Thursday, April 30, 2020

Morning at the Marsh



The best time to be at the marsh is early in the morning when it comes alive with activity. Having donned camouflage clothing, I headed for the marsh and once there put on a camo mask as well.


Some photographers scoff at wearing camo and it’s certainly not needed where wildlife is habituated to people, but this is a wild marsh where few humans venture except to hunt ducks in the fall. Here the wildlife is quite wary lest it become a predator’s next meal.

Part of the marsh blends into an extensive area of open water; there an osprey just returned from its southern wintering grounds soared overhead –



Sighting the osprey was a bonus for I’d really come in search of the wood ducks that nest in the nearby woodland. And so I set up in a patch of thick vegetation and waited. A short while later a pair of blue-winged teal landed off to one side of my location –



After about an hour a pair of wood ducks flew in to land across a narrow patch of open water –




It wasn't long before the wood ducks disappeared into a narrow channel in the cattails.

A wolf spider, eleven painted turtles and several red-winged blackbirds provided some diversion as I waited for the ducks to emerge – but they didn’t.




A second bonus of the day soon arrived in the form of two great egrets in full breeding plumage. One landed on the edge of the open water and proceeded in a stately way to stalk frogs, small fish, large insects and anything else it considered edible –

 

To the left was a male belted kingfisher that frequents a snag in the marsh, the snag is one of the large dead trees still standing after beavers flooded the area almost 35 years ago creating the marsh  –



While to my right, the egret’s partner remained in another snag



What a great morning at the marsh!

8 comments:

  1. Lovely photos. I felt I was there right with you.

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  2. I agree...this is a very fruitful morning's collection of photos. I think a favorite is the splashing water as the egret captured something to eat...what a great action shot. All of these are just stunning photos.

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  3. It was a great morning at the marsh! You certaubkt brought home some amazing photos.

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  4. Some great sightings! Amazing picture of the Osprey.

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  5. Hello,

    Beautiful collection of birds, I love the Egret, Kingfisher and the Wood Ducks. Great series of photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing the post. Take care! Enjoy your day, wishing you a great weekend!

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  6. You've seen some of my favorites this week! I love the Kingfisher and he's hard to get pics of! And the reflections of the Egret are very nice! Of course the Wood ducks are amazing...they don't even look real! Great pics this week!

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  7. What a wonderful morning you had. I loved the wood ducks - they are so different to ours.

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  8. I would say that was one great day of birding! Amazing to see those Teal. I haven't seen any either blue or green-winged in ages.

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Woody