Near-Misses, A Mess, and More

I spotted the great blue heron as it flew off and crossed the lake. I was able to photograph it with a zoom lens but mist from the water gave it a ghostly quality.

Here's something I did not see at all, but the game camera caught the scene. What I saw was a mess in our back yard, specifically a few areas of muddy dug-up dirt where grass had been. I called my husband to the window to see it. "I'll bet it was the pigs," he said.

He had seen pigs wandering the neighborhood again! We saw them a year ago. They escaped from a small farm that is nearby. It made sense that they were the perpetrators. I decided to check the game camera and sure enough! Here they are rooting in the grass. Apparently they were out all night. 

A neighbor put Frank in touch with the farmer and today he came over and raked the dirt smooth. Then he and his children spread grass seed over the area. 

This afternoon I had a couple of errands to run. I took a back road and was treated to a bald eagle sighting! It was in a tree over the road but flew off before I could pull off the road. It landed in another tree but you can barely see it in this cell phone picture.

Here I've circled the eagle so you can see the white feathers that were all I could see at that distance. 

I never saw bald eagles as a child except in a zoo. Now that have made a comeback and once in a while I spot one. Perhaps one day I will get a good photo of one.

After picking up a prescription and filling the car with gas, I drove home at dusk. The ducks grouped along the shore are residents of our neighborhood. 

These black and white ducks, however, are new to me. Perhaps they are just visiting on their way south. It's also possible that they escaped from a farm like the pigs!

After I saw them, I had one more surprise.  An egret was standing by the opposite shore. You can see it in the final shot.