There was definitely more activity around the marsh this morning than there was yesterday. At the upper end, a group of eight Blue-winged Teals and one lone Northern Shoveler, the one on the right in this shot, were feeding in the duckweed. It's difficult to tell if the Shoveler is a male or female, as at this time of the year the males are in eclipse plumage, which resembles that of the female. Even their bills change color.
These two photos demonstrate the difference in water level at the marsh over the last three days as a result of the heavy rains. The photo at the top is of three Wood Ducks perched on a dead tree on Tuesday the 3rd; the bottom photo is of two Black Ducks perched on the same tree this morning, Friday the 6th.
I did see two families of Ring-necked Ducks on the marsh this morning, one I had seen before, but also this one with nine chicks (two out of the shot) that was new to me. They are diving ducks, so the higher water level doesn't affect them.
This young Savannah Sparrow (I think) also looked disheveled this morning, possibly as a result of a severe drenching.
Effects on the marsh of the heavy rains of the last couple of days were evident this morning. There didn't seem to be as many ducks on the water, likely because the higher water level made it difficult for the dabbling ducks to feed. There were still a number of juvenile Wood Ducks swimming about, however, although this young female definitely didn't look as dapper as the one seen on the 3rd.
Well, I was almost out of the woods this morning when I saw this squirrel come running towards me on the path. I could tell he(she?) had something in his mouth but couldn't tell what, until he stopped short when he noticed me standing there. He then ran over to and up a tree until he was almost over my head, scolding me all the while, holding on to the grass the whole time.
Doing a little research on Red Squirrels after I got home, I discovered that they have two litters, one in the spring and one in the late summer. So, I think I must have interrupted mama squirrel in nest-building mode.
I caught this little fellow in between getting some shots of a squirrel in the wooded section of the trail this morning. It's a juvenile Pine Siskin. This is the time for seeing juvenile birds, and sometimes it's very difficult to identify them.
I'm not absolutely sure what this sparrow was doing this morning, but when I came near I could hear a bird flapping about down close to the water, and then it flew up on this dead tree and continued to flap its wings. I think it may have taken a bath, and was trying to dry itself off. As you can see it looks rather bedraggled. It's a Savannah Sparrow, I think, kind of hard to tell.
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This year's crop of Wood Ducks was fairly sizable. The young ones of different ages can be seen swimming about all over the marsh. I caught this young female (I think its a female) fairly close to the shore this morning.
It was a bit overwhelming at the marsh this morning. There was so much going on I had to be selective with my picture-taking. Yellow Warblers were everywhere it seemed; there were several in and around a hawthorn tree beside the trail, including this one.
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