Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

Have you ever had one of those days when you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Well, that is exactly what happened to me this morning. It was a misty morning. The pale blue that was barely visible through the mist was a hopeful reminder that the sun might eventually break through the veil.  I was biking to the lake with my camera safely packed in my backpack and I'd already missed one good photo opportunity of a young Cooper's hawk who had just missed its strike on a squirrel that was bounding across the grass. By the time I'd unpacked my camera the Cooper's hawk was already looking for its next target. I managed a few shots in the poor light before it took off again. A quick stop off at the bottom of Shoemaker Lake was all the time that I needed to capture the great blue heron as it crossed the width of the lake in a few flaps of its wings.  And even though the low light produced some really grainy photos, I like the texture it added to the canvas. The su...

A beautifully sunny morning started with a meet-up with my photographer friend from yesterday. I remember leaving him with another photographer, both on the trail of the pileated woodpeckers. He had no photos of the pileated woodpeckers, but he did show me a photo of a sharp-shinned hawk that he took yesterday at Lakeside Park. No sooner had he showed me the photo than a Cooper's hawk flew in, landing high up in the trees. We both scrambled for the best position, but the hawk did not have enough patience to wait for us to get our feet set. It took off to the far side of the lake. My friend wished me good luck and we parted company. I set off on my usual route, wondering what the day would bring. I didn't hold much hope of seeing the hawk again and decided to just enjoy the fresh air and the walk. That walk was soon interrupted though by some familiar bird of prey calls. Looking up into the sunlight amongst the silhouettes of branches, I saw a pair of Cooper's ha...

This spring weather is being fickle. Three days ago at Lakeside Park the swans and ducks were feeding bottoms up on the aquatic plants in the lake, and today it is snowing as if it means not to stop. I shall cast my mind back a day, to Sunday morning, and some cold but sunny weather that once again saw the majority of the lake frozen. I do realize that the title of this post mentions the word pileated and that this bird is a Cooper's hawk that has yet to gain its adult plumage. This Cooper's hawk did have a part to play in the morning's proceedings though. It flew overhead moments before I located the pileated woodpeckers and gave out a fairly weak, "eek... eek" as it passed by. I do like to try to emulate bird calls and so I responded with my own desperate sounding, "eek... eek" as I fired off a few photos, trying to capture the hawk's flight. Surprisingly, the Cooper's hawk glanced down, diverted its flight and landed close by. I continue...