Just in – our next door neighbors, Beth and Russ, watched and took great pictures of a red-shouldered hawk that spent most of the day atop our boat’s gazebo frame.
What do you think he or she was watching? Not out at the lake but towards shore.
Wonder if it was our “Tiki Hawk” again??? Last time I took photos of the Tiki Hawk – (see the May 2010 Archive for video and still images) it was bonked on the head by a blue jay…. only crows to pester the big birds these days….
Lake Thoreau Nessie or Big Fish Battle?
June 16, 2011 – While downloading and viewing recent pictures of Lake Thoreau Wildlife, my daughter and I think we may have finally spotted the Lake Thoreau Nessie!
Unfortunately I only took a still and not a video image of our possible “Nessie”… two days after this photo, we had two or three floating (and very dead) and very large grass carp.
There is also a possibility that our “Nessie” picture is of two large turtles fighting or mating. Another person (Tom) says he has seen something like our “Nessie” candidate above when he has been kayaking over the deeper section of the lake in front of our townhouses…. the mystery continues.
Pictures of dead carp on June 18th below – more to follow.
Shallow Water Circular Nesting Site for Largemouth Bass
June 19, 2011 While over on our cluster “wine” dock, I noticed and took videos of a largemouth bass nesting site. Lake Thoreau has a number of these nesting areas near its shores – particularly in shaded areas. You can see them in shallow water that is about a foot deep. The one in the video below is a near perfect circle, with a diameter of about 18 inches. The inside of the circle is composed of stones and shells. The perimeter of the circle is sunken sticks and heavy narrow debris.
A male small largemouth bass swims around in the circle protecting the nest from other fish and intruders.
Fairfax County Public Schools has a nice website on the largemouth bass.
Posted in lake wildlife blog, largemouth bass | Tags: largemouth bass nesting site
Canada Geese Gosling with Extra Leg on its Back
June 17, 2011
We were sitting on our dock boat when we heard a chirping sound and saw a lone gosling coming towards our boat. He was adorable and seemed to be looking for his 18 brothers and sisters, and parents.
As he went around our boat we noticed that he had what appeared to be a third leg on his back. Was this an extra leg or a deformed wing? He was swimming quite quickly – which led us to believe that he had two good working legs and flippers underneath him. Or, in viewing the picture below again – it looks like he (or she) already has a wing forming – so perhaps it is a leg out of joint….
Crazy Goose Jumps up on Deck Rail to Eat Corn
The geese are getting very brazen…. they used to wait until the squirrel scattered corn on the ground from the feeder on our deck rail. One goose has taken to jumping up on our deck rail to eat the corn straight from the corn feeder.
It even waits while my husband replaces the consumed corn cob with a brand new cob. We have watched it polish off a new corn cob within 10 minutes. Thanks to Sarah we now have a bag of corn fresh off the farm to feed our crazy wildlife!
Enjoy the video of Rick’s goose polishing off a corn cob!
Posted in feeder birds, geese behavior | Tags: goose eating corn
The Canadian Geese Goslings are Here
The goslings are everywhere… we counted one group of 19 … with 4 to 5 adult geese shepherding them around — on the lake, along the walkways, and in our front rose garden!
At left are three goslings taking a break from their grazing on seeds and weeds in our rose garden. We have two bird feeders located above them from which the birds graciously scatter seeds below providing a feast for the squirrels, goslings, and ground foraging wildlife.
Enjoy these darling videos.
Posted in geese behavior, lake wildlife blog | Tags: goslings, waterfowl babies
Mallard Baby Ducklings Rescued on Lake Thoreau -
May 8, 2011
Help, Help we can’t get out!
Mama duck was squawking as her newly hatched babies were stuck in an empty flower pot.
Julia and kayak friends came to the Great Mothers Day Baby Mallard Rescue ….
Russ, with kayak friends looking on, gently moves the baby ducklings from the bottom of the flower pot and gives them to their anxiously awaiting mother in the water.
Julia gave us permission to post these delightful pictures on the Lake Thoreau Wildlife website. Thank you so much!
Mama mallard is saying “thank you” to Julia, Russ and friends as her four babies huddle around mom.
Posted in lake wildlife blog, mallard ducklings | Tags: mallard baby ducklings
Blue Jay bonks Red-Shouldered Hawk on Head
Lake Thoreau, May 2nd, 9:10 am While video recording a young red-shouldered hawk who was sitting on a tiki lamp on our dockboat — a blue jay came by from the left and hit the hawk on the head…. the hawk was very surprised, then settled back down, and finally flew off.
Posted in Hawk and Blue Jay, wildlife blog | Tags: bird behavior, blue jay, red shouldered hawk
Red-Shouldered Hawk Hunts Prey in Lake
Lake Thoreau, May 2nd, 9:05am — a young red-shouldered hawk decided to visit our lower bird feeders. He (or she) was sitting on the hanging pole for the green house feeder. From there it decided to fly down to the tiki lamps on our dockboat – and check out what was going on under the surface of the lake.
The above “all about birds” link states that the red-shouldered hawk eats “small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and crayfish” which explains why he or she was so intent on watching the water.
Posted in lake wildlife blog, red-shouldered hawk | Tags: red shouldered hawk, water prey
