The Fontenelle Forest Wetlands were dark, damp and dreary
this morning (March 28). It was 30 degrees. The song birds were not out yet, so I went to
the lake to see what kinds of water fowl were present today. The lake was nearly empty, but I did see
several Hooded Merganser Ducks a few hundred yards away. They don't stay for the summer so I decided
to try to sneak closer for a photo.
There is very little cover on the trail, so my chances of getting closer
were slim. When I arrived at the spot I
had chosen, no ducks were in sight. I
decided to wait a few minutes to see if any ducks flew in.
I couldn't see the near shore from my position. Suddenly several ducks burst into the
air. Apparently the ducks had seen me
after all. A huge owl ascended from the
hidden bank. It was struggling to carry
a heavy dark object - a duck. It landed
on a branch of a nearby tree and I attempted to photograph it. I had problems. There were many obstructing branches and I
was so close that I couldn't get the whole owl in a single frame. I took the best shot I could of the top of
the owl and the bottom and tried to figure out where to go to get a better
shot. The Great Horned Owl saw me and
decided to carry the heavy load to another branch that was even more obstructed
and then flew off entirely. I used
Photoshop to assemble the two owl images into one. The resulting image isn't anything more than
a record shot, but it was better than nothing.
This is the first Great Horned Owl I've photographed in Fontenelle
Forest.
There were hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls flying over the
water today.
This Ring-necked Duck caught a tiny fish for lunch.
The Great Horned Owl didn't eat all of the Hooded
Mergansers. I was able to capture this
image by panning the camera as it flew by.
I also panned this shot of a flying Common Merganser.
This Downy Woodpecker isn't one of the migrants. It has been here all winter.
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