A cormorant put on a bit of a show, not in fishing, but in preening and hanging its wings out to dry. They are, at quick glance, a plain black bird, but take a few minutes to look at them more closely next time you see one.
A great blue heron, fishing in the reeds, was attacked (in the video) by a red-winged blackbird for getting to close to a nest
Not a rare bird, but a rare visitor to the Colonnade Ponds, a black-crowned night heron landed on the far side of the "sluice" which is about 20-30 feet from where photographers sit.
I only noticed one green heron and it kept to the far side of the pond
There was at least one egret around. The ones in the video might be just the same one.
Get your ducks in a row.....
Not often seen at Colonnade, a male wood duck, off to the right in the photo. Other ducks are mallards, joined by a painted turtle
What looked like two families of Canada Geese were on the lawn, but moved to the water when a dog appeared nearby
A female red-winged blackbird was eating hawthorn berries while a male was munching on cat tails
A lone phoebe dropped by. It was the only "small" bird that stopped for more than a second to let me take a photo
A map turtle and two painted turtles reflected in the still water
A snapping turtle tried 7 spots before laying her eggs, only to have them eaten shortly after, likely by a raccoon, or perhaps a skunk
A muskrat appeared out of nowhere, swam through our sightlines and disappeared
There was more to see than animals....
Wild (and maybe not so wild) roses
Daisies and Anemones
Bindweed/morning glories
Bird's foot trefoil, dogbane, milkweed, goatsbeard bloom and seed
A curlicue of last year's grass caught my eye
Smooth brome grass, reed canary grass (and close up)
A northern dock plant (in bloom?). The entire mass will turn a very dark brown
American Hornbeam and Cockspur Hawthorn
(Had to look those up using iSeek)
Upturned lilypads and white water lily buds
What I thought was a (pale) common blue damselfly turned out to be a eastern forktail
Dewdrops
Mushroom in the grass
