Bona Dea Update

On Tuesday the 25th. Mr. Paul Ray joined me at Bona Dea. He had his camera equipment and took some photos. The day started out cool and got warmer as time went on. This link will take you to more of the photos that were taken. They are dated 01-25-11 at the end of the album. We ran out of battery juice before we got through but out on Lake Dardanelle across from Bona Dea were a pair of Bufflehead ducks. These are not found that often around the park area. This photo shown at the link is exactly like the ones we saw on the lake. Also close to them was a Double-crested Cormorant spreading its wings as they often do. A photo here of me feeding the deer and birds and other critters on Prairie Creek.A closeup of a Great Blue Heron in flight as we scared it off and it scared us as we did not see it right away. Double click the photo and look at the sharp claws on this dude. The nest in a tree is a Barred Owl nest. That must be the nest of the owl I have been hearing every time of go to the area late in the evening. The small bird with the yellow streak on its head is a Golden-crowned Kinglet. This bird actually came to me when I was calling to it. It came within 2 or 3 feet several times. It is a very small bird and is very active. They are here just for the winter and will be leaving in the spring. We saw these ducks as we were walking along Beaver Trail and they were swimming in line following one after the other military style. Very small and compact with large heads. They are the black and white ducks. Notice their shadow in the water.There were several female Northern-shoveler ducks swimming together with no males in sight just ahead of the Ring Necks. Must be a female only meeting. They are the brownish ducks with orange legs. Also double click the photo to see the shovel looking beaks they have. They use it to dig in the mud. The ducks that are standing on the mud bar are Lesser Scaup ducks. They were just up stream from the pumping station. We also took photos of 3 different species of Sparrows: Field, Swamp and White-throated. Also Northern Cardinals and a Downy Woodpecker and some Eastern Chickadee birds. Photos shown at the link shown above. We had a good outing and saw some unusual wildlife. I was out at the park today , Friday the 28th., to feed the wildlife and while on the site a very big owl flew over and landed in a tree across the creek. Could not ID but it was not a smaller Barred Owl. It look more like a Great Horned Owl. Several flocks of what looked like Mallard Ducks flew in to Black Water Swamp about dark. A scary thing was that after nightfall I was walking on Serendipity Trail toward Waldon Way Trail and something in the woods close to the trail jumped and ran a short distance in the leaves and limbs on the ground. I believe it was a Raccoon by the way it moved and the sound of it.