On Monday afternoon I was out shopping and found myself next to Lake Erie. It was a beautiful sunny day -- quite rare around here lately -- and I had brought my camera and binoculars with me, so I settled down on the town's public beach to watch the water.
I guess I still haven't posted much here about this Great Lake, which is crazy, because I'm astonished every time I encounter it. This lake is so much more ocean-like to me than the Long Island Sound (which is my ocean paradigm after living in Connecticut) mostly because I can't see the land on the other side, and also because I've already seen bigger waves here than I usually saw in Connecticut. On Monday, though, the lake was surreal, with flat, barely moving water that blended exactly with the sky in the low afternoon light. This has got to be one of the strangest landscapes (or maybe make that water-scapes) I've seen:
It took a big passing barge to create the horizon with its wake:
Aside from the amazing water-scenery, I had a lot of fun meeting the local birds as well. Ring-billed Gulls made up most of the population, and the lighting was just perfect for pictures of these handsome birds as they moved from water to shore:
There was quite a bit of jostling on the beach every time one of the gulls came in for a landing:
The Ring-billed Gulls made handsome sights on the reflective water as well:
But mostly I just had way too much fun taking pictures of them in flight:
A Great Black-Backed Gull loomed over the smaller Ring-billed Gulls from its rock:
Several ducks made brief appearances as well. These two female (or immature male) Buffleheads came closer to shore when the barge went past:
And then they took off in a series of splashes:
This bigger group of Buffleheads made a water landing a little further away, the males showing off their pink clown feet (ducks can be so funny looking):
A few Common Mergansers flew past, too, a bit like arrows with those pointy beaks:
With so many interesting creatures and sights, visiting Lake Erie is always a good idea.
Paul and I had a mini-vacation in Niagara Falls this past weekend. We'd each visited this place when we were little, but neither of us had any clear memories of it, and we figured hey, why not take advantage of our northeastern Ohio location and drive a few hours to see some crazy impressive landscapes. So that's what we did. And the falls were very impressive indeed:
We weren't thrilled by the surrounding cities and (mostly rundown) tourist traps, but everything we saw of the actual falls -- on both the American and the Canadian sides -- was amazing. I love the color of the Niagara River:
That's a lot of water! (Note the tiny people in the top left corner of the next picture for scale.)
We even caught the tail end of the fall foliage, and the displays on some of the islands in the river were really fantastic:
All that mist made for some cool rainbows when the sun came out:
The waterfalls were awesome, of course, but I was also very curious to see what kinds of creatures live in this tumultuous place. I didn't see much diversity (perhaps because of all the human activity), but there were some cool animals around nonetheless. Below the falls, Double-crested Cormorants and Bonaparte's Gulls foraged in the water and rested on the rocks:
I'd never seen Bonaparte's Gulls before, and I think they're pretty darn cute with those bright legs and little black ear-spots (part of their winter costume):
There were lots of gulls around -- Bonaparte's and larger Ring-billed Gulls -- and sometimes they seemed to be part of the falls' roiling mist:
A few black Gray Squirrels were running around in the park. I don't get to see these guys very often!
One ledge in the middle of the American Falls had a little less rushing water than the surrounding areas, and when we got up near the top of these falls, I was absolutely astonished to see a few Mallards and Ring-billed Gulls foraging on this ledge:
I mean... what?? I know these are birds and they can fly and everything, but this is the edge of a gigantic waterfall!! Here's a view of those same falls from across the river; the birds' ledge is right in the middle (and again note the tiny people in the bottom right of the picture for scale):
Seriously, ahhh! I'm getting vertigo just thinking about that high/slippery/downward-rushing spot! These are definitely some daredevil ducks:
So yeah, Niagara Falls is a pretty cool place. I'm glad I got to check it out!
In just two weeks, the Piping Plover chicks near Silver Sands State Park have grown from the size of cotton balls to nearly the size of their parents. Here's a family portrait I took yesterday morning with Mom on the right and the four not-so-little babies on the left; I don't think these guys will fit under Mom's wings anymore!
These chicks have still got some growing to do before they can set off on their own, but it's cool to see them getting closer to adulthood. Such big babies:
Unfortunately, one of the four hatchlings now has an injured leg.... I'm not sure how or when this happened, but at least the poor little guy seemed to be getting around pretty well (foraging and running nearly as fast as its siblings). I reported the injury, but apparently there isn't much people can do at this point, and based on other reports the bird actually seems to be improving. So I'll just continue to keep my fingers crossed for the hurt bird and its so-far-healthy siblings!
I've posted many pictures of the father plover already, but I can't resist sharing one more of this handsome fellow amongst colorful reflections from man-made structures:
While the Piping Plover family was foraging on one part of the beach, this Black-crowned Night-Heron was hunting for creatures buried in the sand a little ways away:
I often see Black-crowned Night-Herons at Silver Sands State Park, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've gotten to watch one of these creatures fairly close up. This is such a fancy bird, with those bright red eyes and flowing tassels (for lack of a better word to describe the crazy feathers sticking out of the back of its head). Herons and egrets tend to get into some weird postures while they're hunting, and this guy was no exception; heron necks sure are extendable!
I'm not sure what this bird was finding in the sand (some sort of mollusc, perhaps?), but it was getting a good meal. Yum:
Here's a brief video of the heron in action (with a bonus Ring-billed Gull shuffling through the scene at one point):
The park was filled with activity, despite the heat and humidity. I'll close with a lovely dragonfly (some sort of Meadowhawk, I think, genus Sympetrum) who posed so nicely at the edge of a green and flowering field:
What a fun and interesting beach day!
I was happy to return to Silver Sands State Park this morning for the start of a new season. As I have for the past two summers, I'll be monitoring this beach again for Piping Plovers and other potential nesting shorebirds this year. This will actually be my last summer in Connecticut -- big changes are coming in the next few months -- and I plan to take full advantage of my proximity to the Long Island Sound while I still can.
Today was a perfect beach day: warm and sunny, and with plenty of spring-like things to see. I'm assuming these Ring-billed Gulls were feeling appropriately amorous, judging from their strange balancing act (which was accompanied by loud calls but no actual mating as far as I could see):
Behind the marshes next to the beach, a few Red Maples were just starting to bloom, looking particularly dramatic against the bright blue sky:
A pair of Mourning Doves walked right past me on the path. I've never noticed the splash of iridescent gold highlights on these birds' necks before, and it's kind of amazingly pretty:
(How is it possible that I've been keeping this blog for more than three years now, and this is the first time I've posted a picture of this common and placid bird? Mourning Doves clearly deserve more of my attention.)
In the fields at the back of the park, many of the bushes and trees had been stripped of their bark up to a couple of feet off the ground:
And a few minutes after I stopped to look at the bare trees (and to watch a couple of American Robins tussling in the grass), the culprits came bounding into the open:
These rabbits must have gotten hungry with all the snow we had this winter, but at least there's always bark to nibble, and they seem to be thriving now! A few of these creatures were chasing each other in and out of the underbrush, and I felt lucky to get to watch these wild bunnies being so active.
As I was driving out of the park at the end of my visit (no plovers yet), I came up behind a curious trio of pedestrians on the shoulder of the road:
Wild Turkey crossing:
How crazy and cool that we have these dinosaur-creatures just wandering around. Oh, you strange and awesome bird:
All in all, this morning was quite a wonderful start to a new season of beach visits. Hooray for warm weather, sun, and sand!
It was all gray and wet today, but yesterday was gloriously clear and warm. I couldn't very well pass up the chance to go outside with weather like that! It'd been a while since I was last at the shore, so I headed off to Milford Point for an awesome beach-filled afternoon.
The tide was the lowest I've ever seen it here, and I walked across wide expanses of wet sand under the prettiest blue sky (a sailboat makes the scene even prettier):
Actually, most of the ground I walked on was covered with mussel and oyster shells (and beds of living shellfish, too). It felt very strange to be walking right on the ocean floor:
Mysterious creatures buried in the sand kept spitting jets of water into the air as I walked here. More molluscs, perhaps?
The scenery was undeniably cool, but my favorite part of the visit was a big flock of Snow Buntings (at least 100 birds) that kept flying back and forth across the beach. These little birds are super cute. Of course, they wouldn't come near (or sit still) enough for close up pictures, but their white/black/brown costumes made a cool sight as they blew around the beach in their little chirping flurries:
I've only seen Snow Buntings a couple of times before, and only at the shore in winter. It was cool to see so many of these fancy little winter visitors at once!
Some more familiar winter shore birds were around, too: dozens of American Black Ducks, a flock of Brant, and a couple of Common Loons way out in the water.
These two Red-breasted Mergansers were foraging close to the shore:
They were pretty well synchronized in their underwater hunts, a pair of snorklers floating by:
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this handsome Ring-billed Gull, too:
Then the afternoon got later and the light got redder, and the scenery was awesome in new ways. I love this brilliant marsh grass (with what I'm assuming are high-tide markings):
I'm glad I took advantage of the lovely weather to visit the shore!
Paul ran in a race this morning at Short Beach Park in the town of Stratford, and I got to tag along. The day was cold and windy and cloudy, but I was happy to toodle around on the beach while other people engaged in strenuous physical activity. :P
We have two species of loons that hang out in the ocean around here during the winter: the Common Loon and the Red-throated Loon. Both birds have that sleek loon shape, and at this time of year they wear similar patterns of gray and white (greatly muted from their striking breeding plumage). I'm much more familiar with Common Loons, especially in their fancy black-and-white summer costumes, but this morning I was happy to get to see a Red-throated Loon for the first time, distinguishable (as I learned today) by its speckled back, its relatively thin bill (compared to the Common Loon), and its habit of holding its bill up at a slight angle. I'm amazed at the elegence of this bird, even (or perhaps especially) in its simple gray and white:
On such a cold and windy day, not many other creatures (besides running people, of course) were particularly active. A saw a ton of Blue Mussel shells in the sand, swept up into a colorful band by the tide:
And several Ring-billed Gulls kept me company on the wind-blown beach, huddled against the cold. I especially like this grumpy-looking fellow:
The days are getting steadily colder, but the beach has has creatures to see no matter the season. And now that it feels like winter, all we need is some real snow!
