Adolescence is HARD! There are so many life skills to learn. If you're a young bird, you'd better learn them fast, or you'll starve!
I'm getting mighty hungry.
No prob.
I know what to do!
I watched Mom and Dad fishing lots of times.
The yummy little fishies are down there, in the water.
First you find a nice stick to stand on.
Then you flatten yourself out and creep along the stick, real sneaky-like.
Ah, this is good. That funny-looking leaf will disguise me.
YES! A tasty little fish!
Hmmm. Farther away than I thought.
No problem. Just lean forward a bit more!
And a little more.
SPLASH!
Was anyone watching?!?
No one to the left ...
No one to the right...
Whew! That could have been embarrassing!
This time I'll hold on even tighter.
When we walked the trail at the LaPlatte River Marsh Nature Area, we were riveted by the sight of a young Green Heron figuring out how to catch a fish.
The poor youngster started out on a limb a full yard above the water - and fell in twice. Then it tried hopping to another branch, overcorrected, and almost fell in again.
Finally, the bird went to a much lower branch and successfully caught two fish in a few minutes.
It's a steep learning curve when your very life depends on it!
We heard a train, an airplane, and distant cars and lawnmowers - but there's still a sense of remoteness as this trail winds through woods, along the river and beside an extensive wetland.
In addition to the Green Heron, we saw Great Blue Herons and a Black-crowned Night-Heron along with nesting Eastern Kingbirds and fishing Belted Kingfishers. Other birds included Song Sparrows, a Wood Duck, phoebes, Common Yellowthroats, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Great Crested Flycatcher.
Ospreys are raising young on the platform near the entrance to the trail.
The feisty youngster did its best to look and sound dangerous.
Another critter with a raptor name caught our attention: a Common Pondhawk.
There were also delicate blue dragonflies.
Every time we walk in an area like this, we're grateful for organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and all of the state's various land trusts for conserving such beauty!
More photos from this peaceful ramble:
photos by Bernie, words by Maeve
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