Heron vs Turtle

Another in a series of cool animal adventures today! 

A painted turtle joined several birds who were sitting on a log, his back to a Green Heron.   The Heron took an interest in the turtle and slowly approach him, as if stalking.  "Oh no", I thought.  "This isn't going to end well!".

At best, I expected the turtle to retreat and disappear into the water but instead he slowly turned around and approached the heron, who's giant beak was ready and able to give him a good one!

Smooooch! (click to enlarge)

Instead, they came within about an inch of actually touching "noses" and then both thought better of it and retreated.  I wondered if they were only comparing outfits, since they have very similar colouring!

The Magic Tree at Second Marsh

There is a huge tree in the corner of the marsh that attracts any and all creatures.  I lost count during my visit today as to how many birds were either in the tree, or immediately beneath it.

At one point there was a Night Heron family, a group of Green Herons, a Great Blue Heron, countless Wood Ducks, Yellow-Legs, Mallards, a King Fisher, and for a short time they were joined by a Cooper's Hawk.  Not to be left out, an Osprey and a Northern Harrier also flew over the treetop.

In over 2 hours at the marsh I barely moved except to dodges the ants that showed no mercy (no pics of those!).

Juvenile Night-Heron (one of many)

These two siblings had a love-hate relationship.  They were never farther apart than a few inches but they sure did squabble!



Standing Room Only!  All I could get in this photo were the lower residents of the tree...Wood Duck to the side (many more around the trunk), cormorants, and a Great Blue Heron.

Yellow-Legs (not sure if this is a Greater or Lessor?)



Yellow-Legs (playing with black and white)

Killdeer

Busy morning at Whitby Harbour

Lots of critters were up early and put on quite a show.


Belted KingFisher, who took a moment to sit before taking off like a bullet.



Mink!  There were two who were playing near a drainage pipe.

 

Double-Crested Cormorants.  Most people think they're ugly but I think they are so striking. 
The emerald green eyes are amazing and they are so much fun to watch.



Heron vs Gull (vs Fish)

A strange scened played out in front of my eyes on the waterfront in Whitby as I was photographing Cormorants.  These aren't great shots because of the distance but hopefully they tell the story!

A Great Blue Heron, who had been quietly wading on the shore suddenly took off toward the centre of the lake, croaking all the way.



The enemy turned out to be a gull who seemed to have been minding his business sitting quietly.  

The Heron (left) plunged into the water where the Gull had been floating.  I've never seen a Heron out so far in the lake before!



Finally!  I understood what he was after.  That is the biggest fish I've ever seen a Heron catch!  Because of the distance between the Heron's inital wading spot and where the fish was caught, I can only guess that the fish must have jumped and caught the heron's attention.



Just when I thought I'd figured it out, the Heron threw the fish back into the water, and left as quickly as he came!

No sense trying to figure nature out....but it is great to be able to observe encounters like this!

Black and White

Another really cool wildlife moment from today.  I was at the marsh, which is separated from lake Ontario by only 40 feet or so of shore.  I turned for a moment to look out onto the lake and saw 26 beautiful Mute Swans of all ages slowly drifting by, heading west.

At that same moment, an endless stream of cormorants passed right behind them heading in the opposite direction.

Black and White
(Click to Enlarge Photo)

For the Birds

I've always had a shady corner in the back yard that the birds love - they have water, food and shelter and we're lucky to have a pretty full back yard.  This year I decided to extend it to roughly 25 ft by 12 feet, so that on those days that I couldn't go out shooting I could sit on the back deck and bring the birds to me.

I included lots of driftwood and rocks for perching (most birds prefer to land on a perch before landing on the ground) and a new multi-level fountain that looks like it is made of rock was a huge hit, especially with the fledglings!

Next summer I will make some changes but overall I was very happy with it and for the first year had an oriole family spent time with us!  Here are a few of the visitors so far this summer:

This Cardinal fledge must have discovered splashing water for the first time - he played in the fountain for over an hour while dad waited on the fence, calling him repeatedly to come and have dinner.

Young Oriole who insisted dad feed him.  When dad said no, he proceeded to feed himself just fine.  It doesn't hurt to ask!



Oriole Dad



Oriole Mom

Freshly-fledged Grackle - Priceless!

This blog entry wouldn't be complete without an honourable mention.   Meet Rocky Raccoon.   I finally had to bring my feeders in at night because he would drain the fountain and the feeders.  He also took two of my neighbour's feeders down off their hooks and brought them into my back yard!  I think he was asking for a refill.  He hasn't been around for a few weeks and I miss him.

Rocky Raccoon - Caught in the Act!

Another non-feathered friend is this Red Squirrel

Even the dogs keep their distance when a Red Squirrel starts nattering at them.  There were four this year - a mom and dad with two babies.  Not sure which one this is because they grow up so fast!

This is one section of the bird garden.  Oddly enough, I haven't taken photos of the garden in its entirety - too busy focusing on the critters!  Speaking of getting caught in the act, Osgrrr is in the background here peeping through a hole in the fence at my neighbours - his favourite summer past-time!