The Spot

[belleswell]

[PoodlesAgain]

very nice!

Earlier this Spring, I saw a fox having a drink at edge of my fish pond, very quiet dude, took his time, around mid-morning.

We now wonder if he comes often.

[nomadh]

Very nice. The pictures and the song.

[fullonshred]

Fishing perch, sun deck, boat (duck) ramp, landing zone, refreshment stand..... That is one more versatile log.

As always the pictures are gorgeous even at the likited rez of this website.

WRT the eagle in the pine tree, is that a complete photoshop, or partial. IE, was the Eagle ever really in the pine tree?

It looks almost like a Glamour Shot for the Eagle. : )

[ronnx]

Nice belleswell. Both visual and audio.

[belleswell]

Fishing perch, sun deck, boat (duck) ramp, landing zone, refreshment stand..... That is one more versatile log.

As always the pictures are gorgeous even at the likited rez of this website.

WRT the eagle in the pine tree, is that a complete photoshop, or partial. IE, was the Eagle ever really in the pine tree?

It looks almost like a Glamour Shot for the Eagle. : )

Thanks guys on the pics and the song. The song is one that is just over 6 mins, and the first part is what I posted.

The Eagle pic at the end was shot from inside shooting through 2 panes of Anderson glass window.(insulated)
I use a tripod and a remote shutter release with the zoom shots to avoid camera shutter movement when taking the shot.
All of these pics were done from inside with this method. I try to keep the windows clean but the pics would be sharper if
I were to sit outside.

The camera I use is a Canon SX 60 HS and it has an auto focus feature that will blur the objects in the foreground when focus
is achieved on the subject. This camera has a 65x digital zoom which does a nice job for zooming in.
I use the face lock feature turned on to get the camera to ignore foreground leaves and focus farther away.

That last shot of the Eagle was about 90 yards away shot from inside through trees. Some of the trees were only 20 to 40 yards away
compared to the Eagle which was much further away. I've got almost 300 shots of the Eagles this year, most from last Spring,
but they are still showing up now and then. They have a nest about a half a mile away.

The log in the pic is one that my wife and I struggled with to get it to the pond. We did it for the turtles and it seems to be a favorite with
all the pond visitors. So far, turtles, frogs, wood ducks, mallards, green herons, great blue herons, fox, turkey, hooded mergansers, king fishers,
raccoons, and I'm sure there's more.

Amazing what one log can do in a pond. As well, there is algae on the submerged part of it and
the fat head minnows were eating it and spawning attaching their eggs to the submerged algae. Win/win

You can see the same blurring effect on this shot. Just over 90 yards, but blurred out branches and leaves at 40 yards.


He has a mole being squeezed in the grass clump in this shot.


This vid was shot with me standing about 10 feet past the log and throwing floating pellets to
the hybrid bluegills. Some are huge. The vids are also shot with the Canon SX 60.



This vid gives perspective to the near end of the pond and the far end. The Eagle at the end
is almost 90 yards away. That branch he's on was one he was using a lot last spring. He had
a preference for bass in the 14 to 18 inch size and would hardly disturb the water when he grabbed one
mid flight. Awesome angler. I don't mind him taking the bass, just not the gills or perch.

[fullonshred]

[mention]belleswell[/mention] Here, as at old AGF your pictures and vids are one of my favorite things to see.

I appreciate all the information on how you did the Eagle picture I was thinking must be photo shopped to one degree or another. I am a huge fan of Bluegill going back to my fishing days. With all the Hybrids now even a lot of seasoned fisherman struggle at times to be sure what version they actually caught. They are such great fighters, using their slab sides to great advantage in their struggle to break free. They were tasty too as I recall, though I haven't fished in many years, nor eaten fish other than the standard seafood place fare - No Bream.

What a magical place you and your wife have. Belleswell's Delight.

[PoodlesAgain]

Oh yeah, now I remember your amazing colorful turkeys from the old board!

Our local ones are, uh, boring, going about their way, after 'aerating" the front yard looking for grubs!

[belleswell]

@belleswell Here, as at old AGF your pictures and vids are one of my favorite things to see.

I appreciate all the information on how you did the Eagle picture I was thinking must be photo shopped to one degree or another. I am a huge fan of Bluegill going back to my fishing days. With all the Hybrids now even a lot of seasoned fisherman struggle at times to be sure what version they actually caught. They are such great fighters, using their slab sides to great advantage in their struggle to break free. They were tasty too as I recall, though I haven't fished in many years, nor eaten fish other than the standard seafood place fare - No Bream.

What a magical place you and your wife have. Belleswell's Delight.

The Hybrid Bluegill is a cross between a male bluegill and a
female green sunfish, and is sometimes referred to as a hybrid sunfish.
As a result of the cross the hybrid bluegill is 80-90% male, giving it
a reduced reproductive potential and making it an ideal choice for those
ponds prone to bluegill stunting.

Hybrid bluegills exhibit accelerated growth as they tend to continue to
feed during the colder months; they readily feed and can grow well on
pellet foods. Hybrid bluegills are 90% male and typically grow up to three pounds.

I buy mine from Stoney Creek hatchery as 5 to 7 inch fish, when I stock them, and there
will be some females in the mix. When the males and females spawn from the stocked fish,
the resulting brood will be approx 90% males. This keeps them from exploding
in numbers and becoming stunted. A well balanced pond with the correct predator/prey
relationship is key. A pond will hold a certain amount in weight per acre.

That number can be a larger number of smaller fish/ or a smaller number of larger fish.
The weight per acre remains the same. Ideally I prefer a mix of the larger sized fish.

This is why hybrid gill are stocked for ponds as they won't overpopulate the pond and
normal gills would. Bluegills are very prolific.

Nothing like having a friend come to visit and catching one in the 13 inch class.
Troph.I've also caught and released perch up to 15 inches. My problem is I have a
hard time keeping them. They all get released. Not quite pets, but close.

Too many great lakes in the area where I can catch easy limits of panfish. The pond fish get
fed by me 7 months of the year and the pond itself requires a lot of maintenence.
I seldom fish it, and when we do, all are released.