Today Steve Jones and his daughter Theresa drove down fro La Rue to spend
the day looking for photographic opportunities. Steve and I met earlier this
year when we were both at Big Island Wildlife Area while viewing the Wilson's
Phalaropes and Black-necked Stilts. It proved to be an interesting day as we
tried to get a good sight line first at a Green Heron nest, and later at a
Sharp-shinned Hawk nest. Like kids everywhere, these were camera shy.

The Green Herons required some dexterity to get in a position to have a
straight line to shot from. Initially one of the hatchlings was on the nest and
the others were on the branch behind it. When we were getting set to take
pictures they all tried to hid behind a cluster of leaves near the nest. This  was
comic as their bodies were somewhat well hidden, but their beaks and  feet
were  sticking out in all directions. The result resembled a scrambled
kaleidoscope. It will be interesting to see how the pictures come out.

When we got to the hawk's nest everyone was hunkered down and we could only
see the top of one hatchling's head. Again Murphy's Law was at work, ergo,  if
there is one branch or group of leaves, it will be exactly where it will
block your camera sight line. After moving around to every possible place to
stand we managed to find the best spot to try to take pictures from. After a
short time one, then two heads popped up and down. Okay but not what we really
were looking for. Then one of the adults swooped in and left a ready made
dinner. Activity picked up in the nest and now there appeared to be at least
three chicks in the nest. I'm not sure whether it was a statement of opinion or
coincidence, but the largest chick got into a position that NASA would call a
"moon shot." We took multiple pictures and I'm hoping they have much of the
chicks and little of the branch.

We later went to the boardwalk at Area M to take shots of the Osprey. An
adult was busy feeding the nestlings. This is a distant shot and likely will
have small images. While on the boardwalk a male Prothonotary Warbler flew onto
the rail and stood proudly in the sunlight. He then moved to a near branch and
 we shot away with our cameras. This was followed by a tasty meal at Jules in
 Galena and then we were off to Old Sunbury Road. Eventually it got hotter,
we  got smarter, and called it a day.

Some species we observed during the day are:
Double-crested Cormorant
Green Heron
Wood Duck
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Eastern Kingbird
Red-eyed Vireo
Cliff Swallow
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Indigo Bunting
Baltimore Oriole

Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve






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