Sunday, June 1, 2014

Grobschmidt Park (part 2)


Seeing that the weather will be turning stormy for next few days, I decided to take one more advantage of the good weather and headed over to Grobschmidt Park, just 3 miles from home, about an hour before sunset on Saturday evening.

I briefly saw a Baltimore Oriole, but other than that, it was the usual suspects.
 I could hear this bird, but could not see him to get an identification.



Walking closer to the lake, I got a quick glimpse of these 
Great Egrets heading out for the night.

Great Egrets land in a tree.
Great Egrets land in a tree.

Other than them, I didn't see much else outside of normal.
Red Winged Black Birds, Canada Geese and such, 
so that was about it I thought.
As I learned when I used to go out metal detecting, however,
you keep swinging until you get to the car, because you never
know what you'll find. That is so true, I once found a gold ring
just feet from my car as I walked back to it!

So it goes with nature photography as well.
The sun is setting, but I stay alert as I hike back out.
Sunset on Grobschmidt Park.
Sunset on Grobschmidt Park.

Walking the trail, I caught glimpse of this Green Heron
perched high, checking out the scene.
This turned out to be the highlight of the evening;
 my first Green Heron of the year.

Green Heron perched at sunset.
Green Heron perched at sunset.

... and another 15 minutes, as it's a bit darker.

Green Heron perched at sunset.
Green Heron perched at sunset.

Keeping my short window of nice weather in mind,
I went back the very next morning arriving around 6am which
was about 45 minutes after sunrise, but clouds kept it dark.

Coming off the walking trail, getting first sight of the lake,
I see that the pair of Great Egrets are back. One is in a tree,
the other on the small island.

Great Egret at dawn.
Great Egret at dawn.

 A Mallard Duck family at first light.

Mallards in early light.
Mallards in early light.

Then scanning the opposite shore, I spotted this deer
out for an early morning swim accompanied by
a couple of Canada Geese. They were not swimming by,
but staying next to the deer. They must be one big happy 'Framly'.

A deer takes a dip in the lake.
A deer takes a dip in the lake.

Not too long after, a pair of Wood Ducks appear.

Wood Ducks at dawn
Wood Ducks at dawn.

Then suddenly "SPA-LOOSH!" A Caspian Tern
dove head first into the water. Missing his breakfast
he came up empty, but gracefully shook it off. 

Caspian Tern shakes his head.
Caspian Tern shakes his head.

It's been some 30 minutes now, the sun has finally
broken through the clouds and I noticed that the deer
was not alone, but had a fawn out there too.
Was the fawn stuck in the mud?
Was the mother comforting
the stuck fawn? OH NO!

Deer and fawn take a dip
Deer and fawn take a dip.

No no, 10 more minutes and suddenly both had disappeared,
so it must have just been a pleasant early morning dip.

So, here's the scene as I left, followed by he sound of a
Marsh Wren who is nesting just a few paces away from
where I was standing when I took this photo.

So begins another great day at Grobschmidt Park!

Sunrise on Grobschmidt Park.
Sunrise on Grobschmidt Park.













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