Category: Birds

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This is a very busy mommy robin.  She had her first brood this Spring and I watched the two babies take their first flight in late June.  The nest was in the Yew bush right in front of my house and just about 6 feet from the ground.  This weekend I saw mommy robin back in the nest with her second brood of babies on the way.  She doesn’t mind me being in the yard, even mowing the grass.  But, if I walk over and talk to her, she squawks and flees the nest, keeping an eye on me from a nearby tree.  I added a nesting box to the front porch, hoping that it would be useful, but it looks as though this mommy likes the comforts of a familiar home. Below is a cell phone photo (terrible!) of one of the babies from the first brood after it flew from the nest for the first time.

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The snow goose migration through Middle Creek Wildlife Management System is winding down.  I think the highest count for a day was around 85,000 snow geese about 2 weeks ago and the latest post on the park website shows the count at just 5,000.  The geese are on their way North and those of us who experienced their visit are left with photos and memories to tide us over until next year.

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Notes on the day.  #1 – snow geese are unpredictable.  #2 – pick your background first.  I’ve been watching the snow goose migration at Middle Creek for years and if there is one thing that is certain, it’s that snow geese are unpredictable!  One day they will be out of the park where you can’t access them to photograph and the next day they are on the lake or a few yards away feeding along the shoreline.  On this particular afternoon, just before dusk, they relocated to a field adjacent to a nice brick home which made a pretty background for their late afternoon flight.  Speaking of backgrounds, I try to position myself so that my photos have a darker background that will highlight the birds.  This spot was right on target.  I love the way the sun is illuminating the crops in the foreground.  How fun it would be to have my yard be a stopover point for migrating snow geese!

Middle Creek Crowds 2016

If you want to see the snow goose migration at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, GO NOW.   Migration is in full swing!  Be prepared to join the crowds of people that flock (pun intended!) to see the snow geese as they pass through while heading North.  On weekends especially, parking can be a challenge and the crowds are large…as are some of the camera lenses that line the viewing areas!  I thought I would share a few images of “the experience” as it’s all part of the fun that only happens for a few weeks each year!

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It was a good day at Middle Creek!  The number of snow geese climbed back to 50,000+, the weather was cold, but bearable, and the geese were active!  I made a mental note of #206 as I was scanning through my images during a break in the action as I thought it might be a favorite.  I was right…I love this one!  The depth of field could be a bit better, but given that birds are flying by quickly, I’m happy to come away with a handful of favorite images out of the 1200 or so that I shot over the course of a day.  I love that you can see the water droplets beneath the bird on the left.  They had just taken off from the lake and were headed to feed in a field with more of their friends.