Baldies in Blackwater

We did the now annual day-after-Christmas trek to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. It was mid-afternoon. A stranger/fellow birder informed me that the pileated woodpeckers and bluebirds were at the visitor entrance drive early in the day. Dang. I really want to see a pileated someday!

The raptor cams seem to be in place, but there seems to be a gap in the updates. The live feed at the center had a turkey vulture perched on the osprey platform and poking its bare head into the camera. There were a couple dozen or so mature bald eagles around, some of which were perching together and courting. My lens wasn't long enough to get good photos, but I did get some shots of them, as well as some of the ever-picturesque Great Blue Heron and even a Northern Pintail! Some of the shots are on Flickr.

There were tons of snow geese. In fact, there were also quite a few "blue geese" interspersed, which I'm told are dark morphs of the snow goose. Throw in the Canada geese and some tundra swans and it was all an idyllic waterfowl experience.

The Week That Was

Rutgers pulled out a W against Temple, but the first half was terrible. Watching Rutgers football against Louisville this past week made up for it. It was gratifying to see Teel nail those TDs in the RU 63-14 rout. I was happy to be watching from the comfort of home despite the ever-frustrating Comcast technical glitches on the digital ESPN channel. It's why I sometimes prefer being a Luddite, even though I'm perfectly comfortable with technology.

So, a great blue heron camouflaged in the reeds in the D&R canal was a nice sighting as well as the unexpected Coop swooping into the bird feeder space again. They say Northern Gannets should be arriving here now.

It was good to get inspired by Phil's digital photography workshop at NJAS and to see all the fabulous shots he has made. I hope someday to get the Canon going again and get some good shots to work with. Stay tuned at Flickr.