Great Blue Heron

Today was as good as it gets maybe even better. I went to work and we had extra staff so I was able to get out by noon. I had my camera in my bag and so I high tailed it over to my dads and we took off for the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. The sun was out and so were the birds.

Here is a modest count:

5 bald eagles
2 American Kestrels
1 Northern Harrier
2 Red Tail Hawks
8 Great blue Herons
1 Pied-billed Grebe
1 Red-winged blackbird
Too many coots, Canadian geese, cackling geese, tundra swans, northern shovelers, mallards, and pintail ducks to count.
7 nutria

There were two bonuses to this day. My dads neighbor has Nikon equipment and he is letting me borrow his 70-210mm zoom lens. And we saw a bald eagle take out a little bird midflight. I took about 15 pictures of this, but only a few turned out. I have been going through all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas on this, but the fact that I was able to get any of the shots was thrilling.

I was going to create a blipfolio for all the shots but instead I have posted them to my FB page. That album is here.

This particular image is a Great Blue Heron in mating plumage. It will develop further, and his color will change a bit, but over all this is what a breeding male looks like.

Wow what a day. The bald eagle alone made it worth being here.

Thanks for visiting and happy blipping