The first week of March started off poorly for me. One morning I sat for three hours, while it was 8 degrees outside, waiting for my chance to photograph eagles working on their nest. By the time I quit my core was cold. When I got home and tried to put the images in my computer, my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t do it. A hot bath solved that, but apparently something else was at work as I was too sick to go out the rest of the week.
Once I recovered, I planned a morning trip to Point Breeze on Lake Ontario. It was a clear blue sky day and the wind was howling. I hoped some waterfowl had taken refuge in the mouth of the Oak Orchard River. There are two piers going out on either side of the river into the lake that protect the harbor from strong wave action. I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of waterfowl species feeding and resting in that protected water. Sitting in my vehicle in the parking lot by the boat ramp gave me a great position for any birds moving around the area.
The birds of course moved away but later returned near me to feed, not having seen me exit my car for a half-hour or so. There was a handsome male goldeneye which eventually gave me some nice, close shots, as did some scaups. A few wigeon drakes worked the edge of the ice right in front of me. Other types were scattered around — common scoters, white-winged scoters, red-breasted merganser, old squaws, mallards, pintails and even a single redhead duck. Up the river I saw tundra swans with a bunch of geese.
The swans eventually decided to take wing and head out to some fields to feed, and they gave me some great flight poses as they flew by. Geese also followed periodically and my camera was smokin’. Then something caught my eye on the snow-covered opposite pier: a fisher cat! I was on it and was able to get some great shots before it disappeared over the back side of the pier headed for the land side of the pier. How lucky I was to witness and photograph this fur-bearer that’s relatively new to our area.
My watch continued after the excitement of seeing the fisher, and about 20 minutes later another movement caught my attention out on the same pier but much farther out, headed towards me. It was another fisher or possibility the same one that hid from me earlier. My excitement exploded again as the fisher ran toward me; I worked my camera nonstop.
Against the snow, the fisher stood out like a sore thumb, providing an ideal situation for me. Then it stopped heading toward me and went down onto the river’s edge on the ice. At first, it stretched as though it was going to get a drink, then suddenly it dove in and began swimming to my side of the pier.
Quickly I got some shots, then moved my vehicle closer to where the fisher was crossing. It was about halfway across when suddenly it turned around anded headed back to the west pier.
I kicked myself for moving my vehicle and causing the fisher to turn back, but then suddenly something in the air, close and right above me, caught my attention. It was an adult bald eagle “holding” in the wind and eyeballing that fisher cat.
Oh, I had a fantastic time pointing my camera back and forth between the eagle and the fisher! Soon, the fisher climbed out of the water, charged over rocks on the west pier and disappeared to the other side, out of sight. The eagle wisely decided not to grab it, as the fisher is a vicious and powerful animal.
It took me awhile to calm down after that experience. I decompressed while waiting for the waterfowl to go about their normal business so I could get some more shots. After a time some scoters headed toward their feeding hole in front of me — then suddenly they headed to the opposite side of the river, just as many of the waterfowl in the area took to the air. I looked up thinking the eagle caused that, but I didn’t spot him.
A quick glance in my side view mirror told the story: A guy with photo equipment I can only dream about came up behind me and walked out onto their pier in front of me. After he set up his tripod and a huge lens, he looked around fruitlessly for birds to photograph. They had all left, of course. So did I, once I realized my “hunt” was over. Light conditions were getting poor anyway.
NEXT WEEK: An encounter with hundreds of tundra swans in a marsh near my home.