Bald Eagles Here on a Cold December Morning

Flock of Coots and Flying Bald Eagle

We have a pair of Bald Eagles that are now scouting and hunting here on our 101 acre private community lake.  The Bald Eagles were sitting in my next door neighbor’s tree yesterday morning (12-1-10) at about 11:00 AM.  I got a few pictures of the perched Eagles.  One of these same Bald Eagles was out hunting for American Coots or small animals such as Chipmunks, that afternoon at about 3:30 PM.  That Eagle perched across the lake and my pictures of that Eagle were not as crisp due to the distance.  You will note in the one photo I took of the Eagle flying, that the Eagle was quite close to a flock of rather terrified American Coots!  As far as I know, the Eagle did not get a Coot on that occasion.

I have been told by an official with the  local TN Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources Agency office,  that there are likely four nesting pairs of Bald Eagles in my community.  It is a joy seeing the big birds each and every time here!  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.

 

Coots Grazing, Taking Wing to the Water and Paddling in a Flock

The American Coots have been here on the lake now for several weeks.  They are visiting our lake as the seemingly do on an annual basis in Fall.  Here on this blog I have already shown photographs of the Coots paddling on the lake, and even flying across the surface of the lake.  Yesterday I noticed that a small division of the big flock of Coots was grazing on a neighbor’s backyard lawn!  I did not know that Coots would graze.  I don’t know if the Coots were trying to catch earthworms or if they were eating grass.  I caught pictures of the Coots taking a short flight into the lake and then the division of Coots joining the larger flock on the water.  Notice the huge clawed toed feet that these waterbirds have.  The Coot is not a duck but is a bird in the Rail family.  It has a beak instead of a duck bill.  The Coots are good divers and often cruise the shallows of the lake looking for food.  They seem to eat water plants and small aquatic animals and insects.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Migratory Visitor Ducks on the Lake

Yesterday we had a lot of visiting Ducks here!  I went outside on the deck and looked at the lake and noticed that the Pintails were still here but were joined by some different Ducks.  I saw a couple of drake or male, Bufflehead Ducks and several Lesser Scaup Ducks along with the American Coots, Pied-Billed Grebes and the Northern Pintails.  Of course, the Greylag Goose and the Canada Geese are also still here.  I am so excited to see the Bufflehead Ducks back again.  Last Winter I took some pictures of Buffleheads here and posted them on this blog.  I have never before seen the Scaups so that is a real treat.  The Buffleheads are white and black with a mostly white head and black neck and back and a white chest and belly.  The Buffleheads are very shy ducks, and are a lot like the Wood Ducks in their shyness.  These Ducks were all located way out in the middle of the lake.  They never came anywhere near the shoreline like the Grebes and Coots have.  The Scaup males or drakes, are black and white with a blueish bill.  The female or hen Lesser Scaup is dark brown, lighter brown and tan with a bit of buff around the eyes.  The Scaups were mixed in with the Pintails.  The Northern Pintails are brown and black and have those very distinctive turned-up long tail feathers.  I took these pictures on 11/20/10 from my back deck.   Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Buffleheads (Top), Northern Pintails

Male Bufflehead Duck

Lesser Scaups

Buffleheads and Pintails

Coots on the Fly

A Small Part of the Flock

The American Coots have been visiting here on our 101 acre community lake for about a month or so now.  I just recently saw them flying and caught the action with my trusty camera.  The American Coot, though looking a lot like a duck, is a member of the Rail bird family.   Coots have huge webbed feet but also have claws.  Coots also have a beak rather than a duck-like bill.  The Coots are black with a white beak.  The Coots also do not quack but rather whistle a thin reedy bird-like softer whistle.  The Coots are great divers.  They primarily eat lake, pond, or river water plants.  This particular group of Coots flew up a ways to avoid an on-coming pontoon boat.  I have enjoyed seeing the Coots here and believe that they will be around a few more weeks before migrating to sunnier and warmer places.  I took these pictures just a few days ago.  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Seven Front and Back Yard Wildlife Views on November 15, 2010

Two days ago I took a lot of pictures of the various animals, waterfowl, and birds here in my yards.  I live on a street that includes a hardwood forest and lake setting so we have a lot of wildlife visit.  On November 15, 2010, I took pictures of a Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadees, American Robins, an Eastern Blue Jay, White-Breasted  Nuthatch, Grey Squirrel, and a Mallard Duck.  It was a drizzly and cool breezy day here.  I sometimes get very thrilled by seeing and taking pictures of all of the visiting critters here!  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Bald Eagles Hunting

I was with a good friend the other day and she saw a couple of Bald Eagles flying low over the lake.  I managed to get some pictures taken.  The Eagles were no doubt hunting as there was a flock of American Coots nearby.  There are four nesting pairs of Bald Eagles in the area of my community.   Although the Bald Eagles live in the area, they are not frequently seen here on our lake.  The Bald Eagles will also hunt for fish, very small animals and other smaller birds.  The Eagles “Grab and go” when hunting.  The Eagles swoop down on the prey and grab fast with the long strong talon claws.  The Eagle will carry the prey with its very thick talons.  I was very happy to see this brief visit of the Eagles on the lake in back of my home on 11/11/10 in the morning.   I do apologize for posting this so late – I have a houseguest and I just got side-tracked.  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

American Coots

Waterbird Extravaganza

Ducks, Geese, Grebes, and Coots galore were out on our 101 acre community lake yesterday.  A few migratory visitors surprised me when I took a picture of a large group of mixed birds way out on the lake.  Imagine my surprise to see in one spot American Widgeons, Pied-Billed Grebes, Mallard Ducks, American Coots, Wood Ducks and of all things, Lesser Scaup Ducks!  Very exciting to say the least!  This is the first time I have seen Scaup ducks and they are interesting beauties with black and white coloring with a blue bill and yellow eyes.  We also have our resident group of Canada Geese and that old faithful Greylag Goose is still here.  Our lake is having far fewer boats out so the ducks feel safer on the water.  My husband also reported seeing a Bald Eagle fly over the lake this morning.  That makes a lot of sense as I have read that the Bald Eagle likes eating Coots.  When the Eagles fly around here, all of the little animals and smaller waterbirds hide.  I also noted that the big flock of Coots is now here.  I saw about 50 Coots in all.  We probably had 30 Widgeons here today.  Only a handful of the Scaups and Grebes were out.  Same for the Wood Ducks (I only saw 2 today).  In the photo of the big mixed flock, there are American Widgeons, Grebes, Lesser Scaups, American Coots, and a Wood Duck or two.  All of these pictures were taken on 10/31/10 from my back deck.  Today was certainly that “Waterbird Extravaganza” type of day here!  By the way, so far, this morning is a very quiet one and a big contrast to all of the exciting scenes of yesterday.  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Cruisin’ Coot and Grebe

American Coots are not ducks but are water birds that are members of the Rail family of birds.  They do closely resemble diving ducks.  They have dark grey to light black bodies with the same shade of black heads and a white chicken-like beak or bill.  They also have really enormous feet that are somewhere between a chicken’s and a duck’s in look.  Coots have a slightly white slender tip of the tail feathers.   This white coloring is really quite slight.  The American Coots are Fall and Winter visitors here on the lake.  I have been eagerly awaiting their arrival for several weeks now.   So far as of yesterday (10-15-10 when I took the pictures),  I have just seen the one Coot, who may be a scout bird.  If this one Coot is not a scout, it means that the main flock is indeed here but I just  have not seen it because it is on the other arm of our lake.  The Coots have a slight whistling call and don’t quack.  They are pretty shy.  They eat lake weeds primarily.  They do not come up on the shore very much but prefer to paddle around in shallow areas.  I  saw a huge number of the Coots out on the partially frozen lake last January.  The Coots usually stay around until mid to late March and then are on the way elsewhere, usually up North.  I was slightly amused to see that paddling right around the Coot was a single Pied-Billed Grebe (part of that big flock visiting here in recent days).  In fact, that Grebe seemed to be fairly aggressive toward the Coot!  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.

On a very personal and one time only note, today’s post is in memory of my friend and professional mentor from the City of Sacramento, CA, Madeline Craveiro, who passed away on Aug. 29, 2010 at age 87.  She was my boss, friend,  and inspired my own interest in birds. (I just learned of her passing yesterday).  R.I.P. Maddie.

 

Grebe (left) Coot (right)

 

 

Pied-Billed Grebe