Brief Window of Light
January 31st, 2022
After a few weeks of being unable to leave the house, I finally was able to take advantage of some lovely light at the end of the month. A partly cloudy day with internals of sunshine that made for lovely pools of light on the birds offered a setting where the antics of the birds could be captured.
The first moment was when a pied bill grebe grabbed a meal. This bird was uncharacteristically closer to the viewing platform and kept fishing with repeated dives. Serendipitously, the bird caught a fish in a pool of momentary light coming through the clouds. After a few moves around, the bird finally flew off to avoid giving up the meal to another bird.
The lovely light continued and fell upon a common merganser that swam past my viewing platform. The beautiful color of the bird with the blue water was eye catching. After a swim across, the bird flew off.
For a brief few moments, we were visited with a Wilson’s Snipe. The bird ventured out of the brush near the edge of the water. I was struck by how the bird bobbed up and down almost as if dancing in front of us. After a brief walk, the bird disappeared back into the reeds at the edge of the water.
The day was capped off with a bald eagle who first caught a fish, consumed the fish, and then took flight several times to entertain us. This resulted in a beautiful image as the bird flew in to pester his mate eating the fish she was absorbed consuming.
