The Marsh Project Week #1

This is one of my most favorite places to be. Sometimes I come to sit and breathe; sometimes I come to sit and observe wildlife; sometimes I come to sit and make decisions. When I am here, I am not anywhere else.

I've seen this marsh iced over with great blue herons walking on it, and I've seen this marsh in the height of summer.  Several years ago, I recall seeing yellow-crowned night herons everywhere, and then they disappeared when the marsh temporarily dried up.  Last summer, I saw at least three anhinga here.  Now the ducks are back for the winter, but they seem to sense my presence and they take off before I have a chance to see what they are up to.

For 2018, my plan is to attempt at least a once a week photo and documentation of what I see.  I think it will be interesting at the end of 2018 to go back and review the changes and observations; even in one year I've lost track of what I've seen and how the marsh looked at different times of the year.  I know this is actually December of 2017, so consider this a trial run.  I haven't set any rules for this project;  if I miss a week, no guilt; life happens- and 2018 promises to be a crazy year, especially with the Teenager graduating high school.

I was there today, in the afternoon.  As I approached the blind from the trail, a large group of people were going the other way.  I was prepared to be disappointed.  The dragonflies and butterflies are gone for the winter, apparently- not a one was to be found, not even the late fall variegated meadowhawks and common buckeyes. I was hoping, but not optimistic, for a snake sighting.  I could hear birds -sparrows and cardinals, likely- rustling around in the reeds, but they move too fast for me to see very well.  My photography skills are still at the point where I need the birds to sit still for me to get a decent photo.  Herons cooperate; sparrows, not so much.

On my way back to the trail, however, my eyes caught sight of a green tree frog on a reed, and I decided to spend a few minutes playing around with the settings on my camera and photographing the frog, who was probably completely unaware of my interest.  While I was doing that, I heard something moving around in the cattails on the other side of the boardwalk.  I looked over, and after a few minutes saw two raccoons running out from the cattails into the woods at the edge of the marsh.

It was time to go; the preserve would be closing soon, and the sun was on its way down anyway.

Not much was moving around - but I happened to see this green tree frog on a reed.

For fun, I used the vivid colors setting on the camera.