Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Saturday, August 3, 2013

Around the Water's Edge~



I promise no pun intended, but this Frog croaked at the sound of it's last croak...
A week ago Friday, I was taking the pup-cub Silvie for a checkup at the Veterinarian and was arriving a little too early and so what better to do, than do a spot of birding. 
I know where a Great Blue Heron, or 2 hang out and I was close to a spot in Prospect.
No, none at the first lake. 
Then I tried the adjoining lake and at the far end, there it was. 
At first, I thought that it had a frog with a fishing bobber attached, and then quickly realized, oh my gracious, that was the lung of the frog, fully inflated. 
Poor thing! 
It took a couple of minutes and finally the lung deflated. 
The Great Blue Heron continued to drag it in water, until it was all the way dead, before gulping it down. 
This week, I will share some of the waders that we have in our area, and also a new one, that I had never seen ever before, and I am thinking that I am correct on the ID.

Remember to double click on the image, to view a larger slide show of the images shared ~

I am linking up with Mary for:

"Mosaic Monday"


at:
 
I am linking up with Stewart at:

Wild Bird Wednesday

(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


The images of these Mallard Ducks gave me a quick giggle...too funny and so pretty they are too~
 
 


These images of another Great Blue Heron were taken as the sun was rising over Crystal Lake, 3 miles from my Tingsgrove. 
The morning sunlight upon the Heron made it look sun drenched~
 
 
 
 


Below is a bird that I have never seen around here before and I looked through my bird books and am pretty certain that this is a Bufflehead. 
It was really lovely and yet all alone, hanging near where the American Coot images were taken at Wendell Moore Park~
 


A Great Blue Heron flew over our home late one afternoon~
 


These American Coots did not seem to mind my photographing them too much~
 
 



Below is another bird, that I have only seen one other time and I am not totally certain of it's ID. 
It was pretty far away, but it seemed that it had yellow legs, as well as bobbed the tail end almost constantly. 
So, would this be a Yellowlegs, or something else..any help totally appreciated~


Yep, this is yet another Great Blue Heron hunting on a small pond on Covered Bridge Road in Prospect~
 
 


And another landing on the Ohio River pretty far away from where I stood~

 
 
My youngest daughter Ashleigh invited me to go out on a canoe one day a couple of weeks ago. 
I am totally afraid of the water and it took me a bit to get calm enough to where I could take my death grip from the seat and hold my camera steady. 
It was a good thing, that I gained a bit of control because a visiting Osprey that had migrated through, had stayed the Summer over on Crystal Lake... 
A very nice sighting~




An adult Red-Shouldered Hawk, with lots of missing feathers from a molt flew over too~




 
 
This morning we took the 2 pup-cubs to a park in Louisville and as we were en route home, I spotted a few Black-crowned Night Herons and another Great Blue Heron hunting together in a murky pond near the lane. 
My husby let me out of the car and I was still pretty far away, but did my best to at least get some distant images of them~
 




 

32 comments:

  1. what a great find on the gbh w/ recently deceased/dying frog! love the green frog you showed in another mosaic, too. congrats on the bufflehead sighting! have never seen one in person. yes, i think that looks like a yellowlegs. they show up occasionally here. some great reflections in some of the flight shots, too. :)

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  2. Your mosaics are gorgeous as ever...works of art. And I can't believe you got that flight shot while being scared to death in that canoe. (Congratulations on going for it..now you've gotta' do it again, so it becomes routine!)

    The heron had quite a big lunch there, poor frog! That's nature though.

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  3. Awesome! Those are the kinds of heron shots I like to see! I've never witnessed one catching a frog. Beautiful duck photos! Love the coots, too!

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  4. Wow - what a great collection of photos and collages. Absolutely LOVED the GBHeron sequence with his catch. Fabulous! You're right about the Bufflehead I.D. Not sure on the Yellowlegs, but you're probably right about that one too. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful photos!

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  5. Great Blue Herons are vicious in their attacks. Quick and merciless:) We saw one get a juvenile Great-tail Grackle. It horrifying and cool at the same time. Nice captures here!

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  6. Wonderful shots, all of them. I envy you the canoe trip - I love to be on the water!

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  7. Wow, what a lunch! GB Heron are great at finding their next meal. Wonderful photos and mosaics!

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  8. Lovely to "see" you and your daughter Mary. I am glad you overcame your fears to go out in the canoe with her and capture these images. Photography can sometimes take our minds off situations where we don't feel too secure. Lovely images again this week Mary. I always enjoy visiting. Take care and have a wonderful week.

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  9. Congratulations on such wonderful captures with your camera! Good mosaics as always!

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  10. Gorgeous Mary -- I always enjoy your Monday Mosaic submissions.

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  11. Lovely the Heron shots, and the shots of the frogs, cruel but, its just a natural. Great shots all around Mary.

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  12. A brilliant selection/colletion there Mary even if the poor old frog did have to suffer in the cause of photography and recording nature in the raw. Nice shots of the feamle Bufflehead too, and I'm certain that your wader is a Lesser Yellowlegs. Keep gripping that canoe and whatever you do don't drop your precious camera in the water. To answer your question to me, I posted some counting info on my blog. Have a great week ahead.

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  13. Wow ~ absolutely wonderful photography ~ the beauty of nature that you captured so well ~ thanks, xxooo

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  14. Poor froggy! Your photos are stunning, and your collages so artfully put together. Beautiful!

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  15. I can't get over how HUGE the frog is...it is amazing how the heron will be able to eat it. Great capture of all the wildlife.

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  16. Somehow your blog vanished from my reader but so happy to be back visiting! Always love your photography!

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  17. Oh my goodness that poor frog but then yes everybody has got to eat.Love that beautiful heron.

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  18. Back to say thanks for asking that question about bird counting on Phil's bird blog. ...I have wanted to ask him that for a long time.

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  19. A great series of photos - I especially like the ones of the heron with the frog.

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  20. Great frog sequence!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  21. great pictures- cute pic in the boat too! Crazy heron stuff!

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  22. Gorgeous shots! The heron is very beautiful.

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  23. Your photos make me realize that I need to get out more to do some serious birding. No idea we had such variety of water birds in our area, Mary. Especially loved the photo of the blue heron in flight. They look wonderful when airborne.

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  24. Great to see the habitat in such good condition. Where the frogs are happy and plentiful, the birds are too. Great mosaics Mary. The whole post makes me feel that you are happy.

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  25. What a wonderful post of birds snaps. Just fascinating. Thank you.

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  26. Looks like the herons have been very active in your area. Fun action shots!

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  27. Hi! Nice captures. It'S very interesting collection of birds and other creatures.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  28. I like those photos of the heron catching the frog, but ooh..poor frog!!

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  29. What a great series of photographs of the frogs and the blue heron.

    Greetings Irma

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  30. You do have to feel sorry for the frog - but a birds got to eat!

    Glad you liked the header - thought it was time for a change.

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  31. Wonderful set of images. I like the timing in the shots.

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  32. Hi Mary,
    Wow wildlife is just amazing around you, and you don't miss opportunities, your pictures are wonderful... I have probably seen just 1/100th things I could see in US this summer but I was already happy even if I missed the bluebird. I guess we will have to go back...
    I send my best regards to all your really nice family...

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