THE FEATHERED COMPANIONS

We came across these two a few weeks back when we were in North Carolina.  He and his companion, a duck, were resting near a light pole in a quiet area away from the hub-hub of people not too far away.

They made a cute couple, were obviously friends and followed each other around as if they were tied together with an invisible rope.

At one point they decided to take a swim.

We observed and enjoyed.  

Duck and Goose seemed to be heading in different directions at one point.

And then I got 'the look'.

Mr. Goose stared at me, then started swimming back to shore.  As he waddled onto the bank a few yards from where I was standing, still with that laser-focused look, I said to myself  I think I am moving.

I am not sure if he was looking to me with the hopes of some food.

But I decided it prudent to head in the other direction.  

Very wise said Companion Duck who followed close behind.

A couple of beauties they may have been, but I had visions (memory told before) of a six year old girl with sandwich in hand, being chased down by a white goose many, many years ago, pecking at her legs, screaming (me) as I ran.  Yes, screaming all the way back to my aunty who calmly said, "You should have dropped the sandwich!".  Oh well, lesson learned! 

I had no food but I was taking no chances.  We left the two companions eyeing another couple sitting down at the picnic table nearby, and continued our walk.

ANOTHER HUNTLEY MEADOWS WALK - PART 2

We came across the friendly couple again, and the gentleman started telling me about these Barn Swallows.

If you scroll down on the Cave Swallow page, link here, and for some reason I could not find a link on the actual page for the Barn Swallow, you will come to four illustrations; on the right is the Barn Swallow.  Click on that and you will hear its call.  At this link, scroll down and you will be able to listen to a whole range of North American Birds and their calls.

I never thought we would come across a Green Heron on the walkway.  We paused as there was another photographer trying to get its photo.   

The young man photographing this bird told us what it was. I was still too far away for an ID.  I haven't seen a Green Heron in a long time. We spent several moments admiring it, with several photographic opportunities for both of us, until other families arrived and it soon flew off.  We were grateful for the time we had to enjoy this beautiful bird.

Another favorite seen everywhere today was the Red-wing Blackbird.

You can hear its song here.  It is distinctive and once you recognize its sound, unmistakable.

The female Red-wing was nearer the water.

At first I thought this was a Bluebird, but studying it further I am more inclined to believe it was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  I would love to be sure so if you can help please let me know.

And now for a creature that isn't as popular to many, but reptiles have always fascinated me.  Not usually in their natural habitat, more likely behind the glass in a reptile house at the zoo.  

Gregg spotted it below the walkway near the double-decker observation platform.  It is an Eastern Garter Snake.  According to this link they are the gardener's best friend.  They feed on a wide variety of prey including spiders, insects, fish and amphibians.

The closest I could get to identifying this pretty pink wildflower is a Wild Geranium.

The next wildflower is a Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass. 

The Mallard Duck came out from behind a tree for a short time, and just as quickly disappeared into thick, bushy water plants

I saw this bird foraging for food and it was hard to get a decent picture as it was too far away.  There are two types that have been seen here recently, the Greater Yellowlegs and the Lesser Yellowlegs.  I have been scratching my head to see if I can see a difference.  

I think now that this may be the Lesser Yellowlegs, but there is a link here that gives a description of the differences.  Still hard for me to tell without the two side by side.  The lesser is a smaller bird and the beak isn't quite as long.  What do you think?   Sorry they aren't clearer, they are the best I could get.

Towards the end of our walk we came across the Great Blue Heron, in a different spot...

and also the Snowy Egret.

Also I found one more Bullfrog.

You can read more about this interesting critter at another link I found here. 

Thanks so much for continuing this walk with us. 

(Both Gregg and I took photos that I shared today and yesterday.  The logo with my name on it I made from a photo I found at Pixabay.com. My thanks once again to Sandra at Mad Snapper for telling us all about it in one of her posts on her blog.)

MORE FROM HUNTLEY MEADOWS

Continuing on our walk we came across a pair of Canada Geese.  Mother was tending her nest.  She is partly cut out of this frame as she was behind a big tree trunk, which I cropped out.  It always surprises me how close to the pathway some build their nests.  We came across several other pairs. 

Another unidentified duck.

I was very happy to find a male Wood Duck sitting on a nesting box.  I remember seeing a pair from last year at this same spot. 

A closer view.  

We were also happy to see the Great Blue Heron in a familiar spot, and enjoyed observing quietly for a while.

Our patience will achieve more than our force.  ~Edmund Burke~

We could learn a lot about patience from our friend here.

In the same area we saw a bird flying high up in the sky.  Gregg pointed the camera upwards.

It was an Osprey.  We have seen them here before.

Gregg took several photos and I cropped  when we got home to get a better look.

We were happy with the photos considering how high up this magnificent bird was.  

 A gentleman walked by with a large camera and tripod over his shoulder.  He stopped next to us and we all admired the Osprey.  When he spoke his accent told me he was from Scotland, a lovely soft brogue music to the ears.  The three of us talked for several minutes, it was a nice conversation.

He told us his wife was patiently waiting for him with her own camera and tripod in the look-out area some distance away.  We could see she was busy taking her own photos of the Osprey.  We left him as he headed for the Great Blue Heron.  This was our turn-around point and it was time to retrace our steps.  


The last photo for today.  I still have more to share.  The bird in the middle is a Red-winged Blackbird.  More of him next time.  

Thank you everyone and have a great day.

HUNTLEY MEADOWS - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH, 2019

While Gregg is taking a photo of the tree, I am taking a photo of Gregg.  

This tree fell a few years ago.  We have slowly watched its roots, caked with mud and dirt that formed a perfect round, slowly disintegrate into what you see above.  That was the photo Gregg took.  Nature creates extraordinary abstract art.

The weather is finally turning warmer, new shoots are starting to show and flowers, like the Spring Beauty below, are carpeting the ground in great numbers.

A scene shared many times before, near the path just before we get to the boardwalk across the marsh area.

We started to hear a cacophony of noise, and we assumed it was the sound of hundreds of frogs out there somewhere. We didn't see one frog but in the shallow water there were dozens of tadpoles.   I mentioned this in my previous post in the video.

They were at a stage much bigger than I remember seeing before.  

Gregg took photos of the ducks but we didn't recognize them.

Any help in their ID would be gratefully appreciated.  They seem to have long beaks,  and one is more muted in color, a female perhaps. 

The turtles were out enjoying the sunshine.

I got a pretty good close up of this one.

 I think he is actually smiling!

 This next one is a Snapping Turtle.  There were several swimming around, some much larger than this.

One was swimming towards these three Coots.  Gregg said they knew the snapper was there and moved away quickly but didn't fly off.

I am going to end this post here and will share more of our walk next time.

Have a great day everyone, and thank you so much for looking at my post.