An Attempted Murder on Little Lake Erie

If you wait around in nature, you'll see something interesting every time... it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open.

That was the case this morning. I sat at my desk, major writer's block in my head - or blog block I guess you could say.

Believe it or not, I had nothing interesting to say about my week.

Not that I haven't done some interesting things this week, just nothing that would equate to a full on blog post.

I got a new tattoo... but really, who wants to sit and read a story about a needle piercing my skin for three hours?

I helped rebuild  a transfer case for a truck.. but we didn't get it finished and installed yet.

I visited an asphalt plant... and saw how rocks and tar mix to make the roads we drive on. (Or rather what's left of the roads we drive on)

Nothing I could ramble on about and have enough photos of for a post.

So, I walked out of this office this morning with the intent to find something outside that would spark a post. I set the camera to all manual. No auto-focus... no auto lighting... no auto anything. If I concentrated on using the camera like I had to when I was younger, it would probably remove a bit of the pressure of finding a great photo to post. There really isn't much outside in early spring that catches my eye. Things are starting to green up, but it's not as visually stunning as later on in the season. So, I looked high and low... watched across the pond... the only green that caught my eye at first was the massive willow tree at the other end. It wasn't much of a picture... but it was something to start with.

I continued to wander and found some creeping Charlie. Those little purple weed flowers that love to get into cracks and crevices along stones. Some macro photography sounded interesting... and a good way to put a ton of green in the frame. After a few shots I wandered off and found the now budding pricker vines behind the office. Some of them are actually blackberry vines, but somehow other prickers have decided to move in as well. On the new leaves was a small black insect. Another interesting macro opportunity. I stood there and photographed that little bug as it made its was across the leaves and heard splashing and squaking behind me.

Remember how I said if you wait long enough? Well, lo and behold, behind me was a bird in the water. I thought that maybe it had dipped too low going after a bug and went for a swim accidentally. Training my camera on the spot, I brought it into focus and snapped away. What I realized at that point, (besides the fact that I had the wrong lens on for photographing something that far away) was that it wasn't one bird trying to get out of the water. It was one bird trying to get out, while another pushed it under. I moved a bit closer and continued to snap pictures as I watched this odd event. The photos of the attempted drowning that came out of the camera weren't the greatest, but you can clearly see two birds.

Finally, the attempted murder suspect must have noticed a witness and flew off. The victim splashed just once before it too took to the sky. Spring has its surprises. I'd like to think the bird lived happily ever after because I saved him from his bully.

And that, is how I came up with something to write about. A possible avian drowning in Little Lake Erie.

I'm going to do a little reading on male bird aggression, and see if I learn anything. If I do, I'll post it here.