This Northern Cardinal has finished molting into a new, brilliant coat:
The weather continues its summer routine of heat, humidity and pop-up showers. I have added a new piece of equipment to my hiking gear-- a folding umbrella, which has come in handy several times.
Days usually start out clear, such as this morning under the waning crescent Harvest Moon:
A Great Egret may be out on the lake before first light:
However, one morning the sky looked very threatening at sunrise...
...rain approached...
...and the shower was followed by a rainbow.
The earliest of our arriving warblers was a Louisiana Waterthrush. It showed up on July 30 and has been present every day through this morning (October 10), an unusually long stop-over. According to eBird, for the past ten years, except for a single sighting in December, 2008, this species has not otherwise been recorded in our County after the end of September. A very early migrant, it usually arrives in south Florida by mid-July and disappears to wintering grounds in the Carribbean or Central America by early September.
Louisiana Waterthrush:
A similar Northern Waterthrush arrived only this morning. Louisiana Waterthrush has a broad white eye line which contrasts with its undersides and buffy flanks. The Northern Waterthrush has a relatively shorter bill, its eye line is buffy and is darker than or matches the color of its undersides, which are more densely streaked, often up into its throat.
Other arrivals included American Redstarts...
...Blue-gray Gnatcatchers...
...Red-eyed Vireos...
...Ovenbirds...
...Black-throated Blue Warblers, eating the Fireweed berries...
...Palm Warblers...
...Northern Parulas...
...Eastern Kingbirds...
...Ruby-throated Hummingbirds:
New arrivals bolstered local populations of Prairie Warblers...
...and Common Yellowthroats:
Days are getting shorter. Sunrise is later each morning and has shifted to the south of the gate in "Sundial Alley:"
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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
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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Many nice shots, sir
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures as always.
ReplyDeleteYou live in paradise.
Good weekend.
What a great series of shots! I love photo #4 of the threatening sunrise, and also the moon shot. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteHello, gorgeous sky shots. The birds are all beautiful. Some of my favorites are the first cardinal and the Waterthrush. Great photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteTHAT's where all our birds have flown!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, our winter birds are hunkering down, but the bug eaters wisely fled. It's a bit chilly today! (ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!
South Florida...so that means you weren't affected by H. Michael then, I thought of you.
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for correcting me with ground dove (it's a white tipped dove & I've since edited my post).
2ndly...as always exceptional & extraordinary photos & narration!! Thanks so much for sharing all your local beauty and birds with us at I'd Rather B Birdin' this week!
Great reflection on the egret by the water. Those sky photos are simply breath-taking. You have lots of great birds there. Hope your Sunday was terrific!
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures - would love to see some of these birds. Had the pleasure of showing some Australian birds to a group of Canadian birders this week.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne Airport (!)
Wow - love this post with all your beautiful photos of sunsets and birds.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful selection of birds.
ReplyDeleteThose clouds before the storm are full of color and movement! The Louisiana and North. waterthrush and ovenbirds look all so similar. Yer eye must still be very good in able to differentiate! So great All Seasons can enjoy the walks you have with Mary Lou before the sun comes up! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteMy 11 year old is doing a report right now on the moon phases. He would love your photo. The bird photos are lovely! What a talent you have in capturing wildlife.
ReplyDeleteSome super looking warblers. So colourful.
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate you're with such a surrounding.
ReplyDelete@Kelleyn Rothaermel-- If you click on any photo it will take you to my FLICKR photo collection. Nearly all of my photos are available under the Creative Commons License, meaning they may be used for personal or educations non-profit purposes provided they are not altered and they are attributed to me (Kenneth Cole Schneider). You do not legally require my permission for such use but I would like to be informed and will appreciate you courtesy and interest. Simply access the download icon (down arrow) and select "Select all sizes" then right-click on the desired size and "save as" giving it a name on your disk.
ReplyDeleteTo think I have made several trips to Florida and not seen most of those birds. Admittedly it was central Florida but I guess they are not that different?
ReplyDeleteWow! These are wonderful images of lovely visitors!
ReplyDeletewonderful to see all these birds arriving and as usual great images of them, I love the shot at the end of the sunrise. Have a good week ahead Kenneth.
ReplyDeleteWow! That sunset! Love the oven birds and the yellow throats. All the photos are just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSorry about your heat. Arizona finally got rid of it! It was so bad. Now it's livable. Love all your warbler pics! What a beautiful group of birds you have!
ReplyDelete