Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Day Trip To Lake Mattamuskeet

I had planned to go yesterday but the car battery died late in the day and the running around to get a new one put me behind.  It was a spur of the moment decision early this morning to go ahead with the trip.  I guess I should have really checked the weather because the wind was gusting steadily all day.  But oh well.  The first thing I saw when I entered the refuge was a group of white pelicans.  It was pretty cool to see so many together but they sure were spooky.  If you tried to get close they would fly.

The osprey was steady on the hunt and had the ducks and geese fussing over their little ones.














The Indigo Buntings were everywhere.  This particular male was displaying like crazy.  I guess he was trying to find himself a sweet lady bird.












The Great Crested Flycatchers were numerous and steadily keeping a fuss, chasing each other and in general stirring up all the other birds.













I saw several groups of Wood Duck chicks.  In this particular group I counted 12 chicks.  Some had already gone by.  Their mortality rate is so high with falling victim to turtles, large fish and assorted birds of prey you can only hope that at least a third will make it to adulthood.  I watched this female for a while and she sure was a good mom.

I was out walking along the edge of one of the canals when a big splash startled me.  I guess this gator was looking for a meal.



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