Uploads from Sharon's Bird Photos, tagged leaflake

Common Loon (Gavia immer) - Upright Visual Display

nobody@flickr.com (Sharon's Bird Photos) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:27:08 -0700

The Loon raises the body upright out of the water while treading with its feets. Sometimes the wings are spread out to the side.

Becker County Minnesota Birding

www.ndbackyardbirding.net

Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

nobody@flickr.com (Sharon's Bird Photos) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 12:06:24 -0700

Sharon's Bird Photos posted a photo:

Highly aquatic, it likes to rest in warm shallows, often buried in mud, with only its eyes and nostrils exposed. It emerges in April from a winter retreat beneath an overhanging mudbank, under vegetative debris, or inside a muskrat lodge. The snapper eats invertebrates, carrion, aquatic plants, fish, birds, and small mammals. It is an excellent swimmer: Individuals displaced 2 miles have returned to their capture sites within several hours.

Becker County Minnesota

www.ndbackyardbirding.net

Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

nobody@flickr.com (Sharon's Bird Photos) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 12:03:04 -0700

Sharon's Bird Photos posted a photo:

Mates April to November; peak laying season is June. Lays as many as 83 (typically 25-50) spherical, 1 1/8" (29 mm) eggs in 4'7: (10-18 cm) deep, flask-shaped cavity. Each egg is directed into place by alternating movements of hind feet. Incubation, depending on weather, takes 9-18 weeks. In temperate localities, hatchlings overwinter in nest. Females may retain sperm for several years. Females often travel to a nesting site some distance from water.