Let’s round up the usual suspects. I finally had time to get the kayak in the water and have ventured to a couple of the local waterholes. Let’s see who I’ve found.
Geese seem to be everywhere near the water this time of year. Lots of them coming & going or squabbling over territory. Here’s one inbound. Another goose outbound.One of a pair of geese that landed near what another pair of geese considered their territory. This goose left in a hurry. Go away!, he explained. Lesser yellowlegs foraging along the bank.A swamp sparrow surveying the territory. A male yellow-rumped warbler, aka ‘butterbutt’ and lots of his friends have been out gleaning along the water’s edge.Mrs. Butterbutt thinks nabbing a tasty bug is as easy as falling off a branch.Elvis, the kingbird, is back for the season. I was headed upstream when I met a muskrat coming downstream.A turkey vulture circling overhead.An adult bald eagle flew down the river, briefly silencing the geese.A murder of crows escorting a red-tailed hawk from the premises.The crows seemed pretty insistent that the hawk move along. I was lurking peacefully in the reeds when this bittern let out a pump-er-lunk just a few feet from me. This beaver escorted me from one end of his pond to the other, slapping all the way.The beaver put on a good show. This is just after the tail slap, just a foot remains above water. A common gallinule appeared – briefly – from the reeds.And a male red-winged blackbird claiming his territory. There was a pair of loons foraging on the pond Sunday evening. That’s the beaver in the foreground. The loons seemed unimpressed by his tail slapping. A local common loon heads out on some errand. Loons are excellent fliers, but have to run across the water for many yards to get enough speed for liftoff.Our outbound loon had to circle the pond a couple times to gain enough altitude to get over the hills surrounding the pond.A loon stretching. That’s the beaver in the background.
I’ll be following a couple loon families throughout the summer, along with other critters. Sign up for notifications to follow along.
