Life at Boomer Lake with Deb, Sunday February 10, 2013

We have seen chilly, cloudy days and warm and summery days this week. Nothing appears to be very consistent right now. Monday, I saw a butterfly that I wasn’t able to capture, and a female Eastern Bluebird. Monday afternoon was absolutely gorgeous, and the walk paths were filled with lots of people. The birds were out in throngs.

Tuesday was another gorgeous day, and I captured this gorgeous Red-shouldered Hawk, who didn’t think that I had spotted him or her. Unfortunately, it was shaded where this hawk was, and I figured that the best thing to do was to get the shot, and worry about the formalities later. After all, why miss a shot, especially when I have only been using this new camera for only two weeks now? I’ll get better sooner or later.

I saw a couple of decoys attached to the bottom of the lake on the far east end of the lake. I feared that someone was trying to hunt, but I saw a young man later in the week feeding the Canada Geese, Mallards, and Ring-billed Gulls. I wasn’t able to speak to him, but I feel confident that he could have placed the decoys there to attract and feed the birds.

My fisherman friend was out again and got a few more channel catfish, but nothing like the haul that he got last week. It is pretty surprising that there is so much fish in that lake, and they do jump out of the water from time to time. As a matter of fact, a fish jumped near a Canada Goose a couple of days ago, which scared the bejeebers out of him or her. I just had to laugh at the reaction.

The American Robins are out in full force, the true harbingers of spring. They were never far away this winter, just a few blocks away in the neighborhoods. They prefer having a little shelter from the cold, and some of the residential areas are a good five to ten degrees warmer than the lake. It certainly is nice to see them enjoying the trees and hunting a few worms.

The Buffleheads are still around during the coolest and cloudiest of days. Here’s a couple of interesting shots that didn’t seem too hard to get, now that I have the right equipment. Sorry about the dark shots, but for some reason, the camera kept defaulting to another setting on me.

The Killdeer are also pairing, and these two happened to be just south of Goose Island on the jetty. Surprisingly, the actually let me get fairly close before they took off, again on another cloudy day.

Here’s some Canada Geese as they were landing from their flight. It amazes me how graceful they are when they land. They are one of my favorite birds. Years ago, while in Delaware, I used to feed them at one of the local parks, and I recall that if they weren’t fed fast enough, they would pick at one’s legs.

This is about all that I have for you this week. Keep your eyes to the ground and your head in the clouds. Happy birding until we talk again!