Monday, May 18, 2020

Lake Of The Lilies

The Mute Swans have returned in large numbers to Lake of the Lilies.
I really enjoy seeing these huge, unmistakable water birds.
Very common in ponds along the northeast,
the neck is held curved while swimming, sexes are similar!

- posing -

- fighting -

- showing off -

- taking off -


The Red Winged Black Bird
A widespread familiar bird, sexes are dissimilar...the female is brown all over.


Greater Yellow Legs
A robust, elegant wading bird.
It is extremely long, with orange yellow legs and a long, relatively thick bill.               


Turkey Vulture
Common and widespread, it is the larger of the 2 Vultures.

They have a pretty feather pattern, I thought it would be all black.

We were not able to find the Killdeer babies, I hope they are ok,
I did not see mom or dad either.

Another fun day in the books, what have you guys been doing to keep busy?

15 comments:

R's Rue said...

Perfect models. Have a beautiful day.

Changes in the wind said...

How I loved all the poses of the swans:) Think showing off was my favorite.

eileeninmd said...

Hello Debbie,

Beautiful captures of the Mute Swans! I also love the Red-winged Blackbirds and Yellowlegs. The vulture is a cool looking bird. Great post. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

Karen said...

Oh, lovely swan shots! The vultures are interesting.

Rian said...

"what have you guys been doing to keep busy?" Reading, cooking, and making masks this weekend... oh, and a little Skyping with a friend. Wish we lived closer to water... although my son in Oahu sends me video's of the surf! Love your pics!

Marie Smith said...

Great photos as usual Debbie. That’s quite a face on that vulture!

Ruth Hiebert said...

The beauty of the birds is a joy to watch. I noticed the other day as well, that the Turkey Vulture is more brown than black, as I had thought it was.

Kim Sharman said...

I love swans. I always think they are so perfectly elegant.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

A great birding day! Your photos even make the vulture look pretty )). But the swan... beyond beautiful!

BeachGypsy said...

So many great shots you got! My favorites are the mute swans tho.....wow, they are so regal looking! Hope you had a great weekend, take care!

Brian King said...

Great photos! I don't think I've ever seen more than one pair of swans at a time. Love the Yellow Legs! We do sometimes see Black Vultures mixed in with Turkeys here, but the Turkeys are more prevalent.

Debbie said...

thank you kim...most days they are very still and seem to be posing for me. for the most part, on this day, they were so busy and hoping all over the place. maybe they were playing but they certainly were not posing for pictures!!

Conniecrafter said...

Wow you had a fun day at the lake didn't you, such great pictures, it always amazes me when they take off to fly, the wing span is just outstanding! It is so interesting to see the size of their legs and that they can hold them up. I got some pictures of some vultures too but nothing this good, wow you can see all the great details on them. Glad you had a great day out!

LeAnn said...

Those Mute swan photos are spectacular. I love the Blackbird too. That little bit of orange is lovely. The wading bird is unique with it's long legs and bill. I haven't seen anything like that before. Also, the Turkey Vulture is new to me. Great shots on all of these.
Even though we don't get out a ton, we always seem busy which is good. We did go and put flowers on some family graves, recently and it was a great drive to two different spots. I think we are going down to put flowers on my parents graves. it's about a three hour drive; which will be nice to do this.
Blessings and hugs!

Lowcarb team member said...

Great selection here Debbie, thank you.

All the best Jan