I took advantage of the nice weather to get out and shoot some nature shots between assignments today. We’ll break them down into manageable chunks, cuz, well, that’s the way we roll.
I gave this one top billing because of the male mallard's luminescent green head and the way the water beads on his breast (click on the image to see the detail more clearly).
- Then there is this blue heron, shot off Bath Road between Akron-Peninsula and Riverview roads. This spot draws a lot of shutterbugs because there are so many nests at this rookerie. For once I have a decent camera and (barely) adequate lens for the job. I love the feathery beard on this one. I swear I saw these things in one of the ‘Jurassic Park” movies.
Papa Heron brings home some building material.
My field guide suggests this is a nuthatch.
Your guess is at least as good as mine – a thrush?
This goose, apparently a domesticated breed that escaped a nearby farm, has taken up residence in the beaver pond along the Towpath Trail near Bolanz Road in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It has survived at least two winters there, and it seems to get along OK with the Canada geese that run the joint.
Red-wing blackbirds are field and meadow birds. The CVNP has enough meadow to attract a lot of these guys. Less than a half-mile down the trail you find wood-dwelling critters. You see that on places like Pelee Island as well, with wildlife ranging from shorebirds to swamp critters to field wildlife to forest wildlife all within something like a square mile.
This trio spotted my SLR on the Towpath Trail and immediately launched into "goof for the camera" mode. Good, clean fun.
On the trail
Same point of view, different view.
Horse play
AkronDave 