Great Blue Heron

Photograph of a bird, a Great Blue Heron, wading in a river. It is a large bird, facing left.  on the right side of the picture. It has a gray body and neck. Its head is white with a wide blue stripe the width of its head passing through its eye. Its beak is primarily yellow with some blue on the top. It has one leg and foot submerged in the water while the other is raised and is reaching toward the left.
The background is in 3 parts. The river is at the bottom, the mud bank is in the middle, and the top is green foliage.
Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; SEP 2025

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Canada Geese

Canada Geese are quite common and often don’t make an eye-catching photo. But when seen in the right environment and living their lives, their beauty is enhanced marvelously.

Photograph of 4 Canada Geese floating along a rive surrounded by low, green, aquatic foliage. The riverbank in the background is slightly out of focus. It is mostly gray-brown dotted by green leaves.
The riverbank serves as the background. It is lined with reeds, with green brush and brown grass behind.
The Canada Geese are large birds whose back is brown, its breast and bottom are white, its neck and head are black, and it has a white chinstrap.
Island Ford,
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; SEP 2025

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Photograph of 5 Canada Geese standing in a stream, all facing to the left.  The riverbank is in the background. There are brown and green reeds along the river edge with various shrubs and grasses behind them. Next to the riverbank, the stream is running smoothly, reflecting the plants along the riverbank. The river under the geese is running over obstructions causing ripples.
The Canada Geese are large birds whose back is brown, its breast and bottom are white, its neck and head are black, and it has a white chinstrap.
William B Pond Park,
American River Parkway, Sacramento, California, USA; DEC 2014
Photograph of 4 Canada Geese, two facing left one floating in the stream facing right and the other on the riverbank facing right. The background is brown and green reeds lining the riverbank in front of a gray, fog covered, forest scene. Next to the riverbank, the stream is running smoothly, reflecting the plants along the riverbank. The river under the 2 geese in the front is running over obstructions causing ripples.
The Canada Geese are large birds whose back is brown, its breast and bottom are white, its neck and head are black, and it has a white chinstrap.
William B Pond Park,
American River Parkway, Sacramento, California, USA; DEC 2015

A Great Blue Heron Takes to Flight

Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; July, 2025

The Standoff

Red-shouldered Hawk;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

We had the opportunity to visit one of our favorite spots: the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. While there we got to see a very interesting event. About 2 feet above the Hawk’s head is the Squirrel’s nest. The squirrel was about 15 feet away in another tree running around like crazy trying to distract the hawk.

Squirrel;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

Molting Male Eastern Bluebird

A small, eastern bluebird perched on a tree branch in the left side of the frame. The background is blurred, green leaves.
Molting Male Eastern Bluebird;
Roswell, Georgia, USA; APR 2025

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Is there any ornithologist or other bird expert that can explain why the molting feathers are black? Are they the old ones or the new ones? Thanks

Canada Geese

A scene with 2 Canada Geese at a pond in a woodland setting. One goose is laying in what appears to be a nest on a dark mound in the middle of the left side of the image. The other goose is floating on the pond in the lower right corner of the image. The geese have brown backs and wings with off-white lower body parts, a black neck and head, and a white spot on the side of the head. The top half, i.e. the background is green grass gray tree trunk a brown woodland debris. The fore ground is the pond reflecting the geese and background.
Nesting – Canada Geese; Island Ford
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; APR 2025

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A Canada Goose standing in a puddle of water against a background of gray rocks. The goose has a brown back and wings with off-white lower body parts, a black neck and head, and a white spot on the side of the head.
Canada Goose
Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; APR 2025

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These and other images are available to purchase by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

Two Woodpecker Specires

A bird, a Red-headed woodpecker, perched on a gray-tan tree trunk, between the trunk and a shadowed branch, on the left side of the picture. The background is blue sky. There is another branch on the right side of the trunk extending upward at a 45-degree angle.
Red-headed Woodpecker;
Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA From the size of the hole it is examining, I suspect it be working on a nesting cavity.

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A bird, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker perched on the right side of a red-brown tree trunk on the left side of the picture. The right side of the picture is out of focus, brown-colored leaves.
Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker;
Roswell, Georgia, USA; JAN 2025
A bird, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, perched on the right ide of gray-brown and reddish colored tree trunk. The bird is black and white with a little bit of brown on the head, neck and feathers. There is a tuft of green needles that appear to be sticking out of the bird’s head. The tree trunk takes up almost the whole picture frame.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida, USA; FEB 2025
This Sapsucker lacks the red chin and cap associated with Sapsuckers. It is either a juvenile or molting adult.

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Lesser Scaups Taking Flight

A photograph of Lesser Scaups taking flight. The foreground is of the ducks with wings extended mostly upward. Behind them is a line of ducks still in the water. The overall background is a pond full of blue water.
Male and Femail Lesser Scaups in Flight;
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA; FEB 2025

We were at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge admiring a large flock of Lesser Scaups, a species of Ducks, when a Bald Eagle made a flyover. The eagle panicked the ducks and they took flight. My thanks to the eagle.

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A photograph of Lesser Scaups taking flight. The foreground is of the ducks with wings extended mostly upward. Behind them is a line of ducks still in the water. The overall background is a pond full of blue water.
Male and Femail Lesser Scaups in Flight;
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA; FEB 2025

Please visit my website, www.earthwatcher.us to see my collection of landscapes and wildlife.

These and other images are available to purchase by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.

Merritt Islands Egrets and Herons

A picture of 3 birds in a pond surrounded by dry grass. Another bird is in the air to the top, right of center. The one on the left and the one in flight are Tricolored Herons. The one in the middle is a Little Blue Heron.  The white bird on the right is a Snowy Egret.
Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, and Tri-colored Heron. One In Flight
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA; FEB 2025

We were at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge at Titusville, Fl. We’ve learned that it is a go-to place for Egrets, Tricolored Herons and Little Blue Herons in Late February- Early March.

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A picture of 5 birds in a pond surrounded by dry grass with mud flats between the grass and pond in the center and right side of the picture. On thr left side is a Tricolored Heron with its reflection In the background, right of center, standing on the mud is a Snowy Egret. The 2 large white birds in the middle of the pond a Great Egrets. In the lower right corner is a Little Blue Heron.
Tri-colored Heron, Great Egrets, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA; FEB 2025
A picture of 4 birds in a pond surrounded by dried grass. From left to right Is a Tricolored Heron with a yellow foot out of the water, another with its wings spread and a third standing with its foot out of the water. On the right is a white Snowy Egret.
Snowy Egret and Tri-colored Herons. One In Flight
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA; FEB 2025

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Atlanta Snow Birds

A Northern Cardinal, a medium sized red bird with a dark colored face and dark, folded, wings on the left side of the picture. The background is white snow with scattered dark pieces of debris.
Male Northern Cardinal;
Roswell, Georgia, USA; JAN 2025

A few weeks ago, we got several inches of snow across the Atlanta, Georgia, USA metropolitan area. I took advantage of this uncommon occurrence to photograph some of the birds that reside here.

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A female Northern Cardinal, perched on a piece of wood lattice in front of a tree trunk. The bird is in the middle of the right side of the image. The bird is mostly light brown with red on its wing, feathers and the crest on top of its head. The background on the left side of the picture is indistinct.
Female Northern Cardinal;
Roswell, Georgia, USA; JAN 2025
A male Eastern Towhee, a medium sized bird on the left side of the image facing front. Its head, upper body and tail feathers are black. Below the black, the body is orange. The bottom of is body is white. The bird is set against a background of white snow with scattered debris and two tree trunks.
Male Eastern Towhee;
Roswell, Georgia, USA; JAN 2025

Please visit my website, www.earthwatcher.us to see my collection of landscapes and wildlife.

These and other images are available to purchase by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.