A real foggy sunrise
I was out to Harlow pond this morning in hopes of seeing a sunrise that would be worthy of recording. However, it was not meant to be. The fog was so thick that the sun didn’t burn thru until an hour after it rose above the horizon.
I kept myself entertained by taking a few “spooky” foggy pictures of the pond while the sun tried to peek it’s way across the sky. Below are a few I took.
Reminds me of Stephen King’s book “The Mist”
Turtle looking to come ashore for place to lay eggs, “Is the coast clear?”
Bald Eagle waiting by nest for the sun to come up.
After awhile the sun manages to burn off some fog.
As the morning fog burned off and the sunshine peeked thru the clouds, it was apparent that it would be a very nice and sunny morning.
Snapping turtle nesting grounds
I had noticed turtle tracks along side the road, with a few spots where the turtles had attempted to dig holes to lay their eggs. Apparently the sandy areas have been to compact and heavy due to all the recent rain because the holes were not very deep before the turtles abandoned their mission.
Within the course of an hour I saw over 6 snapping turtles try repeatedly to climb out of the pond and on to the side of the road to try and lay eggs. Almost every time a vehicle would pass by and scare them back in o the water. The turtles sizes ranged from the size of an average dinner plate all the way up to the size of a trash can lid. Not one turtle was actually able to lay any eggs. Maybe later tonight or early tomorrow they will try again.
Song birds, Where are thou?
There are not many song birds in the area anymore like there was early this spring. It appears they were just resting here for a few days before continuing their migration north.
The purple martins are still here, but they are not in the same numbers as they were last year. I watched their aerial acrobatics as they chased and tried to capture the many varieties of bugs on the water surface. And a few of them would land on the ground and try to pick up small sticks. I practiced trying to capture their picture of their flying. That didn’t work out to very well. My camera’s shutter speed simply is not fast enough to freeze their movement without a trace of blurriness.
The young Eaglet
I met a passer-by that stopped and asked me if I had been able to get any good pictures of the nearby nesting Ospreys or the nesting Bald Eagles. She then went on to tell me that there was one eaglet in the nest about 6 weeks old. A pair of biologists had stopped at the nest a week ago and removed the young eaglet from the nest and banded it. It was very healthy and looked promising to make it into adulthood. It was nice to know that there is a young eaglet in the area. Hopefully with 5 or 6 more weeks I might be fortunate enough to get a picture of it while it is learning to fly.
Nothing was mentioned about the Ospreys. I have yet to see any little heads peeking out above the edge of their nest. I assume there is some young in that nest considering how territorial the Osprey have been lately.
Red-wing blackbird’s nest destroyed
About a week ago I found and photographed a female red-wing blackbird sitting on a nest of 4 eggs. I was a little worried and concerned about the safety of the nest due to it’s location. It was placed in a small clump of bushes about 5 feet from shore and about 3 feet above the water. However it was quite noticeable. I kept watch and was hoping to be able to get some video footage and picture of them at different stages of their growth, from eggs to the time they left their nest. It was not to be, as this morning when I went to check on them some of the bushes were broken and the nest destroyed. I don’t know if an animal did that or if someone fishing there did the damaged. The signs around the area was difficult to decipher because there were evidence of people as well as some sort of canine. not sure if a dog or a coyote. The tracks were to big for a fox as well as the distance the nest was away from land and height from water was to great for a fox.
I do have a video of when the nest was intact and the female was sitting on her eggs that I will upload to my YouTube channel in about a week.
Picture of red-wing blackbird nest with 4 eggs taken a week ago
Female red-wing blackbird sitting on nest of eggs taken a week ago
location of red-wing blackbird nest
remains of the red-wing blackbird nest after something destroyed it over the weekend. No trace of egg shells visible.
Female telling me what happened to her nest. To bad I don’t understand bird.
A calmness encases the cove shortly before daybreak
Snapping turtle trying to prepare a hole to lay eggs in. Was scared away by passing truck before laying eggs.
A bunch of daisies by the water’s edge.
