[birding] Interesting afternoon at Finley (Bruce Rd. north of the marsh)

[Joel Geier]

Hi Paul,

Nice photos!

Just a hunch, but the egret might have flown off to find some water to
help wash the vole down. I've previously seen herons dunking voles in
standing water before attempting to swallow them. My guess is that this
is to make the furry creatures a little more slippery, and hence easier
on the gullet.

Happy biding,
Joel

On Sun, 2009-01-11 at 04:21 -0800, Paul Rentz wrote:
> Today I witnessed my first ‘egret catching a vole’ event. I’ve watched
> them catch things so small (little frogs, fish?) that I couldn’t see
> what their catch was. This one was easy to see. Even though I promised
> not to steal his vole, the egret was not convinced and flew off
> anyway, vole in beak. Even though he was far away from me, he didn’t
> his finish meal there either. About the same time I heard a ruckus
> behind me. Four egrets in that field (the north side) and many of the
> geese and ducks behind me- took flight. That’s finally when I saw a
> pair of eagles coming from over the marsh. One took a ‘seat’ in a tree
> at the east end of prairie area and the other headed due west. A
> little while later they had a staff meeting in the field where all the
> geese had been, worked out their strategy and flew off on another
> mission. Also saw what now appears to be one of those snow geese in
> flight- again at a distance. Interesting two hours on Bruce Road!
> 
>  
> 
> Egret Photos-
> 
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3187027174_4787423104_b.jpg
> 
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3187027104_a6940b7d61_b.jpg
> 
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3453/3187030136_95818bf206_b.jpg
> 
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3186189511_1f97b1dcfa_b.jpg
> 
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/3187030602_a7c0cb78c5_b.jpg
> 
> Just before spotting eagles-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/3186190275_81de6fa808_b.jpg
> 
> Eagles-
> 
> No wonder the egrets fled!
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3186190855_3b5112310d_b.jpg
> 
> Retreat in the background-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3186190979_51b2b8ce1a_b.jpg
> 
> What he was flying toward-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/3187033766_a782429f5e_b.jpg
> 
> Cruising low over the fields-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/3187032008_707ac05333_b.jpg
> 
> Again- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/3186191079_5ea32d3278_b.jpg
> 
> Their meeting-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/3186192701_4102f51284_b.jpg
> 
> Off to their next mission-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3493/3186193415_b9bd5bd8f1_b.jpg
> 
> Before their arrival- Pintails-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/3187027834_5fbcff5d82_b.jpg
> 
> Northern Shoveler mates-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3431/3186187605_f6e57a9b33_b.jpg
> 
> Kestrel hovering-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/3186188783_6198f58658_b.jpg
> 
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3186188727_52ef71afcd_b.jpg
> 
> Geese with Mt. Jefferson in the background-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3485/3186188291_760f565a1b_b.jpg
> 
> Geese, ‘pre-eagles’-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3187028670_47a10af26b_b.jpg
> 
> Snow goose- in flight-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3505/3186186705_8173f63493_b.jpg
> 
> He waited until everyone else landed-
> http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3496/3187027650_41a863bb84_b.jpg 
> 
>  
> 
> Lots to see at Finley these days! All this action just west of
> McFadden’s Marsh on Bruce Road.
> 
> Paul Rentz
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> list mailing list
> list at midvalleybirding.org
> http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/list
> http://oregonbirdwatch.org/pipermail/obol/