The adult Marsh Bald Eagles standing guard in adjacent trees over their young
An eaglet making a brief appearance on a branch just above the left side of the nest
Becky Donaldson, Mentor Marsh Naturalist, and I studied several photos taken before and after the above. There was nothing in those photos in the spot between the two branches, one slender, the other thicker, curving to the left on the left side of the nest.
As the camera was on a tripod, if anything moved, it had to be something in the nest.
The eaglet’s beak is pointing to the left, almost touching the slender branch. Perhaps as it ventures further away from the nest, we’ll get a better view of him.
A bug’s eye-view of a Broad-winged Skipper on a Cone Flower in the Marsh’s rain garden
The Broad-winged Skipper is found in marshy areas where it lays its eggs on Phragmites (Common Reed). After emerging from the eggs, the young caterpillars eat the leaves of the plant. (I wish they’d eat the entire miserable, invasive thing.)
A tiny Midland Painted Turtle basking on a log
Except for soft-shelled turtles, the sex of a hatchling turtle is determined by the surrounding air temperature. Snapping Turtle eggs at a temperature of 77 degrees F are male, are female if the temperature is either higher or lower.
Where a clutch of turtle eggs is laid in several layers, the warmer eggs at the top produce females, and the lower layers produce males.
Photos copyright Carole Clement
