Sunday, October 23, 2016

Back in The Saddle


Well, it's been awhile since I did a blog, so it was time to get out there. Since early fall is a slow time for photographing wildlife, I took the opportunity to do lots of fun hikes with Hazel dog. I also headed to NY for my nephew's wedding. And the most exciting news is I finally bought a beautiful condo. I've been renting for the last 3 years after selling my Louisville home, so as you can see I've been a busy gal!

So of course I headed down to my favorite place to see what was going on. The sun was just coming up when I arrived, so I was excited to get started.....

I headed for the boardwalk and was very surprised to see this kingfisher sitting there. Now I see them frequently but they are always flying not sitting, so I jumped at the chance and grabbed this pic before she flew off.



The cormorants are still around. They will head south for the winter pretty soon....







A beautiful fall day!



So after enjoying the kingfisher, I walked along the northside. There were quite a few gadwall ducks......



And also widgeons!



And the northern shovelers are back for the winter!



The back pond was quiet, so I continued around the main lake when I spotted a couple of pied billed grebes. I ended up seeing at least 6-7 of them throughout the morning!




 The ring billed gulls hang out here for the winter too. They were quite active this morning, flying around and diving for food! It was a great show!










Another widgeon! So handsome!

I'd been seeing the hooded mergansers but finally they were in a decent place for pics! The guys are starting to show off for the ladies. So it was fun to watch them strut their stuff! The gal mergansers were nearby but not paying much attention to them....











I always enjoy seeing my friends Neal and Rich. Neal is the expert birder and Rich is pretty knowledgable too. As I was chatting with Neal, Rich walked up and said hi. Then he casually mentioned there was a flock of red headed ducks on the main pond. What???? I've seen a pair or two around here but never a flock, so I said my good byes and hustled over there.
And there they were! It was mostly males following a few gals around. So cool!







There was just one great blue heron hanging out. Some head south for the winter and some winter here, so we'll see who hangs around for the winter.



While watching the red headed ducks, I spotted some ring necked ducks too. These are all males.....






Well, that was so much fun! Not sure when I will get out again. I close on my condo this Friday. Then I need to paint,etc before I move in. So stay tuned ....
Thanks for reading!

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