Howell Wetlands is suddenly alive with water birds. Fall is bringing its changes. I went twice on Saturday and returned on Sunday just to see what was happening!
On Saturday there was a flock of 8-10 Killdeer hanging around. They never take off or land silently....always screeching their "killdeer...killdeer" as they move about.
Along with them were 2 sandpipers. The light was the kind that gives me lots of trouble, so I was not happy with most of my shots. This was probably the best shot I got. I thought the two sandpipers were the same...looking at most of the photos. But how come this one looks "spotted".....
....and the feathers on this one look different. I really don't know Sandpipers and only see them when they migrate. I thought there were only two there....they stayed away from the noisy Killdeers and didn't fly away. They let me stand on the boardwalk fairly close to where they were stalking through the muck and mud.
Both look "spotty" here.
I never could figure out what they were eating, but they seemed to peck away at something in the mud.
Lift that foot high...the water is getting deeper.
Wings up.
On the deeper pond area, there were about 40 visiting ducks....I think they are all young Mallards.
They seemed to like stopping for the day. There were a couple dozen Canada Geese on the same lake.
Mike and I went back on Sunday and the two sandpipers were still there.
Side by side.
Hunting for something tasty.
Most of the ducks had left....just two with a handful of Canada Geese remained. There were small white feathers all over the surface of the water.
The light caught just a touch of the color under the wing on this one. Makes it look purple rather than blue.
Canada Geese are normally so clean looking and really preen a lot. This one was busy eating and covered in green slime. Whatever is in that green stuff is apparently very tasty, because both ducks and geese were eating away at it.
Big bird, little bird.
On Saturday there was a flock of 8-10 Killdeer hanging around. They never take off or land silently....always screeching their "killdeer...killdeer" as they move about.
Along with them were 2 sandpipers. The light was the kind that gives me lots of trouble, so I was not happy with most of my shots. This was probably the best shot I got. I thought the two sandpipers were the same...looking at most of the photos. But how come this one looks "spotted".....
....and the feathers on this one look different. I really don't know Sandpipers and only see them when they migrate. I thought there were only two there....they stayed away from the noisy Killdeers and didn't fly away. They let me stand on the boardwalk fairly close to where they were stalking through the muck and mud.
Both look "spotty" here.
I never could figure out what they were eating, but they seemed to peck away at something in the mud.
Lift that foot high...the water is getting deeper.
Wings up.
On the deeper pond area, there were about 40 visiting ducks....I think they are all young Mallards.
They seemed to like stopping for the day. There were a couple dozen Canada Geese on the same lake.
Mike and I went back on Sunday and the two sandpipers were still there.
Side by side.
Hunting for something tasty.
Most of the ducks had left....just two with a handful of Canada Geese remained. There were small white feathers all over the surface of the water.
The light caught just a touch of the color under the wing on this one. Makes it look purple rather than blue.
Canada Geese are normally so clean looking and really preen a lot. This one was busy eating and covered in green slime. Whatever is in that green stuff is apparently very tasty, because both ducks and geese were eating away at it.
Big bird, little bird.I'll be checking the wetlands regularly now that migration is starting....never know who might be stopping in for the day. I have some more shots from these two days that I'll save for tomorrow.
I didn't get very many photos of it. It is larger than a Mourning Dove...there was one nearby.
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