A day for the birds!

As my friend Rich would always say about a rainy day in North Carolina - "Nice day for a duck!" That's definitely what we've been experiencing for the last three or four days. UGH!

We were rained out for the 4th, though that didn't stop my pyro of a husband from playing with the fireworks he purchased from the local vendor, though! I'll save you all from those pictures, though, since they were the cheesiest fireworks ever, and the pictures were all taken from inside the garage because it was pouring and Jason was the only one excited enough to be out in the rain! Even with the rain, we hosted a cook-out (cook-in??) with a bunch of friends, including a few new arrivals to Kodiak. If you want to see who we partied with, check out Abbie and Jesse's blog, and Brad and Christina's blog. Brad and Christina are our new neighbors - bringing some life back to Coho circle after the house has been empty for a couple months now (we miss you Holloways!!!).

I digress, though, since this was supposed to be a blog about the birds. Even though we finally had a break in the rain today (I'm even looking out a BLUE skies right now!), it was still a fine day for a duck - or a bunch of 'em! We got out to Ft. Abercrombie for a walk, and Fred was not disappointed in his duck hunting. As we made the turn back up the hill from Lake Gertrude, a small (or big) family of ducks came into view. Jason had fun holding Fred back while I snapped a few pics.

At first, Mama was in the water. But she quickly hopped up on the log when she saw us coming. She was definitely very quick to protect her ducklings!

The funniest part about seeing these guys on the log was that the log was moving... there's just something funny about ducks balancing on a log!

As we got even closer, Mama got a bit more nervous, and headed back into the water. She must've signaled to her kids on the way, though, because they all joined her in the water shortly after.

And, yes, ducklings jumping off a log is almost as good as them balancing on it!

Finally, the little family swam off into the lillies, taking comfort, I'm sure, in the protection and camouflage the lillies offered.

Did I mention that, this whole time, Fred was laying down on the path, but at full alert, just waiting for Jason to ease up on the leash the tiniest bit? Yeah, he was ready. I'm not sure what he would ever do if he actually caught one!

Better than ducks, though, was the more regal variety of bird that was hanging out behind my building this afternoon. This guy caught my eye as I was packing up to leave the office. It's not unusual to see an eagle or two outside my window, but this one caught my eye because he was laying down like a chicken! Unfortunately, I couldn't get any closer than this before he moved. But you can definitely tell he's laying like a chicken. Guess he was tired!

As I said, I tried to get in closer, and he moved. So I just kept creeping toward him and snapping pics. I'll just share a couple of what I think were the best.


I don't care what people say about losing your awe for these guys once you see them at the dump. Dumpster divers or not, I'll never get used to this!

This was taken right after he stood up - he had to fluff!

I started to get the feeling he wasn't very happy with me interrupting his rest. He spent a lot of time swiveling his head around about 180 degrees, with every click of the camera. In my defense, a morale boat came into the basin to tie up, too, so he spent some time checking that out, too.

I think I got within about 10 or 15 yards of him, but kept snapping with my 300mm zoom. I need a bigger lense.....

Finally, I wasn't the only show in town.... my eagle friend seems to be wondering what's going on with that other bird!

So, even though the sun came out for a while today, it was still a day for the birds! Hope you enjoyed the view!

Becca

Quick edit here - so as to not leave them out, our party also included the Koehlers (their blog is linked over there on the right), and our friends Jerrod and Kate. Jerrod brought along his brother James, who just recently transferred to Kodiak, too!

Are you happy now, Beth!?! :) Love ya, chickie!