Kayak goes in the water. You go in the kayak. Bird’s in the water. Our bird. Sing a classic sailing song. “Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies”…
That’s right ladies and gentlemen; the James River is full of great whites! Great white egrets anyway. (Cancel the cello music.) While observing this week I spotted three of them hanging out in the interior of the island. I snapped this picture as one of them was heading back in from hunting.
The Great blue herons don’t seem to mind the visitors. They are continuing the process of building nests and doing what they do! There have been some reports of eggs, though I have yet to see anything personally. Of course, they are perched at least 20 feet up in trees on an island in the middle of the river, so I’m not really sure how I would know! Any advice on getting a look at the nests without being obtrusive (besides wading through the river and climbing a tree with a camera around my neck) would be appreciated!
Meawnhile, back with the ospreys…I found and reported a nest! After scouring near the 14th Street Bridge, I decided to head back to my car when out in the distance I noticed something. Using my handy dandy binoculars (Christmas presents, they rock!) I realized that I was looking at an osprey nest perched a top an electric transmission tower in the middle of the James! After doing some exploring, I found the perfect place to perch (pun intended) and managed to get a few good shots. The nest is very visible from the Manchester Bridge and its exact location has been uploaded to the OspreyWatch project.
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