/AAAAAAAACPU/JxyOj_EU19M/s1600/sw+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vwQ9iOFIy4g/Tm9fAx84XZI/AAAAAAAACPU/JxyOj_EU19M/s320/sw+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Leaving</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ipAd8fELIY/Tm9fCMOSfVI/AAAAAAAACPc/GJsMQMs-8GU/s1600/sw+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ipAd8fELIY/Tm9fCMOSfVI/AAAAAAAACPc/GJsMQMs-8GU/s320/sw+%25285%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The swallows can fly at speeds upwards of sixty five miles per hour. Speeds approaching the nest are much lower but still amazingly fast. This braking technique slows them from roughly thirty miles per hour to entering the hole in as little as ten feet!</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-57N2CBnqv74/Tm9fEYMzxxI/AAAAAAAACPs/Q9eN4DsEi7Q/s1600/sw+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-57N2CBnqv74/Tm9fEYMzxxI/AAAAAAAACPs/Q9eN4DsEi7Q/s320/sw+%25289%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VSByiGPg8ok/Tm9fFOgZ7TI/AAAAAAAACPw/DD_yZgbMrx4/s1600/sw+%252810%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VSByiGPg8ok/Tm9fFOgZ7TI/AAAAAAAACPw/DD_yZgbMrx4/s320/sw+%252810%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></pre><pre><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is the male on approach.</span></span></pre><pre><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></pre><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PdLu3sp3afo/Tm9filAoagI/AAAAAAAACP0/vrhj4_ZEa7c/s1600/sw+%252811%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PdLu3sp3afo/Tm9filAoagI/AAAAAAAACP0/vrhj4_ZEa7c/s320/sw+%252811%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ldbxf574dzQ/Tm9fjW1q6PI/AAAAAAAACP4/F8g462jN9r4/s1600/sw+%252812%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ldbxf574dzQ/Tm9fjW1q6PI/AAAAAAAACP4/F8g462jN9r4/s320/sw+%252812%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here you can see the modified Chickadee house on it's side and the hole reshaped. Swallows have very short legs and big wings. The oval is much easier to rocket through.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V7h-LwUAFbw/Tm9fkEMnTKI/AAAAAAAACP8/QjZmdeZa5JI/s1600/sw+%252813%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V7h-LwUAFbw/Tm9fkEMnTKI/AAAAAAAACP8/QjZmdeZa5JI/s320/sw+%252813%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P1qzFutcC2w/Tm9fkltf-vI/AAAAAAAACQA/QLL4JsQHOP4/s1600/sw+%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P1qzFutcC2w/Tm9fkltf-vI/AAAAAAAACQA/QLL4JsQHOP4/s320/sw+%252814%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All of these pictures were taken with a wireless remote control. I found it to be troublesome and unreliable but when it did work it did well. This angle is from above looking straight down.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9_SYHCFvjyo/Tm9flbQJzbI/AAAAAAAACQE/S_pS7CUqnl0/s1600/sw+%252815%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9_SYHCFvjyo/Tm9flbQJzbI/AAAAAAAACQE/S_pS7CUqnl0/s320/sw+%252815%2529.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tzmcWqYSsMc/Tm9fl2zeZBI/AAAAAAAACQI/Gds898jBeYk/s1600/sw+%252816%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tzmcWqYSsMc/Tm9fl2zeZBI/AAAAAAAACQI/Gds898jBeYk/s320/sw+%252816%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I was surprised when reviewing the pictures, I could not see anything in the birds mouth as it returned to the nest. This trip netted two dragonflies. Notice that he caught one going in each direction. Each set of pictures that I took in which two dragonflies were caught at the same time they all were carried this was. This is similar to pictures of Puffins carrying small fish that I have seen.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1FHwsWYWJng/Tm9fmmXPEtI/AAAAAAAACQM/m2mliRBlFiw/s1600/sw+%252817%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1FHwsWYWJng/Tm9fmmXPEtI/AAAAAAAACQM/m2mliRBlFiw/s320/sw+%252817%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8aagsxaGuTU/Tm9fo1hxhZI/AAAAAAAACQY/FibEe2IRdXw/s1600/sw+%252820%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8aagsxaGuTU/Tm9fo1hxhZI/AAAAAAAACQY/FibEe2IRdXw/s320/sw+%252820%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-li58Pn99Iag/Tm9fpvGmeHI/AAAAAAAACQc/mXsttuf6KrA/s1600/sw+%252821%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-li58Pn99Iag/Tm9fpvGmeHI/AAAAAAAACQc/mXsttuf6KrA/s320/sw+%252821%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QL1NnZPjjKU/Tm9fp-SfFoI/AAAAAAAACQg/W07iKo4F7Mo/s1600/sw+%252822%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QL1NnZPjjKU/Tm9fp-SfFoI/AAAAAAAACQg/W07iKo4F7Mo/s320/sw+%252822%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So, of course when you catch three you have to stack them however you can.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cigqTBJV4Qs/Tm9fr60eQUI/AAAAAAAACQk/lJrtg1lCuQ8/s1600/sw+%252823%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cigqTBJV4Qs/Tm9fr60eQUI/AAAAAAAACQk/lJrtg1lCuQ8/s320/sw+%252823%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><tt><tt> </tt></tt></pre><pre style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, there is the happy resolution to something that had troubled me for a long time. </span></pre><pre style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had two other nest boxes that were successful this year also.</span></pre><pre style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></pre><pre style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">More about those trials later.</span></pre><pre style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></pre><pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt><tt>
</tt></tt></pre></div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-77481563454883720062011-03-27T20:22:00.000-07:002011-03-27T20:42:39.582-07:00Those Fighting Mud Hens<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pj5Bs-wKq8I/TY65yks4L0I/AAAAAAAACNs/0-ZqvJrrcHQ/s1600/IMG_6894wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pj5Bs-wKq8I/TY65yks4L0I/AAAAAAAACNs/0-ZqvJrrcHQ/s320/IMG_6894wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
As a kid I did not know really what an American Coot was. Was it a duck? It swam with ducks, it looked kinda like a duck and in the Wisconsin hunting regulations it was listed as a "game bird" with a daily bag limit of fifteen birds. When I asked my dad he grunted "damn mud hens". When I asked his older brother he was not as nice.<br />
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As kids the two of them grew up in remote North Eastern South Dakota. Both were born in the same dirt floor farm house just as their seven siblings The farm house sat on land that had been in the family over a hundred years. Just as both of them were were starting to walk and talk the great depression crippled the nation. My grandfather was fortunate and had secured work using his mule team to clear the irrigation ditches of weeds for the government. The work was hard but it was a steady job that took him away from the farm. My dad and uncle filled the gaps the best they could. Their most important task was caring for the mules the second was supplementing the families food supply.<br />
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They employed a variety of snares and traps to catch small game for food and fur bearing animals for cash.<br />
They could make "good" money with the hides of Snowshoe Hares in South Dakota during the winter. Solid white hare skins in the winter brought two cents per hide, brown and white hides of the Fall and Spring hares brought and a penny and a half and brown hares of Summer secured one whole penny. They worked together and after a particularly hard winter came up with enough fur money to buy a .22 cal single shot rifle and one hundred rounds of ammunition. That brought in more fur money as well as meat from larger game.When times were really tough and nothing else could been found to hunt they turned to "mud hens".<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"></div>As adults looking back on the hard times they both shared, it was evident there was a level of shame and disgust. For them it was a social stigma and was not something they wanted to talk about. Carp also brought about the same feelings but that is a story for another time.<br />
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My father's friend and hunting buddy always did joke about cooking mud hens, the recipe was akin to digging a hole in the ground, lining it with fresh cow manure placing the mud hens in the center and covering them with more manure and then hot coals. Bake for several hours while bullshitting and drinking beer. Then dig it all up, throw the mud hens away and eat the manure. (Does not say much about he taste of the mud hens.) My father did not say much as we all rolled around laughing, I don't think he never got over it.<br />
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Years have pasted as well as my father and uncle, mud hens remain. For years now I have been subconsciously seeing Coots through the eyes of my father as something to be berated and avoided. <br />
Our culture has only a few references to coots. The first one I ever heard of was "The Fighting Mud hens" a base ball team mentioned in the television series M*A*S*H in the seventies. I later learned that there really is a baseball team in Toledo Ohio called the Fighting Mud hens.<br />
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So, is that it? They taste bad and they fight?<br />
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Recently I happened upon a mixed flock of American Coots and Norther Shoveler ducks at a nearby lake. The light was good and I thought I would watch for a bit. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IqmIz5KE10s/TY65rPQUdSI/AAAAAAAACNY/2u8aPcHBGao/s1600/IMG_6926wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IqmIz5KE10s/TY65rPQUdSI/AAAAAAAACNY/2u8aPcHBGao/s320/IMG_6926wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
At first glance there is not really all that much to see. American Coots feed in the shallows at the edges of water bodies "mud" and they bob their heads when they walk and swim "hen". They make a variety of clucks, grunts and muffled sounds that are not very melodic or romantic. Mud hen not a very flashy nick name nor is it all that demeaning. Since the coots all look alike and they don't look like much, it takes a bit of observation to figure out what is going on in the life of a coot. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L-t5bWT51f4/TY65swuEFsI/AAAAAAAACNg/b9ncwqCUY5U/s1600/IMG_6922+%25282%2529wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L-t5bWT51f4/TY65swuEFsI/AAAAAAAACNg/b9ncwqCUY5U/s320/IMG_6922+%25282%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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American Coots are a dark gray water bird with a black head and white bill. Found mostly near fresh water through out the North American they are abundant and not threatened or endangered. I would assume that if they were a bit tastier that might have changed their status.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RDaqvqsSj0A/TY65uA-thnI/AAAAAAAACNk/vUQi_rMjQfw/s1600/IMG_6911wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RDaqvqsSj0A/TY65uA-thnI/AAAAAAAACNk/vUQi_rMjQfw/s320/IMG_6911wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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In flight they are just as drab as walking, sitting or swimming.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEkJ6wDNFtE/TY65r91UV4I/AAAAAAAACNc/vowmRO-basA/s1600/IMG_6924wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEkJ6wDNFtE/TY65r91UV4I/AAAAAAAACNc/vowmRO-basA/s320/IMG_6924wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They have a shockingly white bill that contrasts with the dark, drab body coloration. If there is a difference between the sexes in their plumage I can not see it, apparently they can or we would not have any coots</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jyP1hjD7ZGo/TY65vXDaf6I/AAAAAAAACNo/RqzOqYTq1a0/s1600/IMG_6902wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jyP1hjD7ZGo/TY65vXDaf6I/AAAAAAAACNo/RqzOqYTq1a0/s320/IMG_6902wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
In addition to aquatic vegetation, insect and invertebrates Coots also graze on grass. The old adage of "you are what you eat" shines through when it comes to mud hens. By feeding in mud the finer nuances of decay, scum and bugs deeply flavor their flesh. I do not ever recall seeing any animal ever eating a Coot. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AMYLY-yQe_0/TY65qTczqkI/AAAAAAAACNU/Nl6yJTAMYCQ/s1600/IMG_6929wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AMYLY-yQe_0/TY65qTczqkI/AAAAAAAACNU/Nl6yJTAMYCQ/s320/IMG_6929wtmk.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><br />
One of the most striking features of the coot are their feet. They do not have webbed feet, they have "lobed" feet. While paddling around in the water during the upstroke the lobes collapse and wrap around the toes bones to reduce drag. During the down stroke the lobes flare open and increase the surface area of the foot to increase propulsion. The pattern and coloration of the feet conjure up visions of something primitive or prehistoric.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rCZ13Snx3hk/TY66KxrWFNI/AAAAAAAACN0/JOIEry9O8nA/s1600/IMG_3450wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rCZ13Snx3hk/TY66KxrWFNI/AAAAAAAACN0/JOIEry9O8nA/s320/IMG_3450wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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This modification of the foot allows them to walk on soft mud and vegetation without sinking. It also allows them to accelerate amazing fast when taking off, fleeing predators and fighting with their own kind. They can go from zero to ass kicking speed in a blink of an eye!<br />
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Their feet also allow them to propel their buoyant bodies from the water's surface straight down in search of food or to escape said predators and attacking members of their own kind.<br />
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During the Winter American Coots gather in flocks, as Spring approaches they pair up and become very territorial and nasty toward others of their own kind. Every species of animal has it's own way of telling others of it's own kind it is trespassing. A snort, a bark, a curled lip or the beating of ones chest but with American Coots attack may be the only warning you get. Within any given species of animal there is nothing to be gained for the species over all if territorial aggression leads to injury or death. (Mankind excluded.) There has to be some ritual rule that everyone understands to prevent interactions that in the end would prove to be harmful to the species as a whole. Mud hens do not have talons or razor sharp bills to slash and cut their enemies with. All they have is a very pointy bill and the ability to accelerate in an instant to drive their point home.<br />
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As I watched the flock of Northern Shovelers mill about feeding a lone Coot swam into view. It seemed as if it was just minding it's own business when without a warning that I could perceive it was attacked by a nearby pair. I happened to have the camera up and ready to go when I captured the following sequence of a coot attack.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7J2B4ZjhYI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7J2B4ZjhYI</a></div><br />
This attack style is common. I guess one coot attacking another is not the point, it's the tenacity and duration of the fights that brings out the best or worst in the coot. Even when it appears that there is a victor the fight it is not over. Driving the intruder far away makes a point not only to the loser but to all who observer the conflict. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7CzDUWeWCiE/TY65_Oz_PqI/AAAAAAAACNw/-zI7cleJjLw/s1600/IMG_3437wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7CzDUWeWCiE/TY65_Oz_PqI/AAAAAAAACNw/-zI7cleJjLw/s320/IMG_3437wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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My father often said "life is hard when you shit through feathers". He had to have seen events like the one above many times and understood that with mud hens like us, life can be hard when you go though life with a target painted on your ass.</div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-51548998701530578552011-03-12T08:01:00.000-08:002011-03-12T08:01:37.847-08:00Butter Talons<div style="text-align: center;">Wave after wave of spring storms are trudging their way across the Northwest this spring. During the lulls in the weather I try to get out and spend time with the animals even if the sun does not. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The lack of good light does not stop life from continuing but it does make it difficult for the camera to follow. I recently upgraded my camera to a behemoth that can take eight frames per second as well as take high definition video. At the same time I figured out how to embed sideshows and videos directly to my blog. </div><div style="text-align: center;">My pictures are two dimensional, I hope to fill them out with my rambling narratives. Now I hope to add the forth dimension to share with you. Some things in nature just have to been seen and now with videos I can give you sound also.<br />
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For this blog allow me to share with you, breakfast with an eagle. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6qOH5tEstM?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6qOH5tEstM?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Maybe lunch will be better. </div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-80163536811601056242011-03-06T05:53:00.000-08:002011-03-06T13:46:24.245-08:00I seen em’!!! Part One<div style="text-align: center;">It is not the vernacular of the local peasantry but here in the Northwest it is part of our history. During the eighties it was a popular bumper sticker as part of an advertising blitz by a local and iconic beer company. Though is was probably their most successful advertising campaign they went out of business shortly afterward. So what was “seen”? The Artesians. Supposedly the “Artesians" were leprechaun or gnome like creatures that lived in the Northwest that were responsible for the high quality water and the beer it produced. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course there are no Artesians now or then but this does bring me a smile when I go to the field and see the things I see. Rather the things I see and cannot explain. After all I live in Bigfoot country I should try to pay a little more attention. So what about those who see things like the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, Ogopogo, New Jersey devil or the Chupacabra? I am leaving UFO’s out of this on purpose.<br />
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I am not going there.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Setting aside those who knowingly set out to deceive others for whatever their assorted motives may be, people do see things that they cannot explain. It may due to poor lighting, short distorted mental pictures, fear, excitement, weak minds or an honest to God truth that they saw what they saw. Regardless they did see something that they feel does need to be validated. So what was it? I don’t know but I have recently had two wildlife encounters that I photographed that made me stop for a few seconds and ask, what in the hell did I just see? </div><div style="text-align: center;">So here is how this is going to work. Below are photographs for you to look at. Try to scroll down on to them while looking away so just your peripheral vision can register them in the right spot for you to look directly at them. Look at the picture for two seconds and close your eyes. Do not look back. Think about what you saw and wonder how you would explain what you just saw.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Scenario One</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You are standing in a coniferous forest clearing in the edge of a military base. Bright white fluffy clouds are drifting across a bright blue sky. With the sun to your left you look up and see a dark colored bird of in the distance flying just above the tree tops in a rectangular pattern. As you move closer the bird completes two of these race tracks. You close to within one hundred yards and the target bird has not acknowledge your approach. Sun still to your left, bird's altitude 80-100 feet, no vocalizations, larger than the local crows but smaller then the Bald Eagles.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Scroll down for your two second encounter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W8LYexmYSLg/TXOKwibOFaI/AAAAAAAACMQ/qyUhMtz0WO0/s1600/IMG_3654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W8LYexmYSLg/TXOKwibOFaI/AAAAAAAACMQ/qyUhMtz0WO0/s320/IMG_3654.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">What do you have to say? </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Scenario Two</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You are standing on an embankment overlooking a tidal interchange zone with the tide going out. It is below freezing with stiff wind to your face making your eyes water. The sun has just crested the ridge line behind you. Fast moving intermittent cloud cover varies the light and the water has a slight chop to it. You are actively scanning the water at a distance watching for incoming duck that fly down the waterway at high speed. A near by mixed flock of ducks explode in to the air. You do a quick sky check looking for either a Peregrine Falcon or Bald Eagle diving in. No luck. The ducks that took to wing are in complete disarray and trying to regroup. Several ducks further away start babbling nervously. Look back to the water directly in front of you and see........one second this time.......</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rs2ay7L9NmU/TXOLGSQFoeI/AAAAAAAACMU/GCERVRVT3HQ/s1600/IMG_3255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rs2ay7L9NmU/TXOLGSQFoeI/AAAAAAAACMU/GCERVRVT3HQ/s320/IMG_3255.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Then you get another glimpse a few seconds later......one second...............and it is gone forever.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O-qIwodbjMY/TXOS5esDDSI/AAAAAAAACMg/9vazQ1CKBlk/s1600/IMG_3260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O-qIwodbjMY/TXOS5esDDSI/AAAAAAAACMg/9vazQ1CKBlk/s320/IMG_3260.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Did you see that...? Did.... huh....aah... </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">DUDE!!! DID YOU SEE THAT?????</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">So by now you have really really looked at them. What-ca you got to say now? Who are you going to say it to?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">There is a comment box below, share with me. No one will laugh at you...much.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In my next blog I will give you the answers. I would really like to see your comments.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><u>I would like to know how you think.</u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">If I had not had a camera in hand how would I be conveying these images to you and know you comprehend what I thought I saw?</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Here is a parting bonus.<br />
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You have my personal guarantee that there are <u>NO</u> trans-dimensional beings in this photograph. No tricks just a picture taken in the field then you get home up load them all to your computer and suddenly yo have this.....</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qaFduVUKC_c/TXOLj4lQ4OI/AAAAAAAACMc/tRvmQC-BbqE/s1600/ufo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qaFduVUKC_c/TXOLj4lQ4OI/AAAAAAAACMc/tRvmQC-BbqE/s320/ufo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tell me, what did you photograph? </div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-72562935022079972282011-02-28T20:17:00.000-08:002011-09-02T18:31:31.857-07:00Ferry Dock Fight<div style="text-align: center;">In the early pioneer days of Washington, two men came to this area and each decided that this would be a great location to build a town and a port on the South Puget Sound. Both overlooked that other locations nearby were better suited. I think that their ambitions and greed may have clouded their judgment. Never the less they each started to build towns side by side without any safe port or harbor. Each had very different ideas of the how to layout a their towns and as time passed and the edges of the two towns met. Of course when you have strong wills and egos there are bound to be small issues. The streets were at different angles and did not lineup. Eventually the towns combined and a road was cut through the easement where the two met and was creatively named Union Avenue.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Union Avenue descends a long hill while bisecting town and terminates at the hot spot in my sleepy little town. Jam packed into just a couple of acres you will find the ferry terminal, ferry parking lanes, short term parking lots, a bus stop, a boat launch, a major railroad corridor, a small snack/liquor store and the State Prison boat and barge terminal. All of this human activity as well as the trash cans and dumpsters are a gold mine for the local crows. Like us the crows view anything of value as something worth fighting for.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CwcZI1_Ltsk/TV85KTwPgmI/AAAAAAAACKM/xhTup0EkGZc/s1600/Crow+fight+in+4-10wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CwcZI1_Ltsk/TV85KTwPgmI/AAAAAAAACKM/xhTup0EkGZc/s320/Crow+fight+in+4-10wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">In April of last year I happen upon this violent interaction two blocks from the ferry terminal. It ended when a crow dove in from the upper left and impacted the crow on the right. As a woman walking her dog approached the crows cleared out.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oBsx44Qob3I/TV85LOD_vvI/AAAAAAAACKQ/BPJAfNvKHws/s1600/IMG_1427wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oBsx44Qob3I/TV85LOD_vvI/AAAAAAAACKQ/BPJAfNvKHws/s320/IMG_1427wtmk.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Last week I was passing by the same area when I heard crows sounding an alarm. I drive around with my windows down often to keep an ear to the world. I approached them unseen due to the fight in progress.<br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3ByIfYF52-0?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3ByIfYF52-0?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XYTd1rRsBuI/TV85MP9TkzI/AAAAAAAACKU/os6CSy8pWbU/s1600/IMG_1434wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XYTd1rRsBuI/TV85MP9TkzI/AAAAAAAACKU/os6CSy8pWbU/s320/IMG_1434wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">After the fight broke up one of the crows was holding a feather.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fSlmBcQqeQI/TV85Ng_bRgI/AAAAAAAACKY/5j6cNP5amKs/s1600/IMG_1436wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fSlmBcQqeQI/TV85Ng_bRgI/AAAAAAAACKY/5j6cNP5amKs/s320/IMG_1436wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">It was a prize from the fight.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IcUHH6k8Rk/TV85Od2oi_I/AAAAAAAACKc/SMso1ubYppw/s1600/IMG_1443wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IcUHH6k8Rk/TV85Od2oi_I/AAAAAAAACKc/SMso1ubYppw/s320/IMG_1443wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Though hard to see in the pictures there was a tiny bit of flesh and down feather on the base of the feather's shaft. The crow meticulously cleaned it from the quill. It appeared as if the crow carefully consumed the tiny morsel of it's enemy.<br />
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Was this a symbolic act? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For the crow that lost the feather it may be more then just humiliating. There is always the threat of infection, avian pox or physical damage. During the early stages of feather growth the quill is engorged with blood, if a feather is pulled or damaged during this vulnerable phase the crow could bleed out and die.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lPyQXxynybo/TV85QeCL08I/AAAAAAAACKg/2xcfmpFRkQQ/s1600/IMG_1448wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lPyQXxynybo/TV85QeCL08I/AAAAAAAACKg/2xcfmpFRkQQ/s320/IMG_1448wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mM_aG_mYJAk/TV85RLlpEJI/AAAAAAAACKk/V--TG2tDEZQ/s1600/IMG_1452wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mM_aG_mYJAk/TV85RLlpEJI/AAAAAAAACKk/V--TG2tDEZQ/s320/IMG_1452wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mzUAgk-1UsQ/TV85SWZISlI/AAAAAAAACKo/cXoa_SiOAdI/s1600/IMG_1455wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mzUAgk-1UsQ/TV85SWZISlI/AAAAAAAACKo/cXoa_SiOAdI/s320/IMG_1455wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The noise of the two groups was deafening. The defeated crow and it's supporters shouted their rebuttals from the safety of a near by tree as the winners regrouped on the grass laughing at their defeated brethren.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qcEFd3O4BDc/TV85Sxe0dyI/AAAAAAAACKs/0U1QTA4tyt0/s1600/IMG_1459wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qcEFd3O4BDc/TV85Sxe0dyI/AAAAAAAACKs/0U1QTA4tyt0/s320/IMG_1459wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Once the feather was cleaned and thoroughly inspected the new owner the crow jumped high into the air and hovered for a moment then dropped the feather falling to the earth behind it. This exhibition was repeated two more times rallying the winning crow's group to cheer in a raucous chorus and gather around the prized feather.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XgNTHBKn71o/TV85Tuka-yI/AAAAAAAACKw/HfBViz8gDVU/s1600/IMG_1462wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XgNTHBKn71o/TV85Tuka-yI/AAAAAAAACKw/HfBViz8gDVU/s320/IMG_1462wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Hurling insults to add to the injury. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuEy7IJlX28/TV85W3o_M7I/AAAAAAAACK0/1WxwoN1PL0s/s1600/IMG_1467wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuEy7IJlX28/TV85W3o_M7I/AAAAAAAACK0/1WxwoN1PL0s/s320/IMG_1467wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The exchange of taunts went on and on. It was very emotional for both sides and as it continued it took on a very human appearance. Disturbingly human but then again the part of the brain being used by the crows at this point is the same part we use in similar circumstances. The "lizard part".</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">The loosing team. The best I can determine there was a total of fifteen to eighteen crow involved. The winning side had a two or three bird advantage. More then enough to tip the balance of power.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCBUEAAgjKU/TV85ZIF-VnI/AAAAAAAACK8/bvNkKtkmRhY/s1600/IMG_1483wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCBUEAAgjKU/TV85ZIF-VnI/AAAAAAAACK8/bvNkKtkmRhY/s320/IMG_1483wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I taunt you. </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">I own you.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xN2d1i6UTMY/TV85aV2w_tI/AAAAAAAACLE/cJYFfNT9r7Y/s1600/IMG_1491wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xN2d1i6UTMY/TV85aV2w_tI/AAAAAAAACLE/cJYFfNT9r7Y/s320/IMG_1491wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">To the victor go the spoils. Now for the victory lap around the ferry dock parking lot for all to see. I wondered how long this crow would keep the feather as it flew over the railroad tracks. My thoughts of following the pair ended when the crossing signal blared out it's warring of an oncoming train.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">We all can agree that crows and their cousins are very intelligent and social creatures. When we think of the social aspect we tend to think of the nurturing of the young, cooperative feeding and strong individual bonds. The positive and good things of society. These things we value as part of our social values. Crows somehow make it is easy to draw conclusions and parallels to ourselves, until things turn dark. Then they look more like us then we realize or want to admit to.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I will keep an I eye on the ferry dock "gangs". I will try to determine how often these turf battles take place and how far do they go. </div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-54083294447779535272011-02-16T19:42:00.000-08:002011-02-16T19:42:20.588-08:00A Disturbance in the Force<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4qM7J8BI/AAAAAAAAB_4/xngGmVp5Fdk/s1600/SUNP0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Just before a recent cold snap I went out to the yard and covered up the faucets and disconnected the hoses. I went into the chicken's yard and made sure they had what they needed. The last stop among the things I check out was the fountain I made to look like a spring two years ago. I noticed the all of the soil around the "pond" was torn up and in disarray. I immediately suspected that Red the squirrel had done it. You have meet Red and know his ways.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I bought fresh batteries for the wildlife camera and set it up. Here is an over view of what is going on when I not around to watch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5CBD7lzI/AAAAAAAACAo/hHLZhheHqas/s1600/SUNP0036.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5CBD7lzI/AAAAAAAACAo/hHLZhheHqas/s320/SUNP0036.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I not real pleased with this turn of events. I turn on the yard lights at night and wait a minute or so before I let the dogs out. I do not want the Raccoons and the dogs to ever to have a change to interact. no good can come of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5GuMaz8I/AAAAAAAACA0/NXjDRJOv0LA/s1600/SUNP0042.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5GuMaz8I/AAAAAAAACA0/NXjDRJOv0LA/s320/SUNP0042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5Izmh8yI/AAAAAAAACA8/Y8G1WHyxaS8/s1600/SUNP0046.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5Izmh8yI/AAAAAAAACA8/Y8G1WHyxaS8/s320/SUNP0046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Red is on the log at the bottom of the pond drinking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4qM7J8BI/AAAAAAAAB_4/xngGmVp5Fdk/s1600/SUNP0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4qM7J8BI/AAAAAAAAB_4/xngGmVp5Fdk/s1600/SUNP0002.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4qM7J8BI/AAAAAAAAB_4/xngGmVp5Fdk/s320/SUNP0002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4qM7J8BI/AAAAAAAAB_4/xngGmVp5Fdk/s1600/SUNP0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Red is at the at the top of the vertical log taking a drink.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4qM7J8BI/AAAAAAAAB_4/xngGmVp5Fdk/s1600/SUNP0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4rd-v8sI/AAAAAAAAB_8/5pPjQxt3XlQ/s1600/SUNP0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4rd-v8sI/AAAAAAAAB_8/5pPjQxt3XlQ/s320/SUNP0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">A Steller's Jay hops along the vertical log toward the camera.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4s8MqzPI/AAAAAAAACAA/VA0R1-OKEgg/s1600/SUNP0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4s8MqzPI/AAAAAAAACAA/VA0R1-OKEgg/s320/SUNP0006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">A Steller's at at the top of the pond standing in the water.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR40KHaoBI/AAAAAAAACAE/2hxRpPUqO8g/s1600/SUNP0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR40KHaoBI/AAAAAAAACAE/2hxRpPUqO8g/s320/SUNP0009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The sneaky little rabbit that eats more then it's fair share in the garden.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR41AfscdI/AAAAAAAACAI/UNMFOP4zIJY/s1600/SUNP0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR41AfscdI/AAAAAAAACAI/UNMFOP4zIJY/s320/SUNP0010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Then the Raccoons take over.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR42UMcLzI/AAAAAAAACAM/ccqvJTkPYLU/s1600/SUNP0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR42UMcLzI/AAAAAAAACAM/ccqvJTkPYLU/s320/SUNP0011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR434mnqAI/AAAAAAAACAQ/vH1ZtaFxlrE/s1600/SUNP0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR434mnqAI/AAAAAAAACAQ/vH1ZtaFxlrE/s320/SUNP0012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR48KkES6I/AAAAAAAACAU/q-PugV8_9UM/s1600/SUNP0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR48KkES6I/AAAAAAAACAU/q-PugV8_9UM/s320/SUNP0013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR49dcs3AI/AAAAAAAACAY/huIzw70EhsY/s1600/SUNP0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR49dcs3AI/AAAAAAAACAY/huIzw70EhsY/s320/SUNP0014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">A challenge to the camera?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4-joWI2I/AAAAAAAACAc/x-O7ocNwU4w/s1600/SUNP0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4-joWI2I/AAAAAAAACAc/x-O7ocNwU4w/s320/SUNP0019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4_wgGHII/AAAAAAAACAg/NZ268p8-jq4/s1600/SUNP0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR4_wgGHII/AAAAAAAACAg/NZ268p8-jq4/s320/SUNP0022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I am sure they area looking for the three goldfish that have been living in there for the last two years.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5BJXjs2I/AAAAAAAACAk/2XteRrV-b30/s1600/SUNP0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5BJXjs2I/AAAAAAAACAk/2XteRrV-b30/s320/SUNP0024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5ED8sTdI/AAAAAAAACAs/071w46Bjq7k/s1600/SUNP0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5ED8sTdI/AAAAAAAACAs/071w46Bjq7k/s320/SUNP0037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5FU-XB3I/AAAAAAAACAw/KsCJdSsZs4s/s1600/SUNP0038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5FU-XB3I/AAAAAAAACAw/KsCJdSsZs4s/s320/SUNP0038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5HiCg3yI/AAAAAAAACA4/1a2PLE44_Ag/s1600/SUNP0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPR5HiCg3yI/AAAAAAAACA4/1a2PLE44_Ag/s320/SUNP0044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">So now when Phoebe stands there and sniffs long and hard I can pretty much assume that she is taking in all of the nuances of the recent visitor. I often wonder when the dogs did that how old if any sent was there. Now I will not be so quick to tell her she is nuts.</div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-25292997236290008062011-02-10T22:38:00.000-08:002011-02-11T07:01:10.526-08:00A Timeless Battle<div style="text-align: center;">Last month my laptop did something I have never had a computer do. It was full. Full full. Not one more thing could be added. Not one thing. Foolishly I thought the day would never come. I set about deleting duplicate photos. I figured that was where the most fat was. I was correct. Quickly I dropped 41G. I wish other things were that easy to lose. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">One advantage to this was that I found a folder that contained the pictures I would like to share with you. My last Blog was a graphic fight for life encounter between an eagle and a brant. The eagle is the apex predator of it’s world, the brant, big game in ever sense of the word. This struggle goes one every day and sometimes it goes on right under foot.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomkXSCB6I/AAAAAAAACI4/Eyde1DCRhts/s1600/IMG_2169wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomkXSCB6I/AAAAAAAACI4/Eyde1DCRhts/s320/IMG_2169wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">This is a year round resident of my backyard. S/he is a Rough Skinned Newt ( Taricha granulosa).</div><div style="text-align: center;">These pictures were taken in October, 2008. I stumbled upon him as I was moving dirt near my fountain. I dropped the shovel and picked up the ever near by camera. I do not know it's gender, so to make it easier on me to write this, he will be male. The next will be female.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomlRvYMaI/AAAAAAAACI8/fFeOa1R5fkU/s1600/IMG_2178wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomlRvYMaI/AAAAAAAACI8/fFeOa1R5fkU/s320/IMG_2178wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I don't see his kind very often so I didn’t know much about them at the time I took these pictures. What ever opinion I may have had of them before this encounter changed just as quickly as I took the pictures. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUommR_dTiI/AAAAAAAACJA/ejdprkkNmZ4/s1600/IMG_2328wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUommR_dTiI/AAAAAAAACJA/ejdprkkNmZ4/s320/IMG_2328wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">On the prowl. In the first two photos you can't see the orange undersides. With the newt's coloration blending into and between the browns of the ground litter and the orange of the broken pot shards, he is for all intents and purposes invisible to his prey and those who would do him harm. He fears very few predators, he has a surprise for any animal that may want to eat him. His orange coloration may give some warning to any predator that has color vision, but those with simpler eyes have to learn the hard way. He is packing a powerful poison. His kind manufacture a chemical called Tetrodotoxin, in the vernacular of the local peasantry, "zombie powder". As the name implies it is the source of your average day to day Voodoo type of zombie. It is found marine animals around the world, most commonly in puffer fish , a few crabs, rare octopus and it is the poison of choice in Central American frogs.<br />
<br />
It is a powerful neurotoxin that has no antidote. It depolarizes nerve cells preventing commands from the brain reaching organs and muscles causing paralysis and / or death. In some areas select species of Garter Snake are not effected by this toxin which would suggest a long running co-evolution between the two. A classic and timeless arms race. But how and why such a powerful toxin?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Look but don't touch!</span><br />
<br />
Really, have you ever seen or<br />
heard of a zombie movie plot that ever really went well?</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Years ago I had a tough little Chihuahua. In her prime she feared nothing and was a adventurous explorer. One rainy night as we walked we came upon a newt slowly crossing a cold asphalt road. Before I could react she chomped down. An instant later the newt was back on the road drenched in dog saliva. She never approached a newt again. I know she could not see color under the conditions that night but she never forgot the shape, taste, smell and gait of the newt.<br />
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As a survival strategy a few newts may die but the effects they have on their predators (that survive) ensures that many are spared.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomnLOOuLI/AAAAAAAACJE/JfdtM_tzWtg/s1600/IMG_2330wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomnLOOuLI/AAAAAAAACJE/JfdtM_tzWtg/s320/IMG_2330wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">There have been times in my life when I have thought to myself, “Hmm I could really use an earthworm right about now” but this time one actually appeared. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomnXZVRDI/AAAAAAAACJI/jDZxISQheQo/s1600/IMG_2331wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomnXZVRDI/AAAAAAAACJI/jDZxISQheQo/s320/IMG_2331wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Upon seeing the worm the newt froze and stood motionless for a long time. The worm kept cautiously advancing. Half of an inch forward and a quarter of an inch back. The first light tough between the worm and newt caused the worm to pull back a little then stop. Both froze.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomoK5egUI/AAAAAAAACJM/UpiFxIgGuoo/s1600/IMG_2334wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomoK5egUI/AAAAAAAACJM/UpiFxIgGuoo/s320/IMG_2334wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">He then touched the worm.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUompAi_PZI/AAAAAAAACJQ/aYqYxLekNZk/s1600/IMG_2335wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUompAi_PZI/AAAAAAAACJQ/aYqYxLekNZk/s320/IMG_2335wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The worm recoiled violently. The worm knew now that it was in trouble and was not wasting any time in going back the way it had come.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,". Macbeth's witch may have been onto something.<br />
I am struck by the eye, it's proportion to the head as well as it looking differently from what we normally encounter, it looks as if the eyes are connected directly to the spine with the brain being rather rudimentary. The newt took up the chase and slowly followed with calculating steps.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomu7swFUI/AAAAAAAACJY/wAsXwtipaaE/s1600/IMG_2340wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomu7swFUI/AAAAAAAACJY/wAsXwtipaaE/s320/IMG_2340wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Then he pounced which was surprisingly fast and well aimed. It was on, these pictures do not do justice the violent thrashing the nest endured. The worm used it's serpentine grip on the soil to leverage the newt's head and body as the newt relied on it's legs and tail to counter each of the worm's assaults. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomvwNgoAI/AAAAAAAACJc/dpTf9hoQEAA/s1600/IMG_2342wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUomvwNgoAI/AAAAAAAACJc/dpTf9hoQEAA/s320/IMG_2342wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The newt had a mouthful but that was all. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> If he had teeth they weren't very large. The jaw has matching bony ridges that meet to form a vise like grip. The jaw is driven by powerful muscles that barely have the strength to open but it's not about how fast or forcefully you open your mouth as a predator it's all about the closing and holding on.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom3ryBnnI/AAAAAAAACJg/ToXx0fGc8O4/s1600/IMG_2346wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom3ryBnnI/AAAAAAAACJg/ToXx0fGc8O4/s320/IMG_2346wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">As the worm thrashed about it slowly lost it's own grip on the soil and leaf litter. The newt's wide leg stance and tail swinging to counter the force of the worm had turned the table. The worm now just thrashed about in the air and on top of the newt helpless.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom4ZoG37I/AAAAAAAACJk/B1k24wjsWMg/s1600/IMG_2351wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom4ZoG37I/AAAAAAAACJk/B1k24wjsWMg/s320/IMG_2351wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The newt now had not only the upper hand, he hand a hand, two actually.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom48oLRBI/AAAAAAAACJo/0myiIT7Ojb8/s1600/IMG_2353wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom48oLRBI/AAAAAAAACJo/0myiIT7Ojb8/s320/IMG_2353wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> I sure that even by the simplest of evolutionary theory, a newt is not very advanced. Granted the poison thing is a pretty neat trick but otherwise he is not very complicated. His feet barely look as if they are completely formed, he is not fast, he doesn't dig, no really big teeth, no armor or scales for protection. And if all of this was not enough to make his life tough, he is cold blooded. If the temperature drops while he is out in the open and unprotected he just stops mid stride and waits helplessly until he warms up enough to move again. The cold blooded issue for all of the possible shortcomings it has looking at it from a mammals point of view really is a blessing in disguise. His food requirements are minimal. Without the need to burn calories to warm up, food reserves last longer. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom6FJj1FI/AAAAAAAACJs/6X_gYcalnIU/s1600/IMG_2354wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom6FJj1FI/AAAAAAAACJs/6X_gYcalnIU/s320/IMG_2354wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Then his slow moving gait and defensive stance gave way as he transformed into a worm wrestling dynamo. All muscles strained to control the worm as the stubby little foot stepped on the worm near the newt's mouth. At first it looked as if the newt was wiping the dirt off of the worm before tried to take a larger bite. As he repositioned himself it became clear that the feet were increasing the leverage and pressure on the worm at the newt's jaw.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom7r1e2KI/AAAAAAAACJw/6zfa2Vm-k_E/s1600/IMG_2355wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom7r1e2KI/AAAAAAAACJw/6zfa2Vm-k_E/s320/IMG_2355wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom8aKkhqI/AAAAAAAACJ0/jhNQaE35Skc/s1600/IMG_2356wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom8aKkhqI/AAAAAAAACJ0/jhNQaE35Skc/s320/IMG_2356wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom9fKLhnI/AAAAAAAACJ4/Ggmp25GH4v0/s1600/IMG_2357wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom9fKLhnI/AAAAAAAACJ4/Ggmp25GH4v0/s320/IMG_2357wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom-A_Pn-I/AAAAAAAACJ8/u-VcTX4Nb8E/s1600/IMG_2358wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom-A_Pn-I/AAAAAAAACJ8/u-VcTX4Nb8E/s320/IMG_2358wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just as it looked as if the worm was going to get the last of the upper hands to be had...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom-ohMIiI/AAAAAAAACKA/aPCLFs9QGME/s1600/IMG_2359wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TUom-ohMIiI/AAAAAAAACKA/aPCLFs9QGME/s320/IMG_2359wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">... it was over. The newt had used the thrashing of the worm to his advantage. His pit bull grip and tenacity used against the worm's rotating and writhing simply twisted off a juicy piece of worm! He didn't have to eat the whole worm, just take a bite out of it. Talk about renewable resources, just go get a bite of worm and move on to the next. It will just grow back!<br />
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To para phrase something about dogs..."It is not the size of the newt in the fight that matters...it's the size of the fight in the newt".<br />
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Look, don't touch. Zombies. </div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-64688199137680909242011-01-29T07:44:00.000-08:002011-02-01T21:38:25.100-08:00Speed...your only friend<div style="text-align: center;">Last week we took a drive. Sporadic flooding and poor weather limited directions we could go and enjoy the day. We took our chances and made the plan as we went along. At some point in the day we ended up at a small derelict county park on the Northeastern corner of the Olympic Peninsula. We had been there twenty years ago and I remembered clearly this spot was great for Black Turnstones, Northern Pintails and Black Brants. A gravel spit pushes up at the mouth of a narrow passage between two islands. <br />
Successive storms have made a series of gravel steps forming a natural dam that captures the high tide forming a lagoon. As the tide recedes the lagoon drains via a narrow steep sided stream winding through the gravel and driftwood. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxIK-mUaI/AAAAAAAACGA/vgBYxJmqqGE/s1600/IMG_0731wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxIK-mUaI/AAAAAAAACGA/vgBYxJmqqGE/s320/IMG_0731wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
On the seaside of the lagoon a mixed flock of twenty-five Norther Pintails and twenty Black Brants was feeding and resting in the shallow pools at the edge of the spit. The sun was low in the overcast sky directly behind the mixed flock making good photographs out of the question but that never stopped me from shooting up a couple hundred pictures to erase later that same night. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxGq8PN3I/AAAAAAAACF8/vjZd98Ug7g0/s1600/IMG_0722wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxGq8PN3I/AAAAAAAACF8/vjZd98Ug7g0/s320/IMG_0722wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt47_a74AI/AAAAAAAACHU/C-dkdyshY4k/s1600/IMG_0745wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">As we walked out on to the spit the wind picked up and a biting rain started to come head on. We kept going knowing ( hoping) that it might pass as quickly as it started. Along the break water we found the Black Turnstones I had hoped to see, their camouflage gave them the advantage and they saw us long before we saw them.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxCX47mkI/AAAAAAAACFw/dGx9hpg1FXI/s1600/IMG_0708wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxCX47mkI/AAAAAAAACFw/dGx9hpg1FXI/s320/IMG_0708wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Of course here they are out in the open a few moments later. Do you see them?</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxEA-gqkI/AAAAAAAACF0/TX5y-BS_ZX4/s1600/IMG_0711wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxEA-gqkI/AAAAAAAACF0/TX5y-BS_ZX4/s320/IMG_0711wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">How about now? Not much to see.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxFpy_rTI/AAAAAAAACF4/N6NGwfP_A0Q/s1600/IMG_0717wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtxFpy_rTI/AAAAAAAACF4/N6NGwfP_A0Q/s320/IMG_0717wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Turnstones paid little attention to us as we passed them. The relaxed gulls began to stir and a scream. I lowered my camera and took a look around. The Turnstones took off out over open water. My eyes followed them out until my line of sight was interrupted by a lone Bald Eagle approaching us fast and low to water.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt4Uc1TgAI/AAAAAAAACHI/eHyEt-tNesg/s1600/IMG_0733wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt4Uc1TgAI/AAAAAAAACHI/eHyEt-tNesg/s320/IMG_0733wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Nothing looked out of place at first. It is not uncommon to see Bald Eagles flying low over open water. But still something was different. If my eye had not been drawn there I would have never seen it coming.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt4VVC942I/AAAAAAAACHM/VW4uEnIQ7AU/s1600/IMG_0734wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt4VVC942I/AAAAAAAACHM/VW4uEnIQ7AU/s320/IMG_0734wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtym0sAbbI/AAAAAAAACGM/u4yMEJ-lK5s/s1600/IMG_0734wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt33o1zgtI/AAAAAAAACGo/bMcKwaq8RaM/s1600/IMG_0735wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt33o1zgtI/AAAAAAAACGo/bMcKwaq8RaM/s320/IMG_0735wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtyp1jiYeI/AAAAAAAACGQ/iimFeehCbA0/s1600/IMG_0735wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As the Eagle got closer it's speed and wing beat increased.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt34W875SI/AAAAAAAACGs/E0tIXiZOTEk/s1600/IMG_0736wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt34W875SI/AAAAAAAACGs/E0tIXiZOTEk/s320/IMG_0736wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It seemed as if the Eagle got to a predetermined point and then really poured on the speed. With all of this speed the Eagle was still not gaining any altitude.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt35FvXTUI/AAAAAAAACGw/kOYWzVvJIAs/s1600/IMG_0737wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt35FvXTUI/AAAAAAAACGw/kOYWzVvJIAs/s320/IMG_0737wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt38O4000I/AAAAAAAACG0/W7sF854Fohc/s1600/IMG_0738wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt38O4000I/AAAAAAAACG0/W7sF854Fohc/s320/IMG_0738wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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With a few slight maneuvers suddenly the Eagle started to look like a falcon in it's flight. Where the eagle was going was no longer a question. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt38hjDMWI/AAAAAAAACG4/YDb1kB185Rs/s1600/IMG_0739wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt38hjDMWI/AAAAAAAACG4/YDb1kB185Rs/s320/IMG_0739wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
Now thirty yards from the flock which is still not aware of it's approach as of yet. The the Eagle crested the rim of the gravel spit and successfully caught the mixed flock sitting flat ass on the water. <br />
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<br />
---<span style="font-size: large;">MASS CONFUSION ENSUES</span>---<br />
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<div id="AOLMsgPart_1_8b5f3f28-51cb-493f-aece-1723cfe24525"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div><br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The next two seconds went on forever. Following the eagle over the bar and into the flock, I ended up looking directly into a sliver break in the heavy cloud cover ( lens stretched out to 250mm) temporarily blinding me. Lowering the camera to recover and relocate the eagle, I could see nothing except a mushroom clouds of birds and water rising up from the lagoon back lit by a silver shaft of light..</span></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I search frantically for what I thought would be an Eagle standing over a kill or possible flying off its score. But ducks, geese and gulls had exploded in every conceivable direction, trailing water from the bodies as they took off for anywhere but where they were! </span></div></span></div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt39aZZIoI/AAAAAAAACG8/ClSVYyPT2ps/s1600/IMG_0741wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt39aZZIoI/AAAAAAAACG8/ClSVYyPT2ps/s320/IMG_0741wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
I finally spotted the eagle flying directly away from the flock's former location low to the water. I brought the camera up to eye level and started to shoot. As I did the eagle turned to the left. I could see that the Eagle was still moving at high speed but I could not see anything as the camera struggled to focus.<br />
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Side note on the photo above. All I did to it was crop. The poor light and high speed pan to the left caused the pastel effect. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt3-BNsGaI/AAAAAAAACHA/VT9jvZpYHxk/s1600/IMG_0742wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt3-BNsGaI/AAAAAAAACHA/VT9jvZpYHxk/s320/IMG_0742wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Then I saw the Brant.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt3_Gr8EPI/AAAAAAAACHE/yZhTeL9ZWEo/s1600/IMG_0743wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt3_Gr8EPI/AAAAAAAACHE/yZhTeL9ZWEo/s320/IMG_0743wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt45qzgIVI/AAAAAAAACHQ/Go49CJnEqF8/s1600/IMG_0744wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt45qzgIVI/AAAAAAAACHQ/Go49CJnEqF8/s320/IMG_0744wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt47_a74AI/AAAAAAAACHU/C-dkdyshY4k/s1600/IMG_0745wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt47_a74AI/AAAAAAAACHU/C-dkdyshY4k/s320/IMG_0745wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt48lUYdpI/AAAAAAAACHY/4C12RX2njEA/s1600/IMG_0746wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt48lUYdpI/AAAAAAAACHY/4C12RX2njEA/s320/IMG_0746wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Eagle was slowly closing the gap with each powerful wing beat. Gradually the gain slowed until their speeds matched. The goose stayed low using the the surface of the water to help compress the air beneath it's wings and gain speed. The Eagle gradually lost speed and struggled to maintain altitude. A moment after this the Eagle dropped down to the goose's level. The instant the goose and eagle matched speed, the goose shot upward and banked hard to the left. The Eagle was spent and simply could not match the maneuver. The eagle's wing beat and speed slowed as it just kept on going and flew off out of sight.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt49c9C3QI/AAAAAAAACHc/2X84lzQEuQs/s1600/IMG_0747wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTt49c9C3QI/AAAAAAAACHc/2X84lzQEuQs/s320/IMG_0747wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
The sky was filled with waterfowl and gulls all moving in different directions. A few moments later scattered birds started to gather up into small groups which then joined other of their own kind. Within minute the Pintails were headed back to the shallow water on the spit but the Brants as a whole kept on going off toward the setting sun.<br />
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One was probably a little more winded then the others.<br />
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The light was fading and the rain was getting colder and harder to face...time to go home.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTtyq1tq4yI/AAAAAAAACGY/AJ_G20u1b60/s1600/IMG_0737wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="goog_805692050"></span><span id="goog_805692051"></span></a></div><span id="goog_795209591"></span><span id="goog_795209592"></span>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-75778177962271293312011-01-21T22:39:00.000-08:002011-01-22T08:38:31.363-08:00A Good Run<div style="text-align: center;">A little over a year ago I wrote the Blog “Where the Lions Roam”. It was about a Sea lion feeding on a Salmon in open water.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2009/11/sea.html">http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2009/11/sea.html</a><br />
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I was unaware at the time that it was the start of the 2009 Chum Salmon run. I later learned that the run was very disappointing compared to previous years. Countless animals that depend on the high energy food during the dead of winter went without. <br />
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Chum Salmon. A name can say a lot. It is also know as “Dog salmon”.<br />
Compared to other salmon species on the Eastern rim of the Pacific Ocean the Chum has been not the most preferred by humans.With the pressures of overfishing and environmental change many of the more desirable species have declined to a point where the Chum is now being viewed as a more important part of the economic biomass as a sport and commercial asset to be utilized to its fullest. As if it wasn't already hard enough on the wildlife that depends on this annual and fickle bonanza, man's role again just increases the pressure.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaMCaojvI/AAAAAAAACDQ/9in3nWlKLRM/s1600/IMG_8734wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaMCaojvI/AAAAAAAACDQ/9in3nWlKLRM/s320/IMG_8734wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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December, 2010 at the foot of the dam I saw this big boy cruising slowly head on toward the dam then diving under and floating away from the dam submerged. While he was underwater I could move closer and find a little cover.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaQK9H5JI/AAAAAAAACDc/lYCxy2oMWaU/s1600/IMG_8758wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaO--rqmI/AAAAAAAACDY/xaYm5BLPdeY/s320/IMG_8750wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div> <br />
As I was waiting for the sea lion to surface I side stepped closer to the edge of the water when a salmon splashed as it took off for deep water. I will admit it, it startled my and I compromised my hiding spot.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaRexmgXI/AAAAAAAACDg/J-gi41WSHQ0/s1600/IMG_8764wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaRexmgXI/AAAAAAAACDg/J-gi41WSHQ0/s320/IMG_8764wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaQK9H5JI/AAAAAAAACDc/lYCxy2oMWaU/s1600/IMG_8758wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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A moment later either it or another was right back in the same spot. These salmon are done, few will ever make it over the dam, for the few that do there is no where to spawn and their lives end in the shallows of the creek. Now I had a salmon two feet away while a sea lion patrolled less then twenty-five feet away. I had been crouching up to this point, I stood up, the salmon took off and the sea lion noted my presences and slowly moved off to deeper water. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTp23tKpsqI/AAAAAAAACFs/RwSA0i3j53g/s1600/IMG_0972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTp23tKpsqI/AAAAAAAACFs/RwSA0i3j53g/s320/IMG_0972.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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On my way home I looked out to the water as I passed our local beach. I could see a large swirl on the water’s surface a few yards out from the Volleyball sand pit. I pulled into the parking lot and headed for the beach on foot. The tide was still high so there wasn’t much of a beach. I used the trees at the high water line to cover my approach. The sea lion had been slowly moving Westerly from where I had originally spotted it and now I was to the East of it.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaJ_5govI/AAAAAAAACDM/K3jkpdkeci8/s1600/IMG_8600wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaJ_5govI/AAAAAAAACDM/K3jkpdkeci8/s320/IMG_8600wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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The seal lion was holding this salmon by the gills. It appeared to be dead and the sea lion was slowly swimming with no real intention of going any where or of letting the salmon go. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaI1FgPbI/AAAAAAAACDI/4gad_ixV2Hw/s1600/IMG_8596wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaI1FgPbI/AAAAAAAACDI/4gad_ixV2Hw/s320/IMG_8596wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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This by it's self seemed odd but I tought it was an isolated incident and made a folder and moved on to other things. Although birds tend to be my primary interest all animals I encounter get a folder. I have a lot of folders.<br />
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A couple days later I drove to the dam during a late morning downpour. The icy rain was being whipped around by gusty unpredictable winds. The sky was black and a monotone gray was the only color one could see.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaUDX1AHI/AAAAAAAACDo/aGkb2aUPqKA/s1600/IMG_8983wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaUDX1AHI/AAAAAAAACDo/aGkb2aUPqKA/s320/IMG_8983wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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When I got to the dam this Harbor Seal surfaced with a salmon in it’s mouth. I shot a quick series of pictures as the seal looked at me turned and took off. I strung them together into a short movie that I posted on my Flickr page.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaX7wiq3I/AAAAAAAACDs/tFL66ktCsIU/s1600/IMG_8989wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaX7wiq3I/AAAAAAAACDs/tFL66ktCsIU/s320/IMG_8989wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Even through the view finder of the camera I could see this seal's eye turn a catch me looking at it.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaZKF_FlI/AAAAAAAACDw/KBfs4UeGycQ/s1600/IMG_8995wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaZKF_FlI/AAAAAAAACDw/KBfs4UeGycQ/s320/IMG_8995wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Now s/he is showing me what a big fish s/he has <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaaDF64cI/AAAAAAAACD0/W52vBPb-7DM/s1600/IMG_9003wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaaDF64cI/AAAAAAAACD0/W52vBPb-7DM/s320/IMG_9003wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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I do not know how to put a movie into this blog or if it can be done.<br />
Here is the link if you would like to take quick look.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/5255120035/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/5255120035/</a><br />
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I was about to hit the "publish post" button and send this blog post on it's way to you but I though one more trip to the dam might be worth it and after all there is no dead line or anything like that going on here. There was always the hope that I might get better light. Two days later I took the following collection series of pictures. Honestly. I took close to a 400, gotta love those digital cameras. And I did not even have to change the battery!<br />
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I timed my visit to coincide with the high tide. This put about fourteen feet of water at the foot of the dam and made hunting easy for the seals. I waited until the two patrolling seals dove under and I jumped out of the car and got in to my hiding spot I had chosen on my previous visits.<br />
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They surfaced and saw a car pulling up behind mine. The car stopped for a moment the backed out and drove off, during the distraction the seals overlooked me as I hunkered down and set the camera up to match the lighting conditions them the best I could. I took all of these pictures through a chain link fence. Careful attention to lens position and angle helped to keep the pictures clear and usable.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTphneI3HnI/AAAAAAAACEY/iKOP8N25WBw/s1600/IMG_9647wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTphneI3HnI/AAAAAAAACEY/iKOP8N25WBw/s320/IMG_9647wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
An instant later the larger of the pair turned and pounced on a salmon. The larger seal is fairly agressive toward the others in the area and I am assuming that it may be a male. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure like most other predatory animals that is how it works. <br />
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He is not acting as if he wants to share. I have never seen much in the way of facial expression in the seals but their eyes seem to be rather telling. You can just make out the outline of the fish to the left of his mouth.<br />
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I am going to take a quick time out here and ask a few questions.<br />
Is that the most amazing natural camouflage pattern or what? Sure a Tiger is awe inspiring but this color and pattern combination is simply amazing. How did they do that?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTph8Ge2OpI/AAAAAAAACEo/hFfdxKM1vSk/s1600/IMG_9671wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTph8Ge2OpI/AAAAAAAACEo/hFfdxKM1vSk/s320/IMG_9671wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The seals appear to hold the fish by the head preventing water from reaching the gills killing the fish.<br />
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Holding the salmon with his flippers, he opens the fish open as if it had a zipper.<br />
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Salmon eggs spill out in to the water.<br />
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The salmon is reduced to several large jagged chunks that are bolted down in seconds. Then all is quiet.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi75rTfAI/AAAAAAAACFM/GUC_fhrPvOA/s1600/IMG_9775wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi75rTfAI/AAAAAAAACFM/GUC_fhrPvOA/s320/IMG_9775wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Less then eight minutes later He has another big "hen" in his jaws.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi8ZXJgEI/AAAAAAAACFQ/yyHwOKUd1Qc/s1600/IMG_9778wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi8ZXJgEI/AAAAAAAACFQ/yyHwOKUd1Qc/s320/IMG_9778wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After swimming a few slow circles with the fishes head out of the water there is no more fight.<br />
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Then he holds the fish by the gills. From this angle you can see the belly of the salmon swollen with eggs.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi9JuXzdI/AAAAAAAACFY/9X9UBW4IKGk/s1600/IMG_9798wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi9JuXzdI/AAAAAAAACFY/9X9UBW4IKGk/s320/IMG_9798wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This time the Common Mergansers, Barrow's Golden Eyes and Gulls in the area moved in to grab what the could. This lucky Male Merganser came up with a mass of eggs.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi9WlUQiI/AAAAAAAACFc/Sar95OWQTUU/s1600/IMG_9838wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi9WlUQiI/AAAAAAAACFc/Sar95OWQTUU/s320/IMG_9838wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The more the seal ate the bolder the Mergansers became moving in closer and closer to recover the scraps.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi-MbVYlI/AAAAAAAACFg/FQR-aSTmkSw/s1600/IMG_9902wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpi-MbVYlI/AAAAAAAACFg/FQR-aSTmkSw/s320/IMG_9902wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjJV19vfI/AAAAAAAACFk/sXQSDKmN9ks/s1600/IMG_9906wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjJV19vfI/AAAAAAAACFk/sXQSDKmN9ks/s1600/IMG_9906wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjJV19vfI/AAAAAAAACFk/sXQSDKmN9ks/s320/IMG_9906wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjJV19vfI/AAAAAAAACFk/sXQSDKmN9ks/s1600/IMG_9906wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well there goes my cover.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjJV19vfI/AAAAAAAACFk/sXQSDKmN9ks/s1600/IMG_9906wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjLpqf5EI/AAAAAAAACFo/Lh5LqKKsy-I/s1600/IMG_9907wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TTpjLpqf5EI/AAAAAAAACFo/Lh5LqKKsy-I/s320/IMG_9907wtmk.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"> See you next year.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">A very good run indeed.</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TRKaH5o5qtI/AAAAAAAACDE/cU36EljmIG0/s1600/IMG_8146wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-8336142759732645952010-12-21T06:16:00.000-08:002010-12-21T06:16:59.760-08:00Going deep<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq8FLmRsI/AAAAAAAACBA/51grVeoBOdc/s1600/IMG_6479wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Very early in my life I knew I was a bird watcher. From the ages of seven to seventeen I could safely say I saw less then fifteen Bald Eagles in the wild. This was in Wisconsin. If someone was going to see an eagle you would have thought Wisconsin would had been a pretty good place to look. By the time I was twenty three and left the US for Panama for two years I could safely say I had seen less then twenty more bald eagles. During this time period I traveled from coast to coast. Any sighting was noteworthy and some are still vivid. Sad to say that there were so few.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Times have change and I now live where at any given day if you were to say....take me to an eagle, I could probably find one if not more within four hours on a bad day. This make me happy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This encounter took place this past April. The local hatchery had released a large number of salmon that were the epicenter of a feeding frenzy. Over two dozen Bald Eagles had converged offering an unparalleled opportunity to zero in on them. I am sorry if I post to many eagle blogs, I love to see them, I love to photograph them, I love knowing that they are there. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq8FLmRsI/AAAAAAAACBA/51grVeoBOdc/s1600/IMG_6479wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq8FLmRsI/AAAAAAAACBA/51grVeoBOdc/s1600/IMG_6479wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq8FLmRsI/AAAAAAAACBA/51grVeoBOdc/s320/IMG_6479wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq8FLmRsI/AAAAAAAACBA/51grVeoBOdc/s1600/IMG_6479wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fish that had been plentiful over the past two weeks were starting to thin out. As there physiology changed from fresh to salt water they moved out of the intertidal zone for Puget Sound. The eagles were starting to get on each others nerves and squabbles were frequent. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Two weeks ago these birds would drop a fish they had in their talons just to pick up another for fun. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> That was not the case today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq8FLmRsI/AAAAAAAACBA/51grVeoBOdc/s1600/IMG_6479wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq9ZuhHsI/AAAAAAAACBE/Ysl5LSGhcA4/s1600/IMG_6480wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq9ZuhHsI/AAAAAAAACBE/Ysl5LSGhcA4/s320/IMG_6480wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the local nesting male bald eagle. He just missed his targeted fish.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq-hhecNI/AAAAAAAACBI/-nuJVHYZv2o/s1600/IMG_6489wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq-hhecNI/AAAAAAAACBI/-nuJVHYZv2o/s320/IMG_6489wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> He looked back over his shoulder as he lifted up and circled back sharply. On his initial approach had hit the fish and stunned it leaving it to linger near the surface.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq_rjqkxI/AAAAAAAACBM/FpBnBxR8dDc/s1600/IMG_6490wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbq_rjqkxI/AAAAAAAACBM/FpBnBxR8dDc/s320/IMG_6490wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> He locked his wings and plunged into the water at a steep angle more like an Osprey then an eagle. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrAj5RW5I/AAAAAAAACBQ/hZYjeubxuGc/s1600/IMG_6491wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrAj5RW5I/AAAAAAAACBQ/hZYjeubxuGc/s320/IMG_6491wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrDkb8w-I/AAAAAAAACBY/MJmTd1hWmrA/s1600/IMG_6493wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrDkb8w-I/AAAAAAAACBY/MJmTd1hWmrA/s320/IMG_6493wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrETvabMI/AAAAAAAACBc/1GWaDgSCa0U/s1600/IMG_6494wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrETvabMI/AAAAAAAACBc/1GWaDgSCa0U/s320/IMG_6494wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrGBuvYeI/AAAAAAAACBk/aWY3fWsxHQA/s1600/IMG_6496wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrGBuvYeI/AAAAAAAACBk/aWY3fWsxHQA/s320/IMG_6496wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrI1vR3wI/AAAAAAAACBs/pxHhGvEfdBA/s1600/IMG_6498wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrI1vR3wI/AAAAAAAACBs/pxHhGvEfdBA/s320/IMG_6498wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrJLq5RWI/AAAAAAAACBw/L71ZYQolGQo/s1600/IMG_6499wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrJLq5RWI/AAAAAAAACBw/L71ZYQolGQo/s320/IMG_6499wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Like an Osprey he pours on raw power and lifts effortlessly pulls himself and the fish out of the water. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I love how it looks as if he looking down at the fish to see if it is really there.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrJh9U7eI/AAAAAAAACB0/5i8ZTBYir9c/s1600/IMG_6501wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPbrJh9U7eI/AAAAAAAACB0/5i8ZTBYir9c/s320/IMG_6501wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I had seen seven eagles in the trees ringing this little arena. One of them is his mate. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I am not clued into exactly what a female eagle is looking for in a mate but I would say that that little maneuver will sure look good on his resume.</div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-900368753192124582.post-52814574407330933222010-12-05T20:36:00.000-08:002010-12-05T20:36:02.699-08:00An Odd Duck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Last Spring I stopped by Titlow Park in Tacoma, Washington. The fall before I had seen an Eurasian Wigeon Drake and was hoping for better pictures then I had taken in the past. I found and focused in on the Wigeons on the pond which became a large part my blog “Who’s the Daddy”. In this chapter I photographed not only an Eurasian Wigeon Drake but also a Hybrid American X Eurasian Wigeon Drake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2010/01/whos-daddy.html">http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2010/01/whos-daddy.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">During that outing I took pictures of all of the birds in the small pond so I could get an overview of the Wigeon population to see if there were any female Eurasian Wigeons in the flock. I did not find any females that I could say for sure one way or the other they were Eurasian. I did find a strange Drake Mallard. It stayed away from the rest of the Mallards on the pond. At first I thought it was a young Drake in some type of transitional phase but also noticed that none of the other Mallards look like that. I was very excited about the whole Wigeon discovery I figured I would figure it out later. I made a folder called "Odd Mallard" and put the pictures in it. I would drop by from time to time to compare it to other mallard photos to figure out why it was different but the same.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUqgQ84DI/AAAAAAAACCI/LkATLgfSuqg/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%252810%2529wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUqgQ84DI/AAAAAAAACCI/LkATLgfSuqg/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%252810%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUqgQ84DI/AAAAAAAACCI/LkATLgfSuqg/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%252810%2529wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUsa6aCPI/AAAAAAAACCM/BagjVoW4XtE/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25289%2529wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUsa6aCPI/AAAAAAAACCM/BagjVoW4XtE/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25289%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Over the following months I looked very closely at every single Mallard and Wigeon picture I have. Then I did it again. No other Mallard looked like that.<br />
<br />
This past week an errand took me near Titlow at mid day and the Sun was shining bright. This is one of those moments like I mentioned in my last blog entry that I can not let slip by. I wanted to see if the Eurasian Wigeon or the hybrid had returned this Fall. I scanned the birds on the small pond and quickly saw there was no sign of either of them.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The strange Mallard was there. I zeroed in on him and took the following photos.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUuzsxFMI/AAAAAAAACCQ/MH4jzmXueHM/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25288%2529wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUuzsxFMI/AAAAAAAACCQ/MH4jzmXueHM/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25288%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUwpAogVI/AAAAAAAACCU/Tnz0-AccysE/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25287%2529wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvUwpAogVI/AAAAAAAACCU/Tnz0-AccysE/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25287%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvU6tZO7aI/AAAAAAAACCY/YdeOiYBH64M/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25285%2529wtmk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvU6tZO7aI/AAAAAAAACCY/YdeOiYBH64M/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25285%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">When I looked them over later that day I started to notice head shape irregularities. The pattern on the head started to look like he might be a Mallard x American Wigeon.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvU7toNY5I/AAAAAAAACCc/W5BNrfGVk_0/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25284%2529wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvU7toNY5I/AAAAAAAACCc/W5BNrfGVk_0/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25284%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
A Typical Mallard Drake<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvVUUwXj8I/AAAAAAAACCk/xrIIBLKe4e8/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25286%2529wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvVUUwXj8I/AAAAAAAACCk/xrIIBLKe4e8/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25286%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
A typical American Wigeon Drake</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">I could not explain the female looking feathers on the flanks but I thought the head pattern was very Wigeon like and the body feather coloration was effected by the mixing of genes. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I went online and started to look for photographs of Mallards X Wigeon hybrids. Surprisingly I found quit a few. Mostly killed by hunters. The photos did show a wide range of possible color variations. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So this is about where I went off the rails. Damn internet. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I gathered up and cropped the pictures for this collage to support my “discovery”.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvVMXlpYTI/AAAAAAAACCg/FE8Q6HrIt6o/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%252813%2529wtmk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvVMXlpYTI/AAAAAAAACCg/FE8Q6HrIt6o/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%252813%2529wtmk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvU6tZO7aI/AAAAAAAACCY/YdeOiYBH64M/s1600/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25285%2529wtmk.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__Wa_-HYdF7o/TPvU6tZO7aI/AAAAAAAACCY/YdeOiYBH64M/s320/Inter+Sex+Mallard+crops++%25285%2529wtmk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I posted this picture on my Flickr page so I could add it to the Hybrid Bird Group to see I could get feedback to see if I was right. Even before I could get the head collage up loaded a local birder and wildlife photographer who kindly comments on my photographs did so on the first one. She questioned if the bird could have looked the way it does due to age. I had thought of that the first time I saw it and then again when I saw the duck the second time. I was leaning toward thought that he was an older bird. When I headed down the hybrid path I forgot all about a chance it was a pure Mallard and it's age being a factor in it's feather coloration.</div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">This morning coffee in hand I light the old Flickr page and I was rather shocked to learn that the wizened ones in the Hybrid Bird Group informed me that this in as “Inter-sex” Mallard. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">It is clear this duck was odd. I guess I focused in on the head pattern and called it wrong. In a nutshell low estrogen in a female duck causes them to developed male feathers. Male feathers are the "default" setting. Normal female Estrogen levels provide the characteristic brown camouflage pattern we are all familiar with. <br />
<br />
I will admit I may have made an assumption here far beyond what I should have. I have always seen the Mallards on this small pond with Wigeons. I assumed that if I had already found a hybrid at this site why could I not possibly see another. The head pattern may have been coincidental and I filled in the rest as I went along. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> I love it. That is what keeps birding fresh for me. Finding something new, something rare or something totally unexpected in the middle of a park when hundreds of people visit a week. This bird has been sitting there along. If I had not taken the picture I would have surly forgotten the minor details that made the difference in the identification, blown it off and never known. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Here are the links to the comments and Flickr pages mentioned above.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Flikr Hybrid Birds Group <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/hybridbirds/">http://www.flickr.com/groups/hybridbirds/</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Comments on the head shot collage on Flickr</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/5232939881/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/5232939881/</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Comments of the Inter Sex Mallard photos on Flickr </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/5232875527/in/photostream/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030@N07/5232875527/in/photostream/</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
Have fun and take care!<br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>birdmandeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12673045158454254425noreply@blogger.com5