This week the dogs and I visited a walking trail, in our neighborhood, that has a boardwalk through a swamp. It is not a long trail but I nearly always get to see some form of wildlife. Days are busy and I must multi-task if you will. The majority of my nature walks involve my hands holding two flexi leashes. Binoculars are out of the question – I long ago gave that up. But, I can take along my little Nikon Coolpix digital camera. Between my trained eye for observation and, when possible, a reference photo I can pretty well recreate the wonders of the day.
Back to my story……. We were about 20 steps onto the boardwalk, being quiet as always, when 2 Green Herons flew up out of the cattails and fallen trees. They were perturbed, I apologized. They are good sized when they stretch their neck out. I especially like the bad hair day they get when their making a point.
A little farther down the boardwalk the dogs started pulling and heading for the side rails. There must be deer! I swear, the dogs would jump off the boardwalk and into the water (which they hate) and chase the deer if they could – chase or frolic, I’m not sure as they love to be around horses. I settled them down. We were able to see 3 white tail deer 🙂 We observed them for a few minutes, then a deer that was very close to us decided to bolt. Well, that stirred up all kinds of sights! Mr. & Mrs. Wood Duck and 2 Wood Storks! Various song birds too but they were too quick for my eye. What a wild walk we had. I’m still smiling about the sights 🙂
