All you can eat

This Great Blue Heron was fishing in the cove at the sailing school this morning. I watched it catch the fish seen here in its beak, then it kept shaking its head to get the fish farther back in its beak until it could swallow it.

Hasn't left yet

Just as I was leaving the marsh yesterday, I heard what I believed to be Red-winged Blackbirds in a cattail stand. I approached through the woods and got a few shots of them pulling the heads apart to get at the seeds. The buff-colored edges of the feathers are quite evident on this male.

Hiding the loot

Yesterday I spied another red squirrel collecting his winter's supply of food, this time a Scots pine cone. When he noticed me watching him, he quickly moved to the base of the tree to bury the cone, then raced back up the tree and over into one just beside me, where he proceeded to let me know my presence wasn't welcome. (I used the poster edges filter for the burying shot, as he was moving so quickly he was nothing but a blur.)

Hiding in plain sight

Yesterday I finally discovered the other hiding place of the Wood Ducks - the sewage lagoons next to the marsh. I counted 30 wood ducks in one of the lagoons, most of whom were lined up along the pipes that lie across the lagoon surface. This shot shows, L to R, an adult female, an adult male, and a juvenile male. (The bubbles are from the aerobic process that is used to treat the sewage.)

Edge feeders

Yesterday morning, a number of Greater Yellowlegs were foraging in the stream nest to the marsh. This one is seen alongside a male Green-winged Teal that was resting at the stream's edge.

Almost there

This morning I finally got a shot of a male Green-winged Teal that has gotten close to finishing his molt into his winter plumage. I still wasn't fond of the quality of the shot, so I tried putting it though a watercolor filter in my editing program, and was pleased with the result.

Leaving soon

I was surprised to see this female Common Yellowthroat at the marsh this morning, but apparently they remain here into early October. So it might be the last sighting I make this year.

Marsh fruit

Something different - a marsh plant that serves as food for the wildlife at the marsh. The spiny globes are the fruit of the Bur-reed, a common wetland plant. (There are several bur-reed species in our area; I'm not sure which one this is.) It forms part of the diet of ducks, muskrat and deer.

Name that sparrow

Again this morning, no warblers, but there were other birds in evidence. This one I believe to be a juvenile sparrow, but what kind of sparrow I couldn't determine. Sparrows are one of the difficult birds to distinguish, especially this time of the year when juveniles are part of the mix. Any help welcome!

In sync

A small group of mallards and green-winged teal were feeding at the upper end of the marsh yesterday morning. The water level in the marsh was still high, so they needed a shallower spot to feed, as they are dabblers rather than divers. The Mallard pair in the top photo are the same pair in the 'bottoms-up' position in the lower shot.