our last days at River Cottage

as our ten weeks draws to a close we are still finding things that surprise us.

the other morning I got up very early to find the river fogged in... but the gift of the pre-sunrise hour was the black and white crowned night heron.  He has a white plume on his head that gives him his name and he is usually a night feeder - just a gift that I got up to find him still feeding across the river due to the late sunrise and the fog.

the river that foggy morning:

 
the night heron (you have to look closely to see the narrow white feather coming out of the top of his head- because the light was so poor) and a closer in view to try to show his crown (it is just like a single white quill sticking out of the back of his head):

two gators swimming in the early morning:

and a white ibis sunning himself as the sun broke the day:

a good view of a turtle (there are a dozen or more of them here) swimming with the small fish right by the dock:

So - my camera is still at the ready and will be for three more mornings - but we are packing and organizing and getting ready to head out- so this might be the last post from your reporting naturalist here on the Braden River.  I have had an absolute blast being here and discovering all the variety that life on the river has to offer an observer of the day to day goings on.

a rare treasure

is what my bird book said about sighting the endangered wood stork...

they have lost their food supplies and therefore are not breeding in enough numbers to keep the population supported.  these birds- the only storks in north america- fish by wading through shallow water and stirring up the mud so fish swim around their bills.  when a fish touches the bill they immediately (fastest movement in the animal kingdom per the info in the book) grab it and swallow.

so imagine my surprise when over the weekend we had a visit from a wood stork... no mistaking this guy... I had gone out to take a photo of the anhinga drying near the dock and then spied a great blue heron in mating feathers and a couple of turtles hanging out when I turned around and there he was- Mr. Rare Treasure wading around fishing...

never a dull moment here at River Cottage

our mating heron-

the anhinga drying his feathers

turtle catching a breath and then with a buddy--

 

a mottled duck-

and here he is the star of the show!

islands in the stream

OK- blatant theft of title from Hemingway... LOL - but here is a series of photos that show a "new island" being formed in the windy conditions we had two days ago and of it floating down stream to us-

it eventually went around the bend and is undoubtedly resting at the end of the inlet having joined some other prior "break-aways"...

maybe I should have called this entry "Il Flottante" LOL

it was shaped like the continent of Africa-

and this bird rode it all the way down the river branch...LOL

and here is a series of a heron in flight over the river- that I still haven't mastered in focus but I thought it was cool to see his wing span...

and aren't his legs funny - just sort of following along there?