Category: wildlife

Merganser Ducks

On the way up to Canada to visit some relatives and on the return as well I spent a few days in the Adirondack Mountains kayaking on different lakes and ponds. One one body of water I was lucky enough to witness several types of wildlife. One bird I saw was the merganser duck.

All of these shots were in shaded areas next to shore.

The only place I have seen a merganser is on lakes in the Adirondack Mountains. One this day I saw more than one female with a trail of young. This is the one I saw in early evening. It had quite the crew with it. I never counted. but I am sure there were at least a dozen young. The other female I saw in the morning had a much smaller group following with her. I did see both groups in the morning.

Eagles were nearby.

All the ducks I saw that day stayed mostly on the shoreline in well shaded areas. Since there were eagles visiting and known to fly in and out I am sure that was for survival purposes.

I cannot tell if this was a yawn or if the duckling was making a sound.

For those of you who have never been to the Adirondack Mountains, I highly recommend it. It was mostly in the low 70s during the day and 50s at night. If you ever go, go slow and enjoy the local wildlife.

Great Blue Heron

Is this a baby? I had heard one baby was out of the nest. What do you think? The story is these herons fight a lot. One may have fallen out. If this is a baby it is doing better than its siblings still in the nest. Sink of swim it is feeding itself it appears. I did not see the parents drop anything off for this one. I visited this one by kayak.

It was at the water’s edge at low tide.
It appeared to be about the same size as the ones in the nest. It did not fly, but stayed in the mud flats area at the water’s edge. It seemed unfazed by me.
This may be the same one later on in the day. It stayed on a pile of wood at the water’s edge. It did not fly and spent most of the time preening.

What is your verdict? Youngster? Or not?

Daytime Owlet

I had Monday off for a new bank holiday. What do I do on a holiday? If I have time I hike and see if I can spot owls or their owlets.

Owlet on a lower branch. None of my owl pictures are in the raw. I don’t know how to open these new Canon generated raw files.

Luckily I found two of the three owlets on lower branches. They planted themselves on this tree for a few hours. I got a lot of nice pictures out of it. One seems to stay well hidden now. I look at him as the designated driver. Instead of not drinking to stay safe and keeping everyone else safe he stays well hidden to stay safe. Or am I wrong about this and the third one is more shy?

Buck With Velvety Antlers

Bucks are rare to come across on a hike in New York. It is rare to even see them when driving. You normally will see does and fawns. I am excited I got the chance two times to see this guy from a distance on hikes before sunset.

It appears he has an outer velvety coating on his antlers. They almost look glued on or fake. I wonder if this is a teenager or full grown adult. Anyone have any idea? I have seen it with one other deer, a female both times. If you are in the U. S. enjoy your bank holiday tomorrow (Juneteenth) if you have off.

Flying Owlets

This week I got to see the babies a few times. They are like little children on sugar when they are awake. They fly from branch to branch following each other. It looks like they are chasing each other in a game of tag. They don’t linger on trees too long before they take flight again while they are awake.

Peek-A-Boo! A baby barred owlet in view and one of its siblings hiding behind some leaves.
Sibling flew off.
Perched on a broken branch.
Flying from tree to tree.
Screeching for food. At least one of them got either a mole or vole that night.

BARRED OWLET SOUND

Click on the audio file below to hear the noise barred owlets make.

Good-bye baby owl!

Do owlets have ADHD? With all the flying they do while they are awake I wonder how many rodents their parents need to catch for them a day.

Eagles on Loon Lake

What kind of wildlife can you see on Loon Lake in the Adirondack Mountains? Currently one thing you can see is an active eagle’s nest. This is Loon Lake near Lake George. There is another Loon Lake father north in the ADK.

A summer resident of the lake community who was also kayaking was nice enough to lead me to the nest. Not sure if she wanted me to identify her, but thank you if she ever sees this. The nest is high in a tree on private property next to the lake.

I saw both parents in the same area and one eaglet. The eaglet appears to be about the size of the parents. This one would have been born this year. This was taken from a kayak while there was motorboat traffic. It is not as clear as I would have liked.

Here’s hoping they leave the resident loons alone and do not consider them as a meal option.

Singing Owlets

Surprise! There are three owlets. After only hearing them for about a week, but not seeing them, I found them today. They were all together on the same branch with good views from a couple of different places nearby.

They appear to be singing.

A parent was in a neighbouring tree. They were probably begging for food. I was hoping to see a parent feed them and I knew at least one of them was hunting nearby. But once again a thunderstorm was approaching .

I am happy I at least got to see the three of them together and I hope I am lucky enough in the future to see a parent feed them. Enjoy your week!

Barred Owl with Prey

What do owls like to feed their babies? Multiple times I have seen them bring in a chipmunk.

The catch of the Day:Chipmunk

Chipmunks give away the owls when they are in their vicinity by a noise they make. A good thing for the other creatures in the forest, but a bad thing for the chipmunk. He tells the owl exactly where he is.

Hanging out in a darker part of the woods

This owl seemed to be happy to fly to more open trees around me and show me her catch. Her babies were nearby, but hiding behind leaves. I wanted to stay and see if she would feed them in front of me, something I have not had a good view of yet. However, a thunderstorm was approaching. I hope to witness breakfast of dinner in the future. Have a great weekend!

Owlet at Sunset

Is this owlet waiting in anticipation of a meal? Is it contemplating joining its sibling by leaving the hole he knows so well?

Owlet in tree hole before it left the nest.

I only had a short window this year to catch the owlets at the tree hole. One left the nest the next day and the other I believe a day after that. I could only get there with about one hour or so before sunset so I took advantage of what I had. Enjoy short breaks from having your nose to the grindstone.

Two Owlets

What is twice as nice as spotting an owlet in a tree hole? Finding out there are two owlets.

Second baby is in the hole.

The day after I spotted one in the hole, there was one high up in the same tree, and another one in the hole, so definitely two.

Baby owl power napping.

This is the one who was high up in the same tree with their nest hole. I suspect he climbed the tree, however I did see him flying branch to branch the next day.

Mother or Dad? I tried to make this one look like an old photo. The light was not great that day.

The mother owl usually flies down to a lower branch for a couple of minutes before flying back to a higher branch. I do not hear the “Who cooks for you?” sound people say barred owls usually make. She or he usually make half a who around the babies. I guess it is owl baby talk.

These two seemed to have left the nest quickly. I passed that tree two times every time I went there and prior to my last post I did not see an owlet peeking out. Would have wished for more days to see them at the tree hole, but I will take what I can get. Go slow and be aware when walking in the woods, you never know what you can miss.