Egrets and Herons

Blue Herons, Green Herons and Great Egrets (White Herons) visit Wisconsin during the warm weather, and if you watch carefully you'll see that they are accomplished fish catchers. Most of the following photos were taken during July, August and September at Villa Grove (Mequon) and at the Thiensville Dam. A few pix (Night Heron and Blue Heron with nesting chicks) were taken at Greenfield Park in Greenfield.

                          This photo of a Blue Heron was taken at sunrise at the dam.

A Black-Capped Night Heron was spotted at the Greenfield Park coming in for a tree landing.

              In July, this Blue Heron was attending to its checks at a nest in Greenfield Park.

                                             Not the best looking kids I've seen, for sure!

A Great Egret lands at Villa Grove.

                             Another Egret joins it and they jostle to gain territorial advantage, but it looks more like a ballet than a fight. 

A Blue Heron already on the scene takes issue and the Egret flies away to a secluded part of the river.

                        Egrets are slow-moving and  patient while fishing but are rewarded often.

                  Blue Herons are equally adept at fishing and even large fish pose no problem.

        
  The Herons above and below took two fish while three fly-fishermen nearby never got a bite.

     Green Herons (below) are a smaller version of the larger Blue Herons but never failed to catch their limit.

Crayfish are easily snagged but the Green Heron had to work harder for frogs.

Sunrise is a great time to observe birds and other critters as they begin searching for food. And so what if you don't see any...you're enjoying the solitary, quiet beauty of Mother Nature.

Humpback Whales in Atlantic

In mid-June we traveled to Boston for a family function and then took a side trip to Plymouth, MA for some whale-watching and relaxation. This is the time of year when Humpbacks and their calves are feeding in Stellwagan Bank National Marine Sanctuary near Cape Cod Bay. It took about one hour for the Plymouth boat to reach the feeding area, but once we were there we were not disappointed.

The whales, several with calves, were feeding all around us. Locating a feeding whale was easy---all we had to do was look for the sea gulls hovering above the whales, hoping to snatch small fish that escaped the whale's mouth.

 Humpbacks are "baleen" whales, named for the long plates of baleen which hang in a row (like the teeth of a comb) from their upper jaws.  Baleen plates are strong and flexible; they are made of a protein similar to human fingernails. The whales blow bubbles underwater, forcing the krill and other small fish and plankton toward the surface. The whales then propel themselves to the surface with mouths open, swallowing water and fish and then "straining" the water through the baleen plates, leaving fish to be swallowed. This is much like the method I use to eat chowder.

The photo above is a close-up of the baleen structure of the whale's mouth and probably a good representation of the last thing Jonah saw during his biblical ocean journey.

 Taking photos of the whales was not without its challenges. By the time you see the whale and get to the correct area of the boat, the above photos are often what is captured.

 A calf came so close to our boat, the only photos I could take with my telephoto lens were of the blow hole.

Whales do not expel perfumed vapor from their blow holes. As you can see, this calf's spray was close to me and it smelled pretty bad, kind of like spoiled fish.

I went on three whale-watching trips in Plymouth, but only saw the feeding on the first trip. On the other two trips most of the whale activity was limited to occasional breaching, fin-slapping and diving, usually by the whale calves in the area. But it was a fantastic experience just being around these huge, graceful creatures. I recommend it.

ICE ABSTRACTS---PART 2

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO "LIKED" MY PHOTO ("CEDARBURG MILL REFLECTIONS") ON FACEBOOK DURING THE CEDARBURG ART MUSEUM PHOTO CONTEST. THE PHOTO PLACED SECOND AND ANOTHER ENTRY I SUBMITTED PLACED THIRD, SO I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE OUTCOME AND I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY.

                ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S BLOG FEATURES A FEW MORE ICE PHOTOS. I HAVEN'T TAKEN MANY PHOTOS THIS WINTER. THE BIRDS ARE DOWN SOUTH, MANY EAGLES STAYED AWAY, AND GENERALLY SPEAKING THERE WEREN'T A LOT OF AVAILABLE PHOTO OPS FOR ME EXCEPT FOR THESE ICE ABSTRACTS.

USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND LOOK FOR IMAGES LIKE FACES IN THE PHOTO. THIS ONE REMINDED ME OF AN OLD WOMAN WITH A HAT.

              A SNAGGLE-TOOTHED WITCH COMES TO MIND WITH THIS ONE.

 DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS WITH THE REST OF THESE.