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I think I camped in the turtle nesting area at WPASCR. I nearly tripped over these girls Saturday morning (they weren't very happy but were in the midst of laying eggs so neither moved)
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Happy Birthday, Yul Brynner (1920-85)! 👑➕ℹ️
Photos of Animals, Fish, Birds & Bugs on a Canoe Trip
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
- Start date
This is a blinded sphinx moth (I had to look it up) that showed up on my canoe cover the other day. They have a 4" wingspan and are strong fliers, sometimes mistaken for a hummingbird.
A newly emerged clubtail dragonfly (Gomphidae) that climbed onto my Duluth pack to fully expand, dry, and harden its wings on a recent Allagash River trip.
I believe this dragonfly is a Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa), a member of the skimmer family (Libellulidae).
The picture was taken on June 24, 2026, near Harris Lake in Newcomb, NY.
The picture was taken on June 24, 2026, near Harris Lake in Newcomb, NY.
Shephaug reach of Lake Lillinonah, CT. May 23, 2026
Class time - An adult Bald Eagle perched about 20 yards away had stashed a Great Blue Heron carcass in a tall snag for two newly fledged Eagles to learn how to feed themselves. I heard some whistling while I was checking my photos and zoomed back in to find that the kids had dropped the Heron, doh!
Class time - An adult Bald Eagle perched about 20 yards away had stashed a Great Blue Heron carcass in a tall snag for two newly fledged Eagles to learn how to feed themselves. I heard some whistling while I was checking my photos and zoomed back in to find that the kids had dropped the Heron, doh!
Indigo Bunting, dragonflies, and a damsel fly that I spotted today along the Millers River in the Birch Hill Dam Wildlife Management Area in Royalston, MA.
Yesterday, I portaged my canoe a short distance into a remote pond in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, in hopes of getting some loon pictures. I got lucky and then some. I found a loon and two good-sized chicks. While watching them from an ethical distance (using an 800mm-equivalent lens), momma loon dove, and when she surfaced, she had a fairly large brook trout. She spent a fair amount of time manipulating it in order to swallow it headfirst. I was fortunate to get a few good pictures.
While exploring the pond's perimeter after leaving the loons be, I witnessed a fawn jump into the water less than 50 feet from my canoe and swim across the pond. It entered the water with such a commotion that I wonder if it was being chased, though I didn't hear anything. I had just seen a bald eagle circling over the open marshy area it had come from, so perhaps that was the reason. I didn't see or hear the momma deer. I kept my distance so as not to stress it, but I managed to take a few pictures. I moved away as soon as it climbed ashore on the opposite bank.
It was a fun outing, and I got more than I bargained for.
While exploring the pond's perimeter after leaving the loons be, I witnessed a fawn jump into the water less than 50 feet from my canoe and swim across the pond. It entered the water with such a commotion that I wonder if it was being chased, though I didn't hear anything. I had just seen a bald eagle circling over the open marshy area it had come from, so perhaps that was the reason. I didn't see or hear the momma deer. I kept my distance so as not to stress it, but I managed to take a few pictures. I moved away as soon as it climbed ashore on the opposite bank.
It was a fun outing, and I got more than I bargained for.
I guess eagles killing heron is more common than I thought. I witnessed it last fall.
Sometime you have a day like that when the wildlife is very active. As far as the loon eating that brook trout, in 35 years tripping in Ak. with loons being very common I had never seen one come to the surface with a fish to eat. In Pa. where loons are rare and mostly only passing through I have frequently seen them come to the surface with a fish to eat. They have a particularly hard time getting bluegills down. I had read that they prefer smaller fish and swallow them under the surface.
Thanks, Al. It was one of those rare and awesome days when the chips fell into place while I had the camera with me. Thanks for sharing your observations on loon feeding. I was not certain that she actually consumed the brook trout. Once she had it in a headfirst position in her beak, she suddenly dipped her head below the surface and seemed to scan the water, so I wondered if it had gotten away. I also did not see her neck swell and bulge like a heron's neck does when swallowing a large prey item. Last fall, while on the same pond, I watched an osprey hover, then dive, and emerge with a brook trout in its talons. I've also caught some nice brook trout there myself, so that pond has been good to me.
