I have been doing a fair amount of hiking in the local area this spring. Through some exploring I have found some nice loops that are several miles long. I found a couple remote ponds. One I have been to 7 times and have only seen a couple other people pass by walking their dogs. The end of March I saw many geese and quite a few ducks.
I am no expert when it comes to waterfowl. The Canadian Geese definitely sounded off when they saw me and would slowly swim away. The ducks were pretty skittish and would fly away. I guess the trick is a stealth approach … and a zoom lens. I saw Mallards, Wood Ducks, and I was told a Hooded Merganzer. The ducks seemed to stay close to the grass and I wasn’t able to get very close.
Stealth worked with the geese and I was able to get closer. I spotted these 2 turtles on a log. They were checked out by this goose but stood their ground.Several weeks later the geese disappeared and no ducks spotted.
I spotted this Great Blue Heron with it's wings extended. Question: Is this heron sunning itself ... praying ... drying off ... covering up its kill … What? 
After a few minutes it brought its wings back in. As I moved closer it spotted me and flew off. I repositioned myself under a big pine tree. 10 minutes later I was surprised to see 2 Blue Heron flying together circling. It was a bad position on my part being under a tree with my camera on a tripod. I was only able to get one picture of them flying in the same frame before they disappeared. I also saw these two geese mating.
I spotted this Heron and moved closer. I watched it fishing in the shallow water. As I watched it a duck came out of a duck box nearby and sounded off as it flew away. I didn’t know ducks could fly so fast. I did not get a picture of the beaver swimming before disappearing under the water.
Walking through the woods I have seen a beaver, hawk, deer, porcupine, turkey, and an owl. I would like to see and get a picture of a bear (they are now searching for food), fisher, fox, and a bobcat.
My treks to more ponds continue …
