I could not tell what this Greenie was trying to catch. Is it a feather, or some kind of bug? Is it something from a tree?
I think it was hoping for a dragonfly. Do you know what the object of his attention is?
Green Heron Catching Prey
Category: animals
Star Lake
I read somewhere this lake was private, but I found a state operated fishing access boat launch. This means you can kayak here.
This launch has a parking lot across from a gas station store off of route 3 in Star Lake, NY. There are a few parking spaces. I seemed to be the only one that was launching a boat. Others stopped to park there to eat lunch it appeared. It had at least one picnic table at the parking area. I did not see a privy/ outhouse on site.
Above is the road down to the launch. I walked my kayak down with the use of kayak wheels.The road was very affected by erosion and had ruts near the top. I am not sure if this area was affected by the storm that delivered 10 inches an hour or so north.
The lake had many houses along certain parts of it, some having boat houses. These are not as elaborate as the ones in the areas of Lake Placid and Saranac Lakes.
Wildlife
This heron flew into a tree branch on the shady side of an island.
There were multiple adult loons here sticking together when I was there. I think I saw 4. They were getting along and diving down in spurts. This was taken with a zoom lens at quite a distance and heavily cropped. The quality is not as good as the photos I get of the loons who swim up to my kayak.
There were two cormorants in a tree. This one had better light on it.
These signs are in the shape of the Adirondack Park. They had a few of these no wake signs up on the lake. All boats were slow moving that day. I was more concerned with the wind.
I did not take too many photos of the lake itself. The wind again concerned me. In addition there were many houses along parts of it and people in the water or on shore. I try not to take pictures including people when I can.
This is the boat launch from the lake. It was easy to get in and out of the lake here, the ruts due to erosion made it a little difficult to move your kayak down to the water. I rate it a nice lake to a canoe or kayak on a day trip.
If You Build it, They Will Come: Osprey
I believe in order to control where osprey build nests in different spots in New York they are building platforms on top of telephone / power poles etc, to attract their nest building to that location. I usually see these as active osprey nests once they are built.
This osprey nest had two osprey on it when I first saw it , but one flew away to an area with possibly a creek or river nearby. I assume this is an adult. I do not think I saw any young. I am guessing they fledged already.
It was a nice find. My GPS actually led me the wrong way to get to the nearby location I was stopping at. I’m actually glad it did. It had me backtrack and go a different way when I continued ahead after it readjusted. A mistake by the GPS worked out to be a good thing. Take advantage of these moments. Have a great week!
Barred Owl Basking in a Sliver of Light
I do not know how people get owls in great light. I never see barred owls especially, out in the open. They are usually hiding in a bush, within the dark part of the woods, or within branches.
Luckily I found this barred owl basking in a sliver of light. These are not recent shots. Enjoy your week!
Mystery Bird
All you bird experts out there, I need your help. Can you identify this bird? I assume it is a duck, but I ran this through Merlin North American and Europe and nothing seemed to be an absolute match. I am far from an expert.
It appears to have red eyes and an orange beak. The colour on top of its head is a darker brown. I do not know if this is a juvenile or an adult. I saw this in one of the parks in London. That of course does not mean necessarily that it is native to Europe. What are your thoughts? Can anyone identify this mystery bird? Or could this even be a hybrid cross between two birds?
Chiloe Wigeon
I was lucky to see a lot of birds I have not seen before in England. The royal Parks and other parks in London were great places to view some of these birds. The chiloe wigeon was one of them.
Appearance
With Chiloe Wigeons both male and female look similar, but the male may be brighter. It has rusty coloured sides. They have white cheeks and a white forehead. They also have a metallic green head. Chiloe wigeons are small ducks.
Diet
The diet of a chiloe wigeon includes water plants, crustaceans, and tadpoles.
Location
The chiloe wigeon is often found in wetlands, marshes, lakes, and along rivers. The chiloe wigeon gets along with other waterfowl, but more often seen near or on the shore shore, grazing in grassy areas. This bird is mainly found in the southern part of South America, but it is also seen in parts of Europe including England.
Don’t discount parks in cities, you may find a lot of wildlife you are not expecting.
Coyote
You could not miss this coyote. It walked across a busy road. It looked like it was following after something, but I never saw what that was. No, this is not in England. I took this tonight on my way home.
It is not the best image. It was at night after a rain storm in low light. I had my camera in its bag in the back seat. I had to pull off and take it out. I saw the coyote go into a business parking lot, so this is where it is in this image. Note to self: I need to have my camera in the front seat readily available.
The coyote looks very scruffy. Could this be the result of a disease? May it be the battle scars of fights with other animals? It did not look to weary of people. It actually left a popular rail trail and was in a business parking lot. It stood there letting me take a couple of pictures. Sometimes I wonder what tales an animal could tell. If I had known it was going to do that I would have set my camera to a 1/800 of a second instead of 1/2000. What do you think it’s story would be?
Gray Heron
I was fortunate enough to see some gray herons at different Royal Parks in London. It turns out these places are great places to bird watch.
Gray herons are similar in appearance to great blue herons, but are smaller in size. All About Birds has the length of the gray heron being between 35.4-38.6 inches, while the great blue heron is between 38.2-53.9 inches in length.
The above pictures appears to be an adult. It has the pronounced black stipe on its head and the beak is lighter. During peak breeding season its beak can be orange.
I am guessing this image may be a juvenile gray heron. It does not have the pronounced black and white colours on its head and its beak is darker.
I highly recommend visiting the Royal Parks in London. It is a great way to get in some steps in while being nature in the heart of London.
“In every walk in nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”
John Muir
Bufflehead
Some birds that are native to North America, I have not seen in North America. One such bird is the Bufflehead. I saw this bird for the first time in London, England.
There are sightings in England and Europe for these on All About Birds. I was kind of thrown off in identifying this diving duck. I am far from an expert and the colouring listed online for a bufflehead female appears to be brown, but in these images the duck appears to be black. I will have to look through my pictures more, but I do not think I captured a male. This female was on a pond on a cloudy day. The pond was mostly well shaded by trees hanging over it creating an even darker situation.
In multiple images not taken in consecutive order it appeared maybe a hook was in its beak. I could be wrong, but to be on the safe side I contacted the entity responsible for the pond and they were going to check it out.
Again, I would like to emphasis that sometimes what many think is not the best lighting can still create nice lighting for your images. Don’t discount the cloudy days.
Northern Shoveler ?
I just came back from a little less than 2 weeks in England. I took lots of photos. It was my first visit since before Covid. I took it slow so I did not travel far and wide daily. I believe this bird is a northern shoveler. If I am wrong, let me know.
I saw this bird close to the Thames River in London. I saw a lot of water birds in London through visits to the Royal Parks etc. This bird was in a pond near the Thames River on a cloudy day, and it was a forested area around the pond, so it was dark. This photo has been lightened.
The northern shoveler is a dabbling duck. Dabbling ducks feed on aquatic plants and small invertebrates on or near the surface or the water.
Happy Friday tomorrow!
