Great Blue Heron at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge

Muscatatuck NWR is a fantastic place to visit if you're into water birds. You can find lakes and ponds, marshes and swamps, floodplains and creeks...and mud puddles too. It seems every possible type of water habitat is available, so the ducks, herons, egrets, Osprey, American Bald Eagles (yes, they are there too, but not when we were), and any other type of waterfowl you can think of have their choice of spa options, and the avian word apparently is out -- especially during spring and fall migration! 

As we were nearing the end of our day at Muscatatuck, we drove through the back of the refuge and found a lovely little marshy pond that just happened to have a lovely little Great Blue Heron wading in it. We parked the car and I got out to use the car door as a blind. Then I switched over to the same technique I used to get close to the Osprey in the previous post. I moved inch by inch, very slowly...and got closer and closer. If you have patience and move about 1-3 inches at a time, you can get really close (and if you send out good vibes and throw in a few old Jedi mind tricks you're really covered). With each move I'd take a few photos, so the bird got used to all my clicking. With the Osprey, I crossed a field and entered the brush until I was about 10 feet from the tree he was in. It took about 30 minutes, but it was worth it. I was using a monopod, so my arms and shoulders didn't tire out. Inching the monopod forward and then stepping up behind it helps to keep you moving slowly. With the Great Blue Heron I didn't spend as much time moving towards him because he was so close to begin with -- plus it was the end of the day and Rick and Matty were in the car, waiting...patiently...sort of. 

I started to get a little sloppy and moved too far forward too quickly, and he took off. The old Jedi mind tricks didn't work on Big Blue, but I was able to get a few flight photos. 

To answer a few questions on the type of camera I use, I have a Nikon camera and use a Nikon 70-200mm lens with a 2x teleconverter, so I don't have a high-powered lens. The lens does have very nice vibration reduction, which helps keep the image sharper so I can crop it down...a lot! (Now I have Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" song in my mind!)

I got a Nikon camera

I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away

Osprey at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge

Matty, Rick and I really enjoyed our time at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in south-central Indiana. The refuge is a mix of 7,802 acres of wetland, forest, and grassland, and over 280 species of birds have been found there.

Rick spotted this handsome Osprey overlooking the marsh. Regal and powerful, he perched in a large tree slowly scanning the water below, seemingly keeping an eye on the flock of Blue-winged Teal and American Coots weaving in and out of the shallows. He stayed in the tree for over 45 minutes just observing his territory, nonchalant and unhurried. Finally, he took off in flight and circled around to fly over the lake.

Osprey at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge

In the following photo, you can see the Osprey’s nictitating membrane pulled over his eye. Ospreys, as well as all raptors, have this transparent “third” eyelid to protect their eyes when hunting and eating. They also use it to keep the eyes moist and clean the eyes if something gets in them that causes irritation. The nictitating membrane moves horizontally across the eye instead of vertically like the regular eyelid.

The nictitating membrane looks light blue, but it's transparent. 

Busted! Mr. Osprey knows I'm taking his photo. 

He heard the camera click and turned to face me. 

Those are some penetrating eyes! He didn't care 

and went back to surveying his marshland.