sunday sights

Ms. Padame at her home
3/26/23

We made a brief stop to drop off some of Padame's show stuff. She is on her way to her first show of the season in MN as I type. She is going with her trainer and a few others from the barn. Brad opted not to go to this early show.

Apparently Padame has developed a show diva attitude at the barn and doesn't want other horses riding too close to her. She doesn't do anything, other than pin her ears.

Padame was willing to say hi through the bars, but didn't want to come too close when I opened the stall door. Lunch was more important and there is always that chance she might have to go to work. Smart horse.

She will be 5 this year. My how time flies. Brad is looking forward to showing her this season. It sure was fun visiting at the show barn, even if briefly. 

We took a few side roads on the way home to see if there was anything floating on open water. Much is still frozen, or just starting to thaw. The water that was open looks cold. Apparently it doesn't bother American White Pelicans. 

activity was slow


there was a large flock (75+)

funny hair tuff

someone had an itch

There were quackers floating around, and of course gulls dipping & diving.

hooded mersanger

pair of bufflehead

Herring Gull (juvenile)

Life is about to get very busy. I enjoy these quieter moments, reflecting.

Sunday Sights

Another Tuesday, another trip north to the car dealer. This time to replace transmission lines on my truck. I figure it's better to spend two & a half hours waiting inside with all their amenities, than stranded on the side of some road.

I almost went straight home afterwards. Almost. 

Instead, I went back to the hot spot I was at last Tuesday. Before it is overflowing with fishermen and all the waterfowl go somewhere else. I have been there more than once and not seen anything but a seagull or two. 

Of course, the first thing I saw were American Pelicans. They are in all larger bodies of water around here right now. There was a good sized flock of 35-ish floating around. I couldn't help but shoot one as it flew overhead:

A Blue Heron flew within reach of my camera:

Red-winged Blackbirds were making a fuss

Pied-Billed Grebe

Any idea what bird this is?

It was small, and ducked under water for extended dives. It was floating alone. Notice the white tipped bill & red eye. Perhaps a juvenile of some kind of red-eyed waterfowl. An Eared Grebe??

Update: the above bird is a Horned Grebe!! The difference between Eared & Horned is this bird has a white bill tip & thicker/flatter head (and is not rare). I used Merlin’s photo ID for the first time, to confirm.

I will try to get better photos of these two, someday:

Bonapart Gull

American Coot

The three amigos below caught my eye right way. I had no clue what they were. They floated on the log the entire time I was taking photos, until I pointed my camera at them. 

Double-breasted Cormorant
(male, female, male)

Apparently they don't like their photo being taken and took to the water. These photos are very cropped. They were waaay out in the water.

The older male went last (see trio pic above, he is far left). His mate was floating the entire time, even further out. He eventually flew over the other pair and landed near her. 

They took off so fast!! Double-breasted Cormorant have big webbed feet. It looked as if they were walking on water. I've never seen them before. They were my favorite find of the day.

A mature pair of Wood Ducks caught my eye at the very end, right before I headed home. 

Sunday Sights

Sunday was another beautiful day in the neighborhood! In WI we get outside while the getting is good, especially when there is nasty weather forecasted. 

Before enjoying outdoor time, we started our day with breakfast out and a few errands. Horses needed dewormer and we picked up some soil to refresh our raised veggie beds. Before you can't find any. 

We took a scenic way home. I was surprised how quiet our popular State Park was. The way I remember it in my younger days. In Summer, it will be mobbed and people will be turned away.

The lake was choppy, no boats or birds. Windy weather is not good for spotting wildlife. I had my doubts we would see anything along our drive home. Which is okay. I just enjoy scenic drives with my favorite human.

Birds get hungry, even if the weather is less than ideal. I spotted a hawk. I struggle with their ID. If I get them (or any other ID) wrong, feel free to suggest a correction. It would be awesome if you would share the differences you noticed.

Red tail Hawk

We crossed Lake WI on the Ferry and swung by a couple regular water viewing spots. It was super windy! There were only a few pelicans in the distance bobbing in the white caps. There is usually a large flock that stays through Summer. We almost didn't stop.

I decided to get out and take a closer look. Some pelicans flew in/out, or tried to. It was too funny! I was laughing. Then realized, one really shouldn't have their mouth open with birds flying overhead lol!

Enlarge to notice the interesting beak and eye details.

up, up and away

this flying chicken look-a-like was struggling and headed right at me!

a windy flight out of the bay

American Pelican flying in with the breeze

After that comical experience, Brad took a short boat launch road that I have not been on. I got super excited when I spotted a Kingfisher! I have never seen one in person before. Our conversation went something like:

Me: "Stop! STOP! There is a Kingfisher!!"  I almost jumped out of the truck.

Brad: "Hang on, I can't stop here." 

Me: "Just let me out. Let me out!"

Brad slowly pulls over and turns music down. He knows :)) I get out and quietly semi-close my door. The bird is in the distance and fly's away before I get close enough to take a decent shot. Ugh!! Always. He landed in the trees above the water. 

backside of a Belted Kingfisher

Who knew seeing a bird would make a person so excited. I could still see the Kingfisher. Altho now, he was even further away. I walked to the opposite side of the road, to maintain distance yet attempt to get an unobstructed shot. Almost, but there were branches in the way.

Belted Kingfisher

My wonderful hubby looped the road again. This time he waited for me at the boat launch. I stayed out of the way of a few fishermen heading out. I watched the Kingfisher waaay across the water before I lost his location. If only I brought the darn binoculars! Time to buy a pair and keep it in my camera bag. Any recommendations?

I found it interesting we hardly saw any ducks yesterday.

We headed home and enjoyed our Sunday afternoon outside. I'll share about that in a different post. Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

waterfowl weather

I have been lacking motivation this week. Drudging through the repetitive stuff I do day in and day out. I think my motivation is hanging out with the sun. Wherever that is.

When Brad received a message from a friend, who took the time to make sure I knew there was a flock of pelicans near his home ~ you pack up your rainy day gear and go look for them. Even if it's gray. Even if it might be raining. And even, if the pelicans might be gone.

It wasn't raining when I left home. The closer I got to my location, the foggier it got. Then the drizzle started. I thought to myself, what am I doing driving curvy wet roads in the fog? 

Drizzly foggy photos are noisy. Great for moody landscape type shots. Not so great when you strive for clear action photos. I always told portrait clients, photos reflect the weather. I can't figure out why no one would take me up on rainy day portrait sessions. I love shooting people interactions in the rain! 

I have taken photos at this busy location before. There are a lot of wires, telephone poles, signs - and vehicles to work around. When I arrived, I found surround sound grayness. It was waterfowl weather.

A few other vehicles had pulled over on the well known county highway grade to watch the water activity. A large flock of pelicans were sleeping in  a circle, with heads tucked under their wings. Peacefully floating, way off in the distance. I turned off my truck. Cranked the window, listened and watched the water activity.

There were gulls (always) dipping & diving, and many different ducks. With the drizzly fog it was hard to distinguish them. I was so bummed I forgot our binoculars!! I really need to get a pair of binocs to leave in my truck.

The intermittent serenity was enjoyable. It didn't take long for waterfowl to come within reach of my camera. I found a duck to add to my ebird list:

Northern Shoveler

There were a few pelicans flying around, and one floating off/on closer to the road. Pelicans are slower and therefore easier to photograph than some other bigger birds. I really want to capture a pelican with a fish, someday. With good light and the right angle, their big orange bill is see through. Goals!

My favorite rainy day floating photo of the day:

American Pelican

 

floating on sunshine

Our Spring weather has been dreamy lately. All I want to do is be outside. Nothing new. Our trails have dried up and we (dogs & I) are enjoying bug free daily hikes in our woods. I love it! The ground is so much easier to navigate.

On a recent windy day, our horses took to running but alas they were in the dry lot. I deleted all the horse photos I took. Fencing intersected the horses in a bad spot in every single shot. Sigh.

Sometimes I get in a photography funk, and can't help but want to photograph something different. Without obstacles in the way. Last year I took on a year long self created project, in an effort to teach myself to look deeper and see the difference in the ordinary. Hopefully I learned something. I love taking photos of our horses and dogs. However, I do think others must get sick of seeing them over and over. Especially when not moving, unique or highlighted with special light. Or maybe that is me. I do after all mostly photography for myself. So much for finding differences in the ordinary.

I decided to mix it up and take a country drive. As usual I was not seeing much. I was looking for open water, when I found some I saw American Pelicans! They migrate up from Florida. I love watching pelicans!! I drove through a tiny water front town, where there is no public property. I could see the pelicans, but not within reach of my camera. I found some street parking, texted my hubby and started walking over closer to them. Half way there I turned around, and got back in my truck. Just not comfortable. Too many lone guys in vehicles hanging around. The street parking happens to be near a couple water front bars and a motel. The guys were most likely harmless, but I just can't...so I headed for home. Super bummed. I wish I could find someone just a little bit like me. Someone that wants to explore outdoor things, during the week. Not everyone works 9-5 Monday through Friday. Is that so rare? why is everyone out and about a guy? and where the hell are all the women??!!

My sweet husband offered to go back to the same location with me the very next day, after he got off of work.  Bless his heart.  We did, and he laughed his arse off sitting in his truck when a harmless inebriated guy walked up to me asking about the pelicans. He hung around and proceeded to show me some eagle eating deer video on his phone. I mean, isn't that every girls dream?! Ha ha!! 

The owner of the associated business parking lot I was standing on, also came over by me. I thought I was going to get asked to leave, but she was very nice. So maybe I worried about nothing? All I know is I got lost in the sunshine, watching the pelicans. I could have stayed there watching them all day. They are so calming and entertaining. Time flew by, and so did the pelicans and other water loving birds. I ducked more than once when seagulls flew overhead.

I thought I was being selective with my shots, but my camera card had over 100 pelican photos. Oops. I love being near bodies of water. Watching the activity on the bay was super fun!! Next time I see these fine feathers my goal will be to get a clear shot with a fish. I got a couple, but they are grainy. Hopefully the pelicans have some warming feathers, our weather turns colder with snow predicted tomorrow. 

Here are my four favorite shots (click to see detail):