Friday, April 15, 2011

Birding The Oxbow Lake

Last Saturday my hubby and I  birded and took a hike on the trails at Oxbow Lake in Maryland. The main bird I was after was the Wilson Snipe, during the week 90 or so Snipes were reported being seen at the lake. I have been running all around Maryland for the last couple of years hoping to get a good look at a  Wilson Snipe. I guess you could say I was obsessed with my quest to see a Wilson Snipe. Well it seems the Wilson Snipe really like muddy areas and on Friday it rained and rained. By the time I got to the lake the muddy spots were mostly gone along with the Wilson Snipe.

It wasn't a bad birding day in fact I had some great sightings. One fantastic sighting was seeing two otters laying on a downed tree and on the opposite end of the tree was a Green Heron. Very cool, my first sighting of otters in the wild and I just love Green Herons.

The otters and the green heron were a distance away so here is my bad photo, the heron on the end is barely noticeable. I thought it was a cool sighting anyway.


Below the otter is eating a fish.


The Green Heron


Northern Flicker



Yellow Rumped Warbler, it is spring and the warblers are finally arriving.

Great Blue Heron with a frog for dinner


Three Caspian Terns


So my bird sightings at the Oxbow Lake were the Green Heron, GB Heron, Caspian Terns, Juvenile Bald Eagles, Unknown Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Yellow Rump Warblers, other unidentified Warblers, Pine Warblers, Tree Swallows, Mallards and Wood Ducks. My favorite sighting was seeing the Otters in the wild.

This is my Camera Critters post and to see more cute critter click on my link. Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post.


36 comments:

  1. how great to see otters!!!

    and those terns - i've only seen them in books. how awesome looking!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That distant shot of the Otters and Heron,is just plain great picture.I love the reflections.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good collection of birds,love the otter too! There's a species of otter in Sri Lanka too,but it's population's been thinned out,I've never seen one.:(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous critters too. I love the heron with frog for dinner. The otter was cute too. They have big tails!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow Eileen, what a day's sightings. The birds are fantastic, well photographed and excellent capture of the Great Blue Heron with a frog in its mouth. And omw, to see otters in the wild, is truly a good sighting. Thanks for sharing. Blessings from Jo

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well I don't see any bad photos..love the watery reflections and your abilty to name these guys!! So they like the mud (lol)..nice captures Eileen..So that's a Great Heron with a nice snack..The Otters are cool too!
    Wishing you a wonderful weekend too-
    Oh..(thanks for your thoughts on that last post too)

    ReplyDelete
  7. What gorgeous photos. Looks like a wonderful way to spend a day!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry you didn't spot the Northern Snipe but you sure got some great shots. Love the otter of course and the green heron, they are so secretive, they are a difficult shot. Nice photos.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Eileen...Your photos certainly show how great a day you had. Wonderful captures. The Otters capture would have been my prize for the day as well. Thanks for sharing your work.

    Blair

    @BlairCessna
    http://bcswildlife.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, I'd love to see so many birds and water animals in just one day.

    (But tell me, are you talking about a legendary "snipe hunt"? The folks tricked me about "snipes" when I was new in Arkansas. hehe)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great photos of wildlife. I would love to be there watching them.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Otters are not so common here. You have got great shots.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great series of images. It appears everyone was getting plenty to eat. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Eileen, Thanks so much for virtually taking us along! I love the pictures, especially of the River Otter. Have a super great day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow - fabulous pics! That otter one in particular is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love that Otter!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Awesome sightings!!!
    I just want to add, that its hard to read the pink writing on your blog..dont know if its just my computer...but i had to really look to find what to click on to comment.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a great day! The otters at one end of the log and the green heron on the other is a very cool shot. Loved the egret with frog too, once I saw an egret catch a frog, it walked and dipped the frog in the water several times before swallowing was amazing to watch. Enjoyed this post found it on FB Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. LOve the otters! We saw river otters once in Oregon -- and we've seen sea otters a few times, but (no camera)...

    Your bird shots that you say aren't very good are better than my best ones.

    Wonderful day of birding! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wonderful photos, Eileen. The birds are beautiful, especially the terns, but of course I love otters best. I've never seen one outside a zoo.
    Sigh.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love the pictures of the otters. All of your pictures are wonderful, though; you saw quite a variety of wildlife.

    ReplyDelete
  22. A green heron, otters, terns, I would say it was a very productive day. Wonderful series of critters.

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a brilliant collection! Greetings from Wales, where we have Otter, too (though hard to spot).

    ReplyDelete
  24. Lovely critters!


    Would you come and see my critters? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great shots, Eileen! I especially like the adorable otters :) Happy weekend to you!

    ReplyDelete
  26. otters are so much fun to watch. ¥our photos are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Looks like you had a great day bird watching - otter watching too!
    Someday you'll get that Wilson Snipe.

    Thanks so much for your comment today. You visited at just the right time and left me the nice comment about 'through the window shots'. You got it. You understand that sometimes it's the sighting even if it isn't perfect.
    Thank you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is a beautiful place to unwind.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Grandiosa foto quella del castoro !!!
    Buona giornata :)
    Myriam

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wow! You had a fantastic day. Too bad you didn't see the Snipe, but you saw a great variety of critters.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Nice collection of photos. Otters are not common here that's why I find it amazing. I have seen herons at Ras Al khor. Birding can be such fun and capturing photos of them can be interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Sounds like you had a marvelous birding day. I love seeing the otter also... NEAT.... And those terns are so pretty.

    Glad the Warblers are returning.

    The heron photos are great also.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  33. How fortunate to see the otters and to capture a photo, any photo is an exceptional experience!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Beautiful birds. You got so many of them, all in one place.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Well, I am sorry you didn't get to see your Snipe. I am obsessed with getting a good close photo of a Blue Grosbeak. I love those!
    The otters are wonderful and I would be thrilled too! And, since I've never seen a Green Heron in person, to me you had a great outing!
    Great shot of the GBH with the frog!

    ReplyDelete
  36. A lot of great encounters documented in this series!

    ReplyDelete

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

BTW, Anonymous comments unless a name is included will not be published. Also, comments with links will be deleted.

Have a happy day, Eileen

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts." Rick's Cafe, N...