Rankin Bottoms Refuge Shoot, sans Osprey

sm4him · Apr 8, 2013

This past Saturday, I went back out to where I found the Osprey nest. Before I was even done unloading my gear from the car, I saw an Osprey over the water, looking for lunch! Grabbed the camera, ran down to the water and sure enough, it dove for a fish RIGHT in front of me!!

Too bad there was also a big bush RIGHT in front of me. :grumpy:

A foot to either side and I'd have had the shot. I took some small comfort in the fact that it caught a tiny little fish; almost too small for it to keep it clutched in its talons, lol!

Anyway--I'll post some of the shots of the Ospreys later. For now, I thought I'd post a few of the NON-Osprey shots I got at the refuge.

1. Double-crested Cormorant

April6_4412editweb by sm4him, on Flickr

2. GBHs--not the greatest picture, as they were pretty far away, but I liked the poses.

DSC_4411editweb by sm4him, on Flickr

3. Wood ducks in flight

April6_4459editweb by sm4him, on Flickr

4. ??--I don't know, it came flying in with a Canada Goose, but it doesn't LOOK like a Canada Goose. Also--note all the turtles in the background! When I chimped on this shot, trying to figure out what the goose was, it was the first I'd even realized all the turtles were there.

April6_4645editweb by sm4him, on Flickr

5. TURTLES!! Because, after realizing they were there, how could I NOT find some to take a picture of?

April6_4849edit by sm4him, on Flickr

As always--C&C, general comments and witty banter are all appreciated! Except from that one dude... :lmao:

SCraig · Apr 8, 2013

Love the Cormorant!

The "Unknown" looks like it might be a Chinese Goose but it's hard to tell for sure.

JacaRanda · Apr 8, 2013

I love #5 the turtles. Looks like they are marching to do battle in the middle of the log.

jedirunner · Apr 8, 2013

I love it ("it" as in "all of them, plus the opportunity to see and be close enough to photograph them").

I'm gonna have to figure out where to go birding and animal spotting/shooting around here. Hmm... come to think of it I do have an idea or two. Guess I better get out there this weekend!

The shots are great (especially the cormorant). Thanks for posting!

Kevin

MSnowy · Apr 8, 2013

Nice set. I like #2 Stan and Ollie

coastalconn · Apr 8, 2013

Sharon, I'm kind of curious about the goose. You should post it on the Cornell lab Ornithology on facebook so someone can ID it..

baturn · Apr 8, 2013

I have heard of snow and Speckled geese hanging out with Canadas. Maybe a color phase of Snow goose?

coastalconn · Apr 8, 2013

I think it might be a Greater White Fronted Goose... but the markings seem a little off

coastalconn · Apr 8, 2013

coastalconn said:
Sharon, I'm kind of curious about the goose. You should post it on the Cornell lab Ornithology on facebook so someone can ID it..

Lol, I saw you already did about 6 hours before I said this...

WesternGuy · Apr 9, 2013

Sharon, great shots. I really like the #5 the turtles. This is the kind of image you could use in a captioning contest. :sexywink:

Would be interested to know about the goose, if you ever find out what it is. I do not recognize it at all.

WesternGuy

sm4him · Apr 9, 2013

SCraig said:
Love the Cormorant!

The "Unknown" looks like it might be a Chinese Goose but it's hard to tell for sure.

Thanks, Scott! I don't think it's a Chinese Goose, because the beak seems wrong for that.

MSnowy said:
Nice set. I like #2 Stan and Ollie

Stan and Ollie, I like that! I think I have a title for this photo now!

coastalconn said:
Sharon, I'm kind of curious about the goose. You should post it on the Cornell lab Ornithology on facebook so someone can ID it..

Unfortunately, no one has responded and it's now buried so far down on their page that I doubt anyone else will ever see it. Is there another way to submit photos to them? On their website, perhaps? I may have to check that out, because I'd REALLY like to ID this. Oh, I know--I can also post it on a couple of Flickr groups and Google+; I'll have to do that today.

baturn said:
I have heard of snow and Speckled geese hanging out with Canadas. Maybe a color phase of Snow goose?

coastalconn said:
I think it might be a Greater White Fronted Goose... but the markings seem a little off

I wondered if it could possibly be a Greater White-Fronted goose. This area DOES have them listed as having been sighted there, but I agree that the markings seem off. The fact that it came flying in with the Canada Goose is part of what's really thrown me, so I'm glad to know that they could be different geese just hanging out together.

If I ever find out what it is, I'll give an update!

Aloicious · Apr 9, 2013

love the turtles in #5! thanks for sharing

WesternGuy · Apr 9, 2013

Sharon, I did a search on "Greater White-fronted Goose" and I am going to stick my neck out and say that is what I think this is. I took a look at some of the pictures that are on the web and these is a lot of resemblance. My question to you, though, is do you have any other shots of this bird, or closer shots. Maybe you can crop this one closer from your original as a lot would appear to depend on the structure of the beak.

If you Google "Greater White-fronted Goose" and then click on the images heading, you will end up with all kinds of pictures to compare what you have with what is available on the web. Let me know what you think. Maybe others would like to check this out as well.

WesternGuy