Feathered Friday - THE FEATHERED POND SAGA - Episode 3 : THE BEST ONE SO FAR :D
I'm on the pond again ... and, as the title suggests, this is the best episode so far, in my opinion ... or at least :) is the most action oriented and dynamic one ... and it begins ...
... with a little walk on the water ...
... the usually pretty calm Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) is running across the pond with a piece of bread in the beak ... passing by another coot ... and making this lovely temporary fountains that you can observe only when you freeze them on photograph, in reality everything happens very fast.
The coot's extraordinary leaf like fingers with lobed scales ... on strong feet, good for paddling and running ... with a little help of the short wings ... give her this Jesus superpower.
The cormorant, of the European shag species (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is calmly drying his wings not far from there. He is not interested in bread. The cormorants need fish, and looks like this one has just returned from a diving expedition in the turbid water. The easily waterlogged feathers are a great help in diving, but if the cormorant wants to use them for flying, he must wait until they are dry again. Spreading the wings obviously speeds up the process ... and is also pretty photogenic. And while the cormorant is resting ...
... another fishing bird is actively hunting in the area ...
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... the little egret (Egretta garzetta). On this enlargeable photograph the bird has just caught one of the many small fish hidden in the intricate vegetation in the shallow water.
Then she has to do a few maneuvers to bring the catch up along the long beak and into the throat.
These fishes are small ... so when she swallows this one ... she continues the search.
And here comes another one.
This all happens very fast.
In a second, the fish is eaten.
Sometimes, if she senses something suspicious in the surroundings, the egret is ready to fly away ... and eat in some quieter place.
This small Common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), the size of a sparrow, is also searching for something in the intricate brown vegetation near the water, where the egret was hunting.
On the other side of the pond, where some trees are, the mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) are enjoying the bath.
Here is a female on the branch of the willow tree ...
... and two males are floating around.
Then one of them goes out of the water ... and while he and the female are grooming their feathers in a synchronized way ... the second male continues circling around the branch.
Another female is camouflaged near some Cattail plants.
Then she goes in the water, makes a few splashes, and continues to paddle with the male in a very dignified and elegant way. While I was photographing the mallards, I heard some shrieking sounds coming from somewhere in the air ...
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High above me, deep in the clear blue sky, the Common buzzard (Buteo buteo) was chasing a Hooded crow (Corvus cornix) ... as you can see on this enlargeable photograph.
And a bit later ... on the large and beautiful weeping willow ...
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... I saw another little white egret.
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This one was resting among the dense branches. The day was slightly windy ... so ...
... I took a series of pictures and made this GIF out of them ... to show you how cool and atmospheric this fine thin branches look when they slowly move on the breeze.
Meanwhile, the cormorant had dried his wings ... and started the take off maneuver ... like a small feathered seaplane.
One of the coots stood at the edge of the deeper water ...
... then she entered the pond ...
... and continued swimming to the center of the pond.
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The domestic goose was performing a little water ballet thing in the shallows nearby.
This goose is a great character ...
... and she likes to talk with people, in her jazzy language that sounds like a trumpet improvisation.
Some hours later ...
... in the late afternoon ...
... I caught her in this enchanted moment of beautiful light that was dancing like a flame on the water. The light is changing fast around that time in the day ...
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... so just a half an hour before ... when this egret was grooming her feathers on the willow tree ...
... the atmosphere wasn't so yellow tinged and warm. But now ... let's go back in time, somewhere a little before noon ...
... and let's talk ...
... about Eurasian magpies (Pica pica) ... a pair of magpies is building the nest on one of the tallest trees around the pond.
On the following photograph, if you take a really good look at the picture ...
... you would see a pretty long branch in the bird's beak.
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Although not completely visible because of the many branches, everything that's happening around the nest, these days is still somehow on display ... but ...
... when the hatching time comes ... this place will be well hidden in the dense foliage.
Here is the last look at the nest ... and a small chaffinch above it.
On the neighboring tree ... an oak ... I saw and photographed this male Common blackbird (Turdus merula) ... and on the bushes below ...
... I caught these House sparrows (Passer domesticus)...
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... a vivacious little bunch.
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The sparrows can fly through the small passages among the thorny branches with amazing ease.
Back on the water ...
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... some of the coots are in the racing mood ... they look like little bird - shaped speedboats running for a prize.
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The coots are very territorial and these short energetic chases happen pretty often.
Sometimes ... like on this photograph, ad example ... they create some cool bubbles :)
On this photograph ... the coots are slowing down ... and the two cormorants on the following picture ...
... are calmly enjoying the sunny day ...
... while another coot swims in the background, patrolling her territory.
I like to observe these birds and their dynamic temperament. And now ...
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... with the almost the last look at the Little white egret ... looking down at something ...
... followed by this funny portrait ...
... and the usual closing shot of the setting & scenery ... is time to end the episode :) THE END ... as always in these posts on Steemit, all the photographs and GIFs made from some of those photographs, are my work.
[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 44.818545 lat 13.942124 long d3scr)
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Thank you :)
Wow, nice featherfriends photography.
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Thank you
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Beautiful coverage. It looks like National Geography coverage. Thanks for sharing the beautiful things with us.
Thank you. :) Glad you like this feathered post.
It’s as if I watched the program “In the world of birds”)
Everything is described very competently and beautifully.
It is obvious that you are very interested in ontology.
Glad you like this little bird report. :) Yes, I'm very interested in plants and animals in general, especially animals. I can observe them for hours, waiting for something interesting to happen and never get bored ... and this pond is an ideal place for birds, there is a nice variety of species gravitating around the water.
Spectacular photos! All the birds like to hang out by the pond. What a great selection of photos!
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Thanks :) I will next friday
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