Nature by the Water

Living near a river and marsh vs living inland, we see quite the different animals and reptiles. Not a huge fan of snakes, but we have had our share...none poisonous though. This morning, I thought that I would share some pictures of some of these wonderful creatures that Bob and I get to see living here by the water.

From top to bottom- Great Blue Heron, Swan,

Muskrats, and a Canvasback Duck.

An Egret, Red Head Duck, Cormorant, and an Eagle.

Yes, we do have a few pairs of eagles.

In the winter it was pretty neat seeing these mighty birds sitting on an ice berg out on the river looking for fish. We even have a young eagle who does not yet have his/ hers white feathers yet...which by the way takes about five years.

Woodchuck, Wood duck, Box Turtle, and King Snake

On Saturday morning I heard a rustling of leaves just outside my back window. When I looked out, there was a woodchuck. I decided to watch him for a bit, until he crawled under the fence on to his next adventure. This little guy even came up on my back porch with my cat looking at him through the glass door. I guess he figured the cat could not get him with the door in the way. LOL

Each year we have a pair of wood ducks nest in one of our large oak trees. They have really beautiful teal colored feathers on their back...this picture does not do them justice. Yes, these ducks truly do live in trees.

Every late June, early July we have a few female box turtles make their way out of the water to lay their eggs in our lawn. They dig up the grass, lay their eggs and cover the dirt back up...all in one night! It's pretty neat to see the baby turtles..but we are not home enough to see them all of the time hatch out.

One year, my neighbor found a king snake in her yard. These snakes get quite huge, but are non poisonous, and they actually feed on garter snakes...which we have quite a lot of those.

We have much more wildlife...will save for another day.

Take care

Janice