Tag Archives: Feeding

Grackle with a Double Snack

May 6, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

With his mouth full of bugs this Grackle paused a couple minutes at the edge of the pond before flying off to his nest.

I didn’t see him make the catch and have no idea how he got these two bugs in his beak at once. Maybe the effort was why he rested before heading to his nest.

He eventually flew out to this tree, aka “the skinny tree,” where his nest seemed to be in the broken Wood Duck box seen on the far side of the trunk.

An Alligator was patrolling the water around the tree. The Grackle dive-bombed the Alligator several times with no effect.

There was at least one turtle in the water and there is one Great Blue Heron and three Great Egret nests with chicks in the branches above, either of which would be more enticing to the gator.

Perching Birds

Grackle with a Snack

April 24, 2018 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

I spotted this shimmery Grackle not far from those I saw earlier in the month poking in the water. This one had caught a dragonfly and was attempting to dunk it in the pond.

He jumped closer to the water and bent down a few times but didn’t seem satisfied.

As sometimes happens, I got distracted by other activity around the pond and didn’t see if he had success or just flew off.

Birds

Bringing Home the Fish: Oops!

April 23, 2018 Ellen Jennings 5 Comments

Usually Anhinga eat the fish they catch while they are swimming, often executing some intricate fish flipping maneuvers to get the fish in position to swallow head first. Occasionally, I have seen them get out of the water and beat the fish for awhile, although I’m not sure why. The fish looks dead with that sharp beak speared through it. Sometimes it appears the fish is stuck and at this time of year they may be on their way to the nest with it. No matter the reason, it is an activity that comes with risk.

This Anhinga swam thirty or forty feet to reach an alligator platform, then flapped and pulled himself out of the water.

Wack, wack, wack the fish.

Toss it into position.

Over the side it went, never to be seen by this bird again.

Birds

Bringing Home the Fish

April 21, 2018 Ellen Jennings 7 Comments

Anhingas fish by swimming underwater and spearing their prey. They then need to air dry and are often seen with their wings fully spread. This one must have young to feed as he bypassed the usual process.

After he pulled himself out of the water, he took very little time to dry. He held the fish in his beak and worked his way up the stick.

Once airborne he had to really work it to get to the island about 50 feet (16 meters) away. I wasn’t sure he was going to make it; twice his wings dipped into the water.

He did make it, and disappeared into the island underbrush with his catch.

Raptor

Barred Owl Pair Getting Lunch

April 15, 2018 Ellen Jennings 10 Comments

The first Barred Owl from my previous post appeared to be just hanging out on a limb above a small pond, maybe nodding off.

All the while he was watching the water below. He dropped down and out of my sight. I circled around the pond to discover the Owl posing nicely at the base of a Cypress tree. I didn’t see the frog until I was developing the images.

The presence of the frog explained the behavior of the mate, who had moved to a branch above, hunched over watching, and was making clucking noises. After a few minutes of this they flew off together, I hope to share the frog.

Wading Birds

Step, Step, Watch: GBH Looking for Lunch

April 12, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

I stopped to watch this Great Blue Heron hunting in the marshy area just off the rookery, hoping for some action images. He was quite close to the edge, there were no reeds between us to interfere, and the sun was providing nice light on the patch of marsh. All we needed was the food component.

The Heron worked deliberately and slowly from left to right, intently watching for movement, but found nothing worth nabbing.

Keeping one eye on him, my attention wandered. Still nothing. After about a half hour I moved on. I wondered if he should, too.

Wading Birds

Fish for Dinner

February 4, 2018 Ellen Jennings 6 Comments

“Oh”

The Great Blue Heron seemed to be showing off his catch, although it seemed risking that another bird might want to take it.

Back and forth he went while the fish continued to flop.

The heron eventually threw the fish on the ground.

Picked it up in a different position and went back into the reeds where he consumed his meal.

Click on any photo for larger view.

Animals, Wildlife

One Got Away

December 4, 2017 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

I did not see the Needlefish when I was taking these shots. The glare from the afternoon sun and the splash from the strand feeding Dolphin were what I saw in the viewfinder while I was hoping the Dolphin’s head would emerge through the water.

The fish’s jumping skills outran the Dolphin’s efforts to corner him near shore.

In a matter of seconds the the Dolphin turned back into the deeper water.

Birds, Wading Birds

Wood Stork Frenzy

June 30, 2017 Ellen Jennings Leave a comment

We could see a few Wood Storks dropping down in a marsh just off the road. What luck, room to pull off the road and a clear view down this open area to a chaotic scene of feeding Wood Storks with a few smaller wading birds joined in.

The group was in constant motion and some took off for greener pastures, well beyond where we could see.

A few managed to sneak off on their own, busily working the water.

The rest just kept moving further down this outlet.

Timing is everything. When we passed back by this area an hour later there wasn’t a bird in sight.

Animals, Nature

Dolphin Frenzy

May 12, 2017 Ellen Jennings 7 Comments

A big splash got our attention as we were leaving the USS Yorktown at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum this afternoon. I thought it might be an Alligator, then saw a high splash of water.

Dolphin Feeding — Dolphin Making Big Splash – click photo for larger view

The dolphin made his way up and down the stretch of water that sits between the museum boats and the shore, splashing as he went. Fortunately for me there is a dock that runs parallel to the shore and away I went to follow the unfolding drama.

A large fish started jumping out of the water trying to stay ahead of the dolphin.

He got caught!

Then got away!

Undeterred, the dolphin tried again while a Snowy Egret decided to relocate further from the action.

The volume of water and waves the dolphin splashed up was incredible to watch.