Kawartha wildlife on the move
Fall is approaching and the birds know it
Everywhere I went this past week there was a bustle of activity.
Whether it was people out on the lakes, water skiing, fishing, swimming or kayaking, or birds busy gathering food, everybody seemed to be on the move, getting everything they could out of the last bits of summer.
It made it exciting for me.
I was amazed watching one waterskier doing flips and flying through the air like it was nothing. In a quieter spot a great blue heron was busy preening itself. I waited for what seemed like forever for it to finish and maybe fly off so I could get some flight shots. It wasn’t happening until I got a little assistance.
A young couple came along to put their canoe in the water, so that gave me my chance. I knew the heron would fly as they approached, so I kept the camera focused on him. It worked out perfectly. I got a whole series of good flight shots. I always look forward to photographing the great blue herons at this time of year.
They have sent their young ones off to be on their own by now and they are concentrating on feeding before they get ready to migrate. I hope to get some good action shots of them fishing to show you in the next few weeks.
At this time of year, we are very blessed to have a beautiful member of the heron family come visit us. Like the great blue heron, the great white egrets have sent their young ones off on their own, and once that happens the egrets begin to move around a lot more.
Their normal range has been just a little south of us, but in recent years with everything warming up a little they are moving a bit farther north. That brings them into our area much more. Some are even staying here year round. There is not much that is more beautiful or graceful than a great white egret in flight.
The bald eagles are harder to track down at this time of year because they are on the move with their young, teaching them how to hunt and fish and survive out in this big world.
Every once in a while though, I catch up to them, or at least one of them.
This one is the female. She was taking a rest cleaning and preening herself. She must have just dove into the water recently because she was drying herself off in the sun. I knew it wouldn’t be long before she took flight again, so I waited. I was rewarded with a couple of nice flight shots.
I haven’t seen the two youngsters since they left the nest. They cover a lot of territory and I have not managed to catch up with them.
At another little pond, the green heron and least bittern young have left the nest and are out on their own now. The parents have pretty much stopped feeding them, so they have to catch their own food. It is interesting to watch their progression and it is amazing how all the information they need to know about how to do it seems to be programmed into them.
The parents don’t spend time showing them how to do it like some other birds do. At first they are a little clumsy but they soon catch on.
In no time many of these birds will be leaving us for the south, so it is a great time to get out and watch them now while we have comfortable temperatures and no bugs to contend with.