Wednesday, February 05, 2014

A Sunday Miscellany, Eagles, Crows, Ducks....you name it!

On my second trip to Indian Ford on the Rock River on Sunday, the morning trip had proved fruitless, a Bald Eagle cruised in for a little afternoon fishing across the river and landed on a favorite branch.  As to the favorite branch part, that was information from Patty, a waitress at the Edgewater Diner, across the road from the dam, who divides her time between waiting on patrons and running outside now and again to check out what is happening on the river.



Earlier while I was having breakfast at the Edgewater, I ran out myself  to check out the ducks who all seemed to be attempting to crowd into the small spot of open water above the dam.  Part of there crowding may have had something to do with the fact that that particular spot is a favorite duck feeding area.

At first the spot had plenty of room.  Then for whatever waterfowl reason the place got extremely popular.









 

 




Note the three ducks coming down center; a collision waiting to happen.


There is a definite scrum but no one seems to mind all that much.

There is a certain amount of submersion involved but no one seems to mind that all that much either.


Then things settle down...well as much as mallards tend to anyway.  

Not having any Eagle luck so far  I decide to go into Janesville where there are public areas with views along the river not made inaccessable by private property.  Besides remember Rock and Jane the Bald Eagles that hung out along the Rock River near the boat launch next to the lumber yard?  They might be around.

When I turned onto the lumberyard road  instead of seeing Eagles...
I saw a treeline full of Crows.
Everyone of them cawing their brains out.  
And they appeared to be staging their way towards the river.  The area in which Rock and Jane often fished.
Sure enough they were making their way toward the lumber yards boat launch.  See the roof left.
Sure enough there was Rock in the pairs favorite tree decidedly looking away from the crows.
Though he did turn and give me a look.  Evidentally deciding I was reasonably harmless as usual...
Then I got the profile...
And as the crows moved closer a determined turning of his back.


Then Rock took off but the Crows redoubled their efforts.  What's going on.  I looked down at the river.

OKAY, I just looked up at the previous section and most of the photographs have disappeared from the draft.  I'll publish this section and the story will continue tomorrow.  In hopes the pix will stay where I put them....

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