Aug. 22, 2021 - Birds in Flight

Here are some photos of birds in flight taken this summer.

We occasionally have a Great Blue Heron at our lake. We usually don’t even know it’s here until we take a boat ride around the lake, and it flies out in front of us as we approach

HeronGreatBlueflightDunningLakeItascaCounty20210519

We’re starting to see flocks of Canada Geese flying around again. Like most other ducks and geese, they molt their flight feathers in the middle of summer. While the new feathers are growing in, the geese can’t fly. That process is now complete, so it’s time to build up those flight muscles again for fall migration.

GooseCanadaflightPaulHugoWMAWashingtonCounty20210601

Earlier this summer I posted a photo of this male and female Hooded Merganser. This photo was taken as they were just getting airborne. You can see the splashes where their feet hit the water as they were working to lift off.

MerganserHoodedmaleandfemaleflightDunningLakeItascaCounty20210425

The Tree Swallows that nest at our lake home are very fast and erratic flyers. I’m always happy when I can get a flight shot of one of them.

SwallowTreeflightDunningLakeItascaCounty20210624

Earlier this summer we had several Trumpeter Swans visiting our lake to feed in the shallow water. We haven’t seen them since the beginning of June. I think that means they had a nest in some other location and needed to stay there with their cygnets (baby Swans.)

SwanTrumpeterflightDunningLakeItascaCounty20210508

Belted Kingfishers usually don’t let you get very close to them, so I’m pleased that I got this shot. It was perched on a tree limb along our lakeshore. As we got closer, I took a couple of shots with it sitting in the tree. When it took off, I held the shutter button down, and this was the best of the resulting photos.

KinfisherBeltedmaleflightDunningLakeItascaCounty20210725