JimB

Carolina Wren

At a local park one morning I noticed a mallard frantically flapping its wings alongside a boardwalk that goes out into a marshy area. I ran over to see what it was stuck on but soon realized a large snapping turtle had the duck by one of its feet. I know I shouldn't interfere with natural predation, every animal has to eat but the duck kept looking at me as if begging me to help him so I got a sturdy stick and started hitting the turtle's shell with the butt end of the stick until it finally let go of the duck which then scampered off relatively unharmed. To even things out, I once rescued a snapping turtle that was literally balanced on a railroad track, all four legs were off the ground and it couldn't go anywhere and I heard the train coming in the distance!

Sanderling from this morning

Well, now I know I'm not the only one that fits the profile! I took some pain medication for my sciatica (probably a result from carrying heavy camera gear for forty years) before heading out on a one and a half hour trip to photograph shorebirds. Getting down low in the sand is still relatively easy but getting back up is a pain in the...well..everything!

From a couple days ago. The goldenrod fields are crawling with them!

Thanks, it was yesterday in NE Ohio along Lake Erie.

Immature

Virginia Rails

I was fortunate this morning to find a couple of these secretive Henslow's Sparrows in a 327 acre field!

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker