Winged Wednesday 3/18/2026 — Lake Pleasant

[Eric Gofreed]

It’s Winged Wednesday—where feathers, flutters, and flight steal the show! Whether they’re soaring, skimming, stalking, or striking a pose… birds, bugs, bats, insects, or even airplanes—if it has wings, we want to see it. If it’s got wings, it belongs here.

Always an open theme — all winged photos welcome.

Birding at Lake Pleasant slows you down in the best way. All of today’s photos were taken last Wednesday from a jon boat with a 25HP motor—hardly built for speed, but perfect for access. It lets us reach the quieter northern end of the lake, where the birds outnumber the people. In 3.5 hours we covered about five miles, drifting, stopping, and watching as the lake quietly revealed what it had to offer.

American White Pelican
A few pounding hops across the water, then lift—soon the air takes over.

Common Goldeneye (female)
From water… to runway… to air.

California Gull
An uncommon visitor to Lake Pleasant and apparently eager to make sure the lake knows about it.

Red-breasted Merganser (female)
Not flying yet… but thinking about it very seriously.

Bald Eagle (juvenile: @ 3 years old)
Future icon—already majestic.

 

[Trent Watts]

Eric, your excellent pictures of a lake trip reminded me of a canoe trip we took in northern Saskatchewan a few years ago. This sequence shows an Osprey that had caught a large fish. I saw it flying, stopped paddling, reached for my camera and managed a few shots as a Bald Eagle flew up and harassed it enough that it dropped the fish. After one unsuccessful swoop down and a miss the eagle flew back up and came at the floating fish and managed to fly off with it. All in a ll an amazing look at nature in action and just so lucky to have my camera at the ready.

Osprey with large fish.

Bald Eagle misses fish on first attempt.

Coming around for a second attempt.

Off to a tree for a meal.

A bonus bird on many canoe trips in the north is a Gray Jay, Canada Jay, Whiskey Jack, Camp robber.... Take your pick.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Eric, your excellent pictures of a lake trip reminded me of a canoe trip we took in northern Saskatchewan a few years ago. This sequence shows an Osprey that had caught a large fish. I saw it flying, stopped paddling, reached for my camera and managed a few shots as a Bald Eagle flew up and harassed it enough that it dropped the fish. After one unsuccessful swoop down and a miss the eagle flew back up and came at the floating fish and managed to fly off with it. All in a ll an amazing look at nature in action and just so lucky to have my camera at the ready.

Osprey with large fish.
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Bald Eagle misses fish on first attempt.
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Coming around for a second attempt.
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Off to a tree for a meal.
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A bonus bird on many canoe trips in the north is a Gray Jay, Canada Jay, Whiskey Jack, Camp robber.... Take your pick.
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That sounds like an incredible sequence—perfect timing and a front-row seat to a classic case of aerial theft. The eagle didn’t work for the fish, but clearly had no issue claiming it. Nature has a very flexible definition of ownership. Outstanding photos, Trent!

The Canada Jay is a great bird. I always carry peanuts when I’m in their habitat—they usually end up eating right out of my hand.

 

[Kyle Jones]

Bald eagle at sunrise

 

[Roger Bailey]

Busy Day at the Rookery's in Florida

 

[AlanLichty]

My local wetland waterfowl venue got flooded out this last week so I went back to my stash with bees working over cone flowers from last summer.

One seriously loaded bee revving up the engines for liftoff:

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Bald eagle at sunrise

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That’s an outstanding shot, Kyle. I tend to go for close-ups of animals, but capturing them in their natural habitat makes the image far more compelling.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Busy Day at the Rookery's in Florida
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Great shots, Roger! You might try cropping out some of the white sky to improve the overall image. Capturing the moment is just the start—cropping and processing are what finish the art of bird photography.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

My local wetland waterfowl venue got flooded out this last week so I went back to my stash with bees working over cone flowers from last summer.

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One seriously loaded bee revving up the engines for liftoff:

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I hope the floodwaters recede soon. Your bee photos are absolutely bee-utiful.

 

[Ken Rennie]

A pheasant, perhaps the most stupid bird in nature. Despite their colourful plumage, they hide well until they spot you, then they make very loud noises and take off flying straight, low and slow, just perfect for people who are not good shots. Native of Asia but introduced to Western Europe by the Romans, probably introduced to the Americas as they are good to eat and easy to kill as well as pretty. Ken

 

[Roger Bailey]

Great shots, Roger! You might try cropping out some of the white sky to improve the overall image. Capturing the moment is just the start—cropping and processing are what finish the art of bird photography.

Thanks Eric!

 

[Eric Gofreed]

A pheasant, perhaps the most stupid bird in nature. Despite their colourful plumage, they hide well until they spot you, then they make very loud noises and take off flying straight, low and slow, just perfect for people who are not good shots. Native of Asia but introduced to Western Europe by the Romans, probably introduced to the Americas as they are good to eat and easy to kill as well as pretty. Ken
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The colors, details, and bokeh are all perfect! Highest compliments, Ken!