Thursday, March 21, 2013

Winter morning at the lake

Greene County, Virginia

The other morning I walked down to the lake. I hadn't been there for a while and I wanted to see what was up with the geese and ducks and swans. After the recent rain and snow, the water was muddy and brown, and the woods were bleak looking except for a slight blush of spring reds and greens.

A group of turkey buzzards perching in the tall pine trees close to the bank flew off as I approached, and a few ducks flushed up from the edge of the water. A light rain started to fall. Across the lake, three Bufflehead ducks (Bucephala albeola) were feeding close to the shore, too far away to photograph. This is the first time I have seen Buffleheads on the lake and hoped to get a good picture of them, but they swam out of sight and did not return.

A blue heron flew in and perched on a log that had fallen in the water. After a minute, he flew away.


After the heron flew off, a pair of geese swam by. Away across the lake a rooster crowed. The mute swans were nowhere to be seen.


2 comments :

  1. Great picture of the Blue Heron. I've seen them around here, but haven't gotten a chance to photograph them. They're magnificent birds. Nice work!

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  2. Thanks, Ed. The blue herons are one of my favorite water birds. Used to see them on the Potomac river when I was a boy.

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