[mou] Spring Lake Park Egrets and Owls

[Alt, Mark]

Yesterday morning in Spring Lake Park, I came upon three Great Egrets
fishing in a small pond. I had my video equipment with me, on my way to
a Red-bellied Woodpecker nest, so I started shooting the 3 white waders.
The pond is only about 150 feet across, causing me to wonder what the
treasure trove of food was to hold these 3 birds. The center of the pond
was dotted with lily pads and frogs were very active, their eyes
protruding from the water when they rested, or ripples forming as they
swam about in plain view. They appeared to be Leopard Frogs. The pond
was only shallow enough for wading on its periphery, so the frogs seemed
safe. One egret flew low over the water and dipped its entire head and
neck into the water while it flew, landing in the shallows with the legs
of a frog sticking out of its mouth. As I watched, I saw this behavior
repeated 4 times, and managed to capture it briefly on video twice. I
uploaded this video to the MOU website, you may view it at:
http://www.moumn.org/video/151-1.mov <http://moumn.org/video/151-1.mov>
. 

While watching the Egrets, I heard the feeding calls of baby owls, and
soon found a pair of juvenal Great Horned Owls sitting alongside the
pond. I recorded video of these birds as they hopped about and flew
short distances. They have buffy down on their heads and their wings
appear to be fully feathered. These birds fledged from a nearby nest
over three weeks ago, it was good to see they are doing well. This video
can be viewed at: http://moumn.org/video/154-1.mov.  

Great day, great birds.  I wish you all good birding.



Mark Alt
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
Project Resources Group
Best Buy Co., Inc.