Wild Weekend!

Hah! Bet you thought this post was a continuation of my Put-In Bay (PIB) adventure. Nope! I took advantage of the beautiful weather to spend some time outdoors with my family and friends (double bonus!) But , speaking of PIB, I must let you know that I got an e-mail from Carolyn M. of the Butterfly House on PIB (see last post) who received my blog photos from someone who apparently read my last blog entry. Carolyn M. of The Butterfly House wrote me the following assuring me that overcrowding is not an issue:

One thing I did want to make you aware of is that when you see butterflies that are moving slowly or appear to have wings that are very worn at the edges, it is not due to overcrowding. The lifespan of a butterfly is only a couple of weeks. The butterflies that you described are at the end of their life cycle and their wings begin to show some wear.

So there you have it. Thanks for the clarification, Carolyn.

Back to this weekend. On Saturday I took my mom down to Presque Isle. We stopped and met Desiree, Fallon and Don who were working the nets at the banding station. It was about 11:30 a.m. when we arrived there and as of then they had gotten a few catbirds but no migrants for the day. I was impressed by Desiree's enthusiasm and energy and the interest demonstrated by her crew. It was a slow bird day for me also as my mom and I walked along Side Walk Trail with nary a bird in sight. We did hear some goldfinch and catbirds calling but that was about it. What we did see were lots of dragonflies and damsel flies. The most numerous were red dragonflies which I am not able to ID, yet. I imagine they are fairly common as they were sooo numerous. Dragonflies, definitely my next field guide.
On Sunday my husband, grandson and I went with some friends (Barb & Ed, Rick, Christine, Inga & Will and oh, yeah, Zena the wonder dog!) pontooning on Pymatuning. We had a great and relaxing time. The weather was absolutely perfect:). I never thought I'd get my first sunburn of the year the last day in August! It was sunny and warm but the breeze was nice. Towards the end of the trip we pontooned to the spillway where the big carp are. On our way there I caught sight of this osprey that was doing some fishing. As I said, it was quite sunny and midday so all of these shots suffer from some exposure problems for which I was unable to compensate. It's funny that people who aren't into photography think that "the sunnier the better" for photography when pretty much the opposite is true. Early morning and just before dusk, the best light for photography by far.

Among the other birds we saw was a belted kingfisher fishing with a green heron nearby on the shore. My binoculars got passed around for that one so anyone interested could get a nice look at these very pretty birds. I got a few shots of these guys but nothing worth posting. These Caspian terns and double-crested cormorants were in a better position as far as light goes. On the way back to the marina we saw an immature bald eagle flying high over us and soon after a pair of bald eagles flying on the horizon. Very cool!

So it's now Monday and I have the day off and here I spend it on the computer processing photos and blogging. I definitely have to get outside before this day is done.