Some days you wonder why a grown man would wander around in the heat, the mud and the bugs looking for birds who don’t give a damn about you. Other days, however, make you wonder why everyone isn’t doing it.

Today was a good one. The King Rail is a life bird for me;in 6 years of frequent jaunts into the marsh I haven’t seen one, or even come close, yet two crossed my path and posed nicely this morning.

In addition, several nice birds and a couple of mammals took advantage of the very nice weather to be out in front of my lens  and made my day several times over.

Blackwater Dawn.

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds were very active today.

The Purple Martin Colony at Blackwater is thriving.

Red Headed Woodpeckers were easy to find today.

I was surprised to see these Ospreys mating so late in the season.

These Ospreys were feeding at least one chick.

A lone Catbird was singing at the visitor center.

A Carolina Wren was singing also.

Only a few Great Egrets were present.

Several Bald Eagles were foraging in the marsh.

I don’t often see Turkey vultures drying their wings on the ground.

Eastern Kingbirds were flycatching along the drive.

You’ll usually hear an Orchard Oriole before you see him.

This Red Winged Blackbird has found a nice bug.

The secretive King Rail is hard to photograph.

It’s not always easy to photograph a Delmarva Fox Squirrel.

This Fox was hanging out at the visitor center.

Occasionally, I run into a situation that’s so extraordinary that it needs  its own post, and that’s what happened today.

I was looking for Red Headed Woodpeckers when one landed in the grass quite nearby. He was immediately engaged with some kind of prey in the tall grass, but I couldn’t see what it was. As I moved closer, I was able to get better images, but things were moving quickly, and I didn’t really have a good overall picture of the situation until I looked at the images in the camera.

I’ve edited some of the images and uploaded them with captions to add some clarity to a special moment.

This is just after the bird (A Red Headed Woodpecker) has landed on the road.

The woodpecker has spied the crayfish.

He takes a closer look at the crayfish.

The crayfish isn’t going to go easily.

Who’s going to win the battle?

Another attack by the crayfish.

Up and away.

Here, the battle has ended and he’s taking his prize home.