A Green Heron, A Bald Eagle, A Lot Of Clouds, And A New Camera So A Lot Of Missed Photos At The Susquehanna Wetlands

It was another dreary, cloudy and cool day at the Susquehanna Wetlands in Luzerne County.     We have had a lot of these days in Northeastern Pennsylvania  so far this Spring.  But it is Spring,  and  there are always new plants or animals appearing in the  wetlands and the woodlands regardless of the weather. . It is my favorite time of year so to hike in the woods, so , despite the poor weather conditions I was at the wetlands early Sunday morning.   I was surprised to find the gate to the access road was still closed for the Winter . I parked along  one of the two nearby ponds,

and looked for the ducks, geese and other birds that I usually see here in the Spring and Summer.  There were none. I was hoping to see some Canada geese since I had a new camera with me, and I wanted to try out the settings on these easy to photograph birds. My Sony rx 10 iv mirror less camera is being repaired.  I  was going to rent another Sony rx 10 iv from Dan’s  Camera City in Allentown  but  I decided to try  a Nikon Coolpix P950 super zoom until  my camera was repaired.  And I was now regretting this decision.   I did not study the camera  manual and had no idea how to use the settings.  It was going to be a ” learn while  I walk ” photo hike.

I left the ponds and hiked on the access road  to  parking lot and trail head.  I heard a few song, swamp   and white throated sparrows  in the woods along the road but I was trying to adjust the settings on my camera and didn’t try to photograph them.

It was a cold week and not much new plant growth  appeared in the woods along the road. The spice bush and autumn  still had only buds and small leaves, but the garlic mustard,

 Dame’s Rocket,

and stinging nettles  continued to grow, adding more green to the dull, brown Winter landscape  I had seen for the last 5 months.

  I  continued to try and figure out  the settings on the camera but it  was frustrating. I was using the automatic settings but couldn’t figure out the zoom settings.  I saw a couple of Carolina wrens.  I tried to take photos with the remarkable 83X zoom but this was the best I could do without adjusting for the proper settings   for the poor lighting because of the overcast conditions.  

As always,  when I got to the parking lot, I  walked down to the ancient  Susquehanna River,

before following the trail into the wetlands. I was still trying to figure the settings as I walked and I was  not paying much attention to the birds I was now hearing on the trail, including eastern phoebes and brown headed cowbirds. 

In the wetlands I noticed the lush green skunk cabbage leaves,

spreading out along the trails.

Trout lilies were in bloom but not open on the cool cloudy morning.  I didn’t hear any spring peepers either,

but  I did see this one red eared slider turtle.

As I approached the Water Fowl pond I  meet a couple of fellow birders and photographers and we talked about the birds we saw and my frustration with the  new rental camera.

I walked with one of the birders toward  the river lands,

and on the way we saw  a green heron, my first of the year. I was able to adjust the settings and get a decent photos of this migratory heron.  I have seen them in the Caribbean Islands and Central America where they spend the Winter.

I left my fellow birder freind at the parking lot  and walked into the river lands section of the small private nature preserve.,

and on the trail along Lake Took-A -While.

Here I saw a few red winged blackbirds  and,

a few song sparrows.

A large flock of double crested cormorants,  

and a few Canada geese were on and near the lake.

I was still having a hard time trying to adjust the camera and missed photo of white breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice and an eastern phoebe  The skies were cloudy but that didn’t keep dozens of fishermen from trying to catch a fish along the shore.

And this magnificent bird was also looking for a fish , or maybe a rabbit or squirrel, a bald eagle perched in a tree along the lake.

I tried a few settings and was able to get these photos,

but I missed some perfect in flight opportunities when the eagle flew from this perch to one across the lake.

I conintiued on my hike back to the wetland under the cloudy skies.

I heard a lot of  birds on the way,  palm and pine warblers,  ruby and golden crowned kinglets and many more,  but, not being familar with the new camera, and wanting to attend my great nephews teeball opening day ceremonies at noon I didn’t try to get any photos.

I did stop where I saw the green heron earlier and was rewarded with watching it catch a frog,

and fly off to a branch to consume it.

It was having a hard time and decided to fly away and eat without me watching,

I walked along the canals and ponds in the wetkands,

and found the remains of this snapping turtle, It was pretty big and I am not sure what would have  killed it.

I stopped  by a bald eagles nest  where I saw one of the eagles attening  the eggs or fledglings in the nest.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog page with some more photos of the eagle and heron. Susquehanna Wetlands birds April 13 2025.

I was a  bit frustrated with the new camera but I was still able to capture and share some photos  form my hike, expecially the  bald eagle and green heron.. I finsihed my five mile hike and made it to the tee ball ceremonies.   I  hope my camera is repaired soon, to allow me to capture some more of the surprises and  beauty that Spring always brings, Here is a link to a gallery on my blog page with some more photos from my five mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands  April 13 2025.

Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!    Wallace Stevens

fskokoski@gmail.com

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