I made my second trip to the Birding Center today. It was a nice sunny day, but a little windy and chilly. Not Minnesota-style windy and chilly though! Some of my favorite pictures — here is a gorgeous Great Blue Heron. I love how his legs blend in with the reeds.
As usual, there was an abundance of ducks of all sorts. Here is a female Northern Shoveler. Look at the size of that schnozz! Reminds me not to look directly at the camera — an angled shot might be more flattering, plus a touch of powder!
And another favorite, a Green-Winged Teal:
But the stars of the show (to me, anyway) are the pelicans. Yesterday I saw mostly White Pelicans, but these are Brown Pelicans. The brown and yellow are in breeding plumage; the darker brown is probably a juvenile. Here are a couple soaking up the sun, shielding themselves from the wind, and two others “fishing”.
There were a couple that were having their lunch. They would repeatedly dive for fish (even though the water is very shallow here), and were apparently successful. They would spring from the water, then dive in beak first:
Yum!
Soon I will post about some crafty things — my second pair of socks that I’m working on, and a kaleidoscope quilt top I’m piecing. And, like it or not, I’m sure there will be more birds!
Sue
You are an excellent photographer!
Hi Sue, Nice pictures. It looks “warm” there. I bet your glad your not here in MN today. It’s -20 degrees and that’s at 10:30am. It’s just nuts.
Cathy in Savage
Hi again, Lovely pictures of all the birds. I also favor pelicans. We see them at the gulf when they nose dive and really make a splash. It makes me wish for spring, because it has been a bit nippy even where we live. Have fun.