Winter, Spring or Fall?

November 19, 2018

Today’s weather forecast called for temperatures in the thirties, partly sunny skies and very little wind! A perfect day for a ‘winter’ picture walk (actually, it’s still Fall, but there is snow on the ground and ice on the ponds so it really does feel like winter!)

***Mr. and Mrs Gadwall out for a swim and a bit of dabbling.***

I was out the door early this morning and headed over to the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, one of my favorite places to take pictures any time of the year! On the first pond that I came to, there was a huge flock of birds, but from where I was standing, it was difficult to tell exactly who was who—except for the swans, they were easy. Through the lens of my camera, though, I could also identify the mallards, gadwalls, and buffleheads. I took a lot of pictures, but I really wasn’t sure that any of them would turn out because the birds were so far away. With digital photography, though, it never really matters how many pictures I take—except for the inordinate amount of time it will take me to go through them at the end of the day!

***I was so surprised to see the bluebirds flitting around today!!***

On my way to another pond, I was really surprised to find bluebirds flitting around in the nearby trees and bushes. I didn’t know that they stayed around this late in the year! Maybe they stay all winter?? Then, while I was trying to catch pictures of the bluebirds, I also caught sight of goldfinches and dark eyed juncos. It made me feel like it was spring outside instead of an unseasonably cold fall day!

***This Wilson’s Snipe looked like it was laughing and having a good old time!***

My best surprise for the day, though, was finding the Wilson’s Snipes wading around near the edge of one of yet another pond! It was the perfect setting—the sun was coming from behind me and the snipes were out in the open where they were easy to photograph—much better than the last time I had seen them at the hatchery where they had been hiding in the shadows and were barely visible.

When conditions are just right, like they were today, I have an extremely difficult time telling myself, “Enough is enough! Go home!” If I stayed much longer, there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day to sort through what I already had!