We awoke to dense fog yesterday morning. I wasn't sure whether I even wanted to walk in the wetlands. My camera and binoculars had spent the night in air-conditioned comfort, so I knew I would face foggy lenses and fuzzy photos.
The visibility was so poor up ahead towards the Everglades that I figured there would be nothing to see on the wetlands lake: Two days earlier I obtained this photo as the fog lifted over the lake: For a change, I walked south on the SW 196th Avenue levee that runs all the way to the Miami-Dade County line. I proceeded about a mile with the expectation that the 1/4 mile visibility would improve after sunrise, at 7:20 AM. Instead the fog clung to the waters of the canal.
With the camera covered against the light mist that started falling as the upper level fog began to condense, I birded by ear.
Spider webs were laden with dew. Using my little pocket camera (Canon SX 700 HS) I captured some of the still life. This is the view looking back to the north from the levee trail:
Dew dropped from the twigs:
An orb festooned with dewdrops reflected a rainbow:
Ahead, I approached the inlet between the canal and the "big lake" in our development:
Trying to see through the fog, I hoped to find an eagle that sometimes roosts on Lighthouse Island:
Back at the computer I gave a "painterly" treatment to a portion of the photo:
Over the course of almost two hours I recorded 23 bird species, almost all heard only, and photographed a single bird, this female Boat-tail Grackle, as she hunted for dragonflies at the water's edge: Halloween Pennants were numerous:
As I walked along the trail one flew towards me and appeared to hover right in front of my eyes. It had been trapped by a single thread of spider silk. Within 4 minutes it was wrapped and carried off by the spider:
Since I have so little to show in the way of photos, here are a few from the past week. March 20 was also foggy, but I got this nice shot of the north shore of the wetlands lake just as the fog was dispersing:
As expected on the Vernal Equinox, the sun rose directly over the back gate of the Harbour Lakes subdivision. That day I fortunately got a second look at the two Black-necked Stilts that had visited a few days earlier. They did not wait for me, so this was a lucky shot between the blades of high grass in front of me. Happily, the blades did not cover the birds and they even added a bit of out-of-focus relief as the stilts coursed over a patch of rocks and lily pads in the lake:
A Muscovy Duck, an established feral species, flew overhead. They usually fly low, so this was a treat:
On March 17 I found only one pair of Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in the rookery. I fear it has been damaged so badly that they will not nest here this year, if ever again:
The male made a half-hearted display towards the female:
On the afternoon of March 16, a quick visit to the local Bald Eagle nest was very rewarding. I found the male on the nest, and he was soon joined by the larger new female, to the left in this photo:
The female flew up to roost just to the left of the nest. Note that her tail feathers still have dark tips. She just turned four years old and is entering the full fifth year adult plumage stage:
To balance the picture, the male flew up to the right...
... and the two rested for a while:
Then, both returned to the nest and rearranged a few sticks:
Unfortunately, a dump truck made a panic stop when the light turned red. Its jake brakes roared and the driver leaned on his air horn. This startled both eagles, and the male flew our to the left and the female exited to the rear of the nest: On my next visit to the nest I saw no eagles, but a Carolina Wren scolded me: He posed on a fence (just to please Tex): Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display ________________________________________________
We were out before sunrise on our local wetlands. The sun rose at 7:30 AM EDT, only 2 degrees south of due east.The back gate of the adjacent Harbour Lakes subdivision faces due east, and on the Vernal Equinox on March 20 we can expect the sun to rise directly over the gate. While scanning the lake I heard the call of a familiar bird. Before I could remember its identity, two Black-necked Stilts flew by and inexplicably turned my way and landed only about 80 feet (25 meters) away. It was about 5 minutes after sunrise with the near shore in deep shadow, so my initial photos were very poor. I stood in place for about 45 minutes waiting for the sun, and luckily the stilts just loafed and preened. I ended up taking over 200 shots, but only about half were in good light. Although I have had stilts in the patch in previous years, this was the first time I got this close to them. The earliest usable shots showed a warm glow as light finally swept the shoreline: The still water provided nice reflections: So long as I stood perfectly still they paid me little attention, going about their grooming: After standing still for about 45 minutes my legs started cramping although the sunlight felt good on my back. I took this with my little Canon Powershot SX700 HS. The stilts are barely visible along the shore, to the left: My reach for the pocket camera put them on alert... ...and they flew up: Happily, they turned back and alighted on a small submerged bar a bit to the south, not much further away. The slight back-lighting provided pleasant images:
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display ________________________________________________
The last full moon of winter on March 5, is also the "smallest" moon of the year because it is at its furthest distance from the earth. Native Americans named it the Worm Moon because it calls the earthworms to the surface as the ground begins to thaw. I captured this mini-Moon or micro-Moon as it rose over the lake in back of our home, almost due east.
Before sunrise the next morning, in the wetlands next to our subdivision, the mini-Moon pierces the early fog:
I rush to catch the moon's reflection in the lake before it settles into the mist.
Birding has been slow, as some of the winter visitors are already diminishing in number and migration seems reluctant to get underway. The local male Bald Eagle's new mate may be too young to start raising a family this season. He continues to bring sticks to the nest . As reported previously, they copulated successfully in late January. Although she has joined him in arranging the nest, she does not appear to be broody. Here she watches from a perch just above and to the right as Pride brings in a large branch which he snapped off the top of a dead tree: Under her watchful eye he arranges it to his satisfaction: He seems to say: "How do you like it?" A White-winged Dove gathers twigs in our front yard and carries them to a flimsy nest in a neighbor's back yard:
This Brown Thrasher is singing his heart out, anticipating his northward departure. It feels as if spring is here already! Here is a snippet of his unique song (If video fails to display, click here):
Male Red-winged Blackbirds stake out territories in the wet prairies, singing and displaying red and yellow epaulets to each other, awaiting the arrival of the females and hoping to attract them into their harems: This blackbird could not have picked a more idyllic setting for his performance. Is that an old stump, or an exquisite sculpture of a fantasy island?: The clear whistled songs of Northern Cardinals fill the air: The quacks of Mottled Ducks betray their relationship to the Mallard clan: This pair joins a Great Blue Heron resting on a boulder: Another Great Blue enjoys a sound sleep.. ...as a Great Egret takes flight... ...and rudely awakens him: Belted Kingfishers will soon be heading north:
While I am photographing the landscape with my pocket camera, this adult White-tailed Deer doe suddenly appears along the road. Using the the same camera, I get a quick but blurry shot before she runs away, followed by two younger deer. They stop to watch me from across the wet prairie. A young buck, his antler buds only starting to emerge, stands in front of a young doe: Probably more playful than amorous, the buck attempts to mount the doe: When birding is slow, the camera finds other interesting subjects, like this Green Anole. Facing competition from the exotic and invasive Brown Anole, these are quite scarce in our local wetlands. This one displays its dewlap but I do not see any others of its kind in the vicinity:
Butterflies abound, including this Gulf Fritillary: Its under-wing pattern contrasts sharply with the dry grass:
A Halloween Pennant perches high:
Spring may be imminent, but here in South Florida we seem to have our brightest foliage just as the tomatoes ripen and winter wanes. This was the view along the north shore of the lake on March 3:
On the morning of March 9 the mini-Moon was waning, but shadows made its features more visible: Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display ________________________________________________
