Today he was shy - huddled up next to the trunk of an old tree at the water's edge.

I gave him a little space and he slowly edged out into an open area.


Heh heh - I'm watching him too. He sure is shy!


Pretty soon the Bittern forgot about us and began looking for lunch.


The Great Blue Heron came in for a landing across the pond - wheeeeee!


'Brrrrrr! Who used up all the hot water? I'm f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g!!


It was playtime for some of the Hooded Mergansers.


Wait! What? I'm 'IT'? What's 'IT'?


Some of the females played too - good exercise in cold weather, you know.


This Merganser appears to be hypnotized by the reflections in the water.


Keeping an eye on everything is a loud little Kingfisher.

And that's the end.

November 20, 2014
My hopes for another Bittern viewing were dashed today by the presence of a large riding vehicle driven by someone who resembled Santa. The vehicle carried the largest, loudest leaf blower I've ever heard. Santa drove it up and down the path, up and down, up and down. I'm sure many birds were cowering in their dens.

A Green-winged Teal keeps trying to get away from the cacophony.


So does his pal, an American Wigeon.


A small hawk (Coopers?) followed me around but never sat in the open.


Here he is making a diving departure from the big tree near the pond.


Once again a Kingfisher is the sentry.