Thursday, August 30, 2018

Waders in white (#822)

Take a better look at that long-legged white bird walking along the shore across the lake. At such a distance it may not be possible to see the finer points which clinch the identification. Size alone can be misleading, as without a yardstick for comparison, white birds often seem to be larger than they really are.
 
The white bird with a long neck is barely visible in this photo...

Cloud over The Everglades 20180811

...or here (click on image to enlarge):

Great Egret in distance 20180717

A closer look at the second photo reveals a Great Egret:


Great Egret 01-20180717

These two smaller birds are having a spat over rights to the best fishing spot. They seem to be about the same size, but there are some difference which set them apart. The Snowy Egret, on the right, has a black bill with yellow base and mostly black legs with yellow feet. The retreating immature Little Blue Heron has a gray bill with dark tip and greenish legs:

Snowy chases Little Blue 03-20150812

The Snowy Egret appears to be gloating in victory...

Snowy chases Little Blue 04-20150812

...while the Little Blue Heron is not far away, adopting a characteristic hunting posture, stooped with neck outstretched and bill near the surface of the water. This can help identify it from a great distance:

Little Blue Heron 2-20150812

The size difference between these two egrets is remarkable. Note the yellow bill and black legs of the Great Egret and the yellow "golden slippers" of the Snowy Egret:

Snowy and Great Egrets 02-20180807

Here is another nice size comparison between a Great Egret and an adult White Ibis, whose red decurved bill is distinctive.

Great Egret and White Ibis 20170110

In flight, the ibis displays black wingtips:

White Ibis XLIGHT 20160322

This large white wader appeared on our back lawn back in June, 2016:

Great White Heron reduced 20140811

I first saw it at a distance and almost passed it off as another Great Egret. However, its size and posture as it rested next to the lake made me take a second look. It certainly reminded me of this Great Blue Heron:

Great Blue Heron 05-20180326

Indeed, it was a "Great White Heron," the white color variation of the Great Blue Heron:

Great White Heron CROP 4X5 2-20140811

Here is a composite image showing the bills of three herons from about the same distance, all visitors to our back yard, The Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, and "Great White Heron":

Bill comparison vignette2

This small white wader with a short yellow bill and black legs is a Cattle Egret:

 Cattle Egret 20160830

Cattle Egrets usually forage away from water and feel right at home with this Longhorn cow:

Cow and Cattle Egrets HDR 2-20160905

They often perch on the backs of cattle to catch insects attracted to them:

Cattle Egret on steer 20170304

Cattle Egret on back of cow 20141030

Cattle Egrets are easily identified in full breeding plumage, when their legs turn red (deeper color in the male on right) and they develop rusty plumes:

Cattle Egret pair 05-20170407

Here are two Cattle Egrets in a flock of with nine Snowy Egrets:

Snowy and Cattle Egrets 20140331

Yesterday I celebrated my entry into the fourth year of the ninth decade of my life, thankful that I can walk the Wounded Wetlands and enjoy the serene beauty and grace of egrets...

Great Egret 02-20180614

Snowy Egret 02-20180403

Great Egret 01-20180122

Great Egret before sunrise 20171108

Snowy Egret 01-20170605

Great Egret 06-20161213

Great Egret before sunrise HDR 04-20160926


Great Egret takes flight HDR 01-20160911


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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

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Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

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Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

 Linking to Fences Around the World by Gosia

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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Thursday, August 23, 2018

Crops & Clips -- Dog Days of Summer

When the birding action slows down during these Dog Days of summer, there is no lack of interesting things to see, hear and photograph in our local south Florida Wounded Wetlands. The oppressive heat limits our time out in the open, but we minimize the inconvenience by getting out early every morning unless there is a threat of rain.

The low light presents photographic challenges. I set my camera for flight shots in the hope that an overhead bird may catch some of the morning light. Just as the sun was rising, I underexposed this low-flying Green Heron which stood out against a dark background:

Green Heron 20180812

While Mary Lou likes to walk the 3 mile round trip at a brisk pace, I plod along, stop, look and listen. Usually I meet her as she is heading home while I am only about halfway into the wetland preserve.

Here she is, a blue dot heading home a little after sunrise on a clear and calm morning:

MaryLou in blue walking home 20180811

We continued to experience the effects of Saharan dust. Mornings were sometimes rather murky but before sunrise the dust particles turned the light of the rising sun to pink and projected sunbeams all the way across the sky to the opposite horizon:


Pink sky before sunrise 3-20180819


Anticrepuscular rays over wet prairie 20180812

Some mornings the only bird we heard singing was a Carolina Wren. Usually they hide down in the understory and are hard to find, but once a pair sang a duet out in the open. The male warbled sweetly and the female finished each phrase with a trill. The male looked disheveled as if wet or starting to molt, but his spirits were not dampened:

Carolina Wren 03-20180812

The female waited for her mate to finish...

Carolina Wren 01-20180812

...and energetically added her coda:

Carolina Wren female singing duet 05-20180812

The first Blue-gray Gnatcatchers appeared on August 12. Although their breeding range extends down into south Florida we do not see many of them from spring into late summer. They do become abundant during the winter. These may be early migrants from further north:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 03-20180812

One flew in so close that its tail did not fit in the frame:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 01-20180812

As if to accommodate my long lens, it flipped its tail out of view:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 02-20180812

There was a sudden emergence of White Peacock butterflies. They quickly damage their wings, fighting and chasing after mates, so it was nice seeing some perfect specimens:

White Peacock 20180730

White Peacock small 20180808

Standing in one spot, I photographed three butterfly species within one minute-- a Tropical Checkered-Skipper...

Tropical Checkered-Skipper male 20180808

...a Phaon Crescent...

Phaon Crescent 20180808

...and a tiny Three-spotted Skipper:

Skipper - Three Spotted possible 20180808

A bee-like Hoverfly species did not escape notice:

Bee-like Hoverfly 20180809

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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

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Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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Thursday, August 16, 2018

A quiet time for molting

Having abandoned our summer home in NE Illinois, we are now experiencing the typical south Florida subtropical "rainy season" weather pattern: clear, hot and humid mornings and stormy afternoons.

Before sunrise, anticrepuscular rays appear to converge on the horizon opposite the sun, creating a "mirrored sunrise" to the west:

Anticrepuscular rays to west before sunrise 20180803

Two hours later, I walk home towards a thunderstorm building over the ocean to the east. Do you see a pointy-nosed man sleeping (snoring?) on a cloud pillow?


Storm building to south 03-20180801

For the past couple of weeks the dawn chorus has been muted. During much of the year we become accustomed to the songs of mockingbirds and cardinals which pierce the dark as we walk out a half hour before sunrise. 


Courting, defending territories and raising a brood are followed by the mid-summer post-breeding molt. Now energy must be conserved as new feathers are grown, nourished and groomed. Even these persistent songsters fall silent.

This young male Boat-tailed Grackle is a sight for sore eyes...

Boat-tailed Grackle molting 3-20150731

...but he can look forward to looking like this:

Boat-tailed Grackle 03-20180414

The flight feathers of this Red-winged Blackbird are worn and tattered...

Red-winged Blackbird molting 20140704

...but in a few weeks he will be singing again:

Red-winged Blackbird display HDR  20160422

A bedraggled Northern Mockingbird waits for feathers to be replaced...

Northern Mockingbird molting 20140718

Northern Mockingbird molting 2-20140718

...so he can show off his new coat:

Northern Mockingbird 03-20170403

A "Young and Crestless" male Northern Cardinal transitions into adult plumage...

Northern Cardinal 20120808

...and an adult cardinal's black skin is exposed until new feathers grow back...

Northern Cardinal molting 20170728

...and soon they will:

Northern Cardinal male 01-20180707

Back in Illinois, a male Bobolink is changing into a soft brown winter coat which resembles that of his mate...

Bobolink 20120709

...until next spring...

Bobolink 01-20180515:

...when he will draw admiring looks from this female Bobolink:

Bobolink 2-20150831

White-eyed Vireos have just about finished molting ...

White-eyed Vireo molting 2-20130721

...and in a few weeks will be in fine feather:

White-eyed Vireo 01-20180402

As is the case with many waterbirds, this male Anhinga temporarily loses all its flight feathers at once, as new feathers emerge, encased in steel-blue sheaths:

Anhinga in molt 20180808

Soon he will look even better than he did when I photographed him only two weeks previously:

Anhinga male 01-20180717

Anhingas add a few nice touches during breeding season-- head plumes and green "goggles:"

Anhinga male 20180705

Most birds molt their flight feathers symmetrically, so that flight performance is not impaired. This is a juvenile Bald Eagle, about 6 months old. Its wing feathers are nicely lined up. They are actually about 1 1/2 inches longer than those of the adult and there is a noticeable bulge in the secondary remiges (flight feathers) nearest its body:

Bald Eagle Juvenile 02-20180622

This immature Bald Eagle, just entering its second year, is symmetrically replacing its long juvenile remiges and tail feathers (retrices) with the shorter adult feathers:

Bald Eagle 20090615

Note the more narrow wings of an adult, with a nice even trailing edge:

Bald Eagle female in flight 06-20170319


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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh



________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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