Weather: It was another mostly sunny day. There was a light breeze, though I did not pay too much attention to which direction it was blowing.
Birds: It was fairly quiet around the house this morning. In the early afternoon, the kids and I saw a bald eagle taking off with a branch. I also saw what I suspect was probably a Fox Sparrow the same place I had noticed a pair a couple of days ago. The sunflower seeds and peanuts I put out a few days ago still appear not to have been discovered by anything that wanted to eat them.
Later in the afternoon the crows were very agitated. I took a look outside and saw an eagle take off from the trees across from the Maintenance building. It appeared that the crows were following it. I thought they had all flown away, but I could still hear them cawing for a few minutes longer. By the time I got outside, however, they had all gone.
I rode by Swan Lake this evening. There were a few mallards and I also saw a Heron at the edge of the lake. It appeared that there were some scaups (or possibly ring-necked ducks) out in the middle of the lake and there was one swimming around near the penninsula. The ducks seemed to be going after insects that were floating on top of the lake. I had noticed these insects flying around a couple of days ago and figured there must have been a recent hatch of insects (I guess technically, they would be metamorphosing from larvae to adults, rather than hatching). However, I did not notice the ducks going after them at that time.
Other Notes: The kids and I went for a walk today. They had fun looking for deer droppings in the old garden while I tried to get a picture of a moth. While at the beach Rowan found a number of shells that she wanted to take home. On our way back, she found a small feather that I think was probably from a Red-breasted Sapsucker. Also on our way back, we saw a Morning Cloak butterfly.
As I was getting ready to leave Swan Lake, I noticed a couple of sizable swarms of flying insects. I am not sure why they swarm like that, but I do remember accidentally riding into such swarms on a bicycle in my younger years. It was hard to avoid getting a fly in the nose, mouth, or eyes.
