The other night-heron was an immature bird, approaching one year of age:
My camera was set for night-flying birds with flash, and I forgot to turn off the flash when I snapped the first photo, that of the juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. It looks like an alien creature!
On February 9, we reached the lake before the full Snow Moon settled into the horizon. On the way in I had stopped to record the song of an Eastern Whip-Poor-Will. In addition to its namesake phrase, the bird uttered an assortment of "whip" and "wheel" calls. (My recording of its song may be heard at this link, but listen carefully as the bird was not very close by.)
The Snow Moon in a black sky, an hour before sunrise:
That's MaryLou with her flashlight, walking in about 55 minutes before sunrise. My new iPhone 11 Pro Max really brightened up the night with help of moonlight and a tall street lamp about 100 yards behind me!
Opposite the Moon, at 26 minutes before sunrise, the eastern sky was starting to lighten up :
At 23 minutes before sunrise, I had almost reached the lake:
A flock of blackbirds flew across the face of the Moon:
We watched as the Moon settled into the lake, four minutes after sunrise:
Six minutes after sunrise:
A male American Kestrel flew into a lakeside tree...
...then, surprisingly, foraged for insects on the gravel track:
A Loggerhead Shrike then drove the kestrel away. I did not capture the actual encounter. Here is the kestrel as the shrike attacked:
The shrike then occupied the high perch:
Monarch butterflies have been very scarce. There is a local non-migratory population, but because of Hurricane Irma which devastated their host plants, their numbers have been down for the past two years. This is a bad photo, but it was the first one I have seen this year:
Other butterflies on the morning of the Full Snow Moon included a tiny Fiery Skipper, here taking nectar from a Shepherd's Nettle (Bidens alba) flower:
I always hope for a clear day after a full Moon, as it sets later and provides a nice backdrop for early morning photos. My telephoto camera does not have much depth of field, so I cannot get the Moon in sharp focus, as shown in this image of a Northern Mockingbird...
...until it decided to fly up and rest on the Moon! (Only fooling--- this is a finial atop a concrete fence post):
The Moon stood still long enough to provide a backdrop for a female Northern Flicker:
The mustachioed male flicker perched by patiently, but never posed in front of the Moon:
The female flicker joined him and began to fan her tail. I have noted that the female often initiates the courtship display:
I had to back away to fit both in a single frame. Although the quality of the photo is poor, I liked the action and thought it looked "painterly:':
An Egyptian Goose flew over, his mate following:
As I was returning home, a yearling male White-tailed Deer emerged from the brush and walked towards me. The wind was in my favor and at first he seemed to think I was another deer:
The "button buck" finally recognized me and bounded off:
Two rival male Julia heliconian butterflies stopped sparring for a moment and rested near each other on a Lantana:
A note about our local Bald Eagles. It appears that they may have lost their eggs or newly hatched eaglets in an early January wind storm which damaged their nest. They could have started a second brood. Follow them in my Bald Eagle FORUM.
Here is the female, Jewel, roosting near the nest while the male is sitting deep in the nest, possibly sitting on eggs (February 10):
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Linking to :
My Corner of the World
Fences Around the World
Skywatch Friday
Weekend Reflections
Saturday's Critters
BirdD'Pot
Camera Critters
All Seasons
Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)
Our World Tuesday
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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