Bald Eagles!

I decided to take a ride over to Concord to check out the heron rookery.  As I drove past, I could only see birds toward the back.  When I stopped and got a look at them, I was shocked to discover that they were Bald Eagles and not Great Blue Herons!  What a surprise!

 Bald Eagle #1

Bald Eagle #2

After I spent some time looking at the Bald Eagles, I then started trying to see if there were any Great Blue Herons or if the eagles had taken over and scared them off.  Well, imagine my surprise when I realized that most of the nests that I thought were empty actually had Great Blue Herons sitting on them.  They sit very low in the nest and you can hardly see them!  I did get lucky and see a pair do a changing of the guard, so they were both temporarily on the nest at once while they switched responsibilities.  Very cool to watch all this!

 nesting Great Blue Heron

Exchanging duties

On to Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, where the parking lot was full in spite of the grey skies.   Here are the highlights:

Muskrat

 Wood Duck female

Wood Duck male

 nesting Canada Goose

 Common Grackle

 Wood Duck

 Red-Winged Blackbird

Savannah Sparrow