Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
We’re trying to take a bath!
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm @400mm| PS CC 23.2.0
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Whatever Weds. Do you mind…
Tag: Nature
Whatever Weds. North American Elk
Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
One of the highlights we had while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park last October were the North American Elk herds. The surprising thing is just how BIG they are. They stand 5 feet tall at the shoulder, and weigh several hundred pounds. The females are half their size. Only the males have antlers which they shed each winter. Their antler can grow up to an inch a day!
One morning while in Estes Park I saw a Bull laying in the shade with his harem and made my over to get some images of them.
The bull …
He had about dozen females (called cows) in his harem. Here he is with some of them just chillin.
Here’s an image of a bull and some of his harem we saw the night before just after the sun went behind the mountains while in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The rutting season begins in October so the bulls were on high alert keeping a close eye on their harems and keeping them close by.
Fun Fact-
Free roaming elk have a lifespan of 10-13 years in the wild.
https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/elk.htm
We really enjoyed seeing these wonderful animals while we in the park. They really do enrich the visit.
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 23.1.1
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Whatever Weds. Cattails
Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I like cattails even when they get all crazy and fluffy. I always think of it as organized chaos.
I’ve also always liked this bit of Mary Oliver’s poem regarding cattails,
“the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.”
From her poem- In Blackwater Woods.
Happy Hump Day! I hope your week is going well.
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 23.0.0
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Friday’s Feathered Friends- American Bald Eagle
Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
While out birding with the birding group at the beginning of the month we saw this wonderfully majestic bird fly in low and land on this branch above a pond.
It stayed there for quite awhile just taking in its surroundings. I turned my attention to another bird for a second and poof! Off flew the Eagle.
I’m way behind with your blogs as I spent the better part of this week at Baby Girl’s doing school runs, and playing with Littlest while she was swamped with training meetings. I’m home now and beginning to play catch up.
I hope you all have a wonderful week-end. I’ll be catching up with laundry, emails, snail mail, and blogs, and speaking of blogs WP sent me a notice today wishing me a happy 12th Blogversary.12 years! It doesn’t feel that long to me. Thank you all so much for finding my blog, for the comments, conversations, and most of all for the friendships we’ve forged throughout these years. 🥰 Thank you all so much!!
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 23.0.0
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Friday’s Feathered Friends- Wood Duck
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A couple of week ago I discovered a new park with a pond not far from home and this beautiful male Wood Duck was there among the mallards and geese.
I heard there was a female there too but, I never saw her. She too is quite striking and pretty. Here’s an image I made last year along the river of a female Wood Duck checking out a tree for a nesting spot I thought as they nest in holes in trees or if available a nesting box. They have claws that can grip bark so they can perch on branches.
The Wood Duck is one of the prettiest ducks of all the waterfowl.
Fun facts:
- Natural cavities for nesting are scarce, and the Wood Duck readily uses nest boxes provided for it. If nest boxes are placed too close together, many females lay eggs in the nests of other females.
- Wood Ducks pair up in January, and most birds arriving at the breeding grounds in the spring are already paired. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck that regularly produces two broods in one year.
- The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly over water, but other times over a mile away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of over 50 feet without injury.
- The oldest recorded Wood Duck was a male and at least 22 years, 6 months old. He had been banded in Oregon and was found in California.
We got a good snow dump during the night and early morning hours on Tuesday. It made everything so pretty! As I write this (Thursday) we’re supposed to get more snow today. #1 Grandson will be celebrating his 9th year on this planet next week. I hope we can get over the mountains to see him to help him celebrate. 9 years old! Time is flying by.
What are you doing this week-end, anything good? Have you finished your holiday shopping?
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 23.0.0
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Friday’s Feathered Friends-Yellow Warbler
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Isn’t he cheerful? This was the second time I’ve ever seen this bird. There are more than 50 species of Warblers but few are as brilliant yellow as he is. The females aren’t as bright and lack the rich chestnut streaking, but do have the black eyes, and warm yellow tones.
Fun Facts:
- In addition to the migratory form of the Yellow Warbler that breeds in North America, several other resident forms can be found in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Males in these populations can have chestnut caps or even chestnut covering the entire head.
- The nests of the Yellow Warbler are frequently parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird. The warbler often builds a new nest directly on top of the parasitized one, sometimes resulting in nests with up to six tiers.
- Life can be dangerous for a small bird. Yellow Warblers have occasionally been found caught in the strands of an orb weaver spider’s web.
- The oldest-known Yellow Warbler was a female, and was at least 11 years old when she was recaught and rereleased during banding operations in New York.~allaboutbirds.org
Sunday we drove over the mountains to go visit Baby Girl, The Handsome Surveyor, and the boys. Along the way we stopped at Maiden’s Grave pullout to view the horrible smoke plume from the Caldor Fire burning in the El Dorado National forest.
View from Maiden’s Grave, SR 88, CA.
All through the forest we kept seeing these signs- Every campground, and park is closed. 😭
The reports on the fire are somewhat better today. They’re allowing some residents to return their homes in South Lake Tahoe, and the cooler temperatures, and less wind in the week-end forecast is promising and should help the firefighters with the fight.
The smoke is still in the unhealthy range here, but the sun is trying to burn through it today so I’m feeling a wee bit more positive today on the fire front.
We haven’t any week-end plans since we’ve been gone a lot these last two weeks visiting our kids and grandkids. What about you any plans? Whatever your plans I hope you have a good week-end!
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| and iPhone 7Plus| PS CC 22.5
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Wordless Weds. Elegant Clarkia
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 22.4.3
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