Thursday, August 29, 2019

Crops & Clips: mid-August clicks

The month of August is continuing the trend set by July, when records for high temperatures and rainfall were broken. Most mornings have dawned rather clear, with storms lurking off the Atlantic coast to strike later in the day. A compact umbrella is mandatory field equipment, as weather reports cannot be entirely accurate. 

Right now a hurricane is bearing down on us in southeast Florida. I do not enjoy the prospect of hunkering down without electricity in a dark and hot home with all the windows shuttered, listening to the whistle of  the wind as things go bump all around. 

Last year we had an exceptional visit by a Louisiana Waterthrush, a species which commonly transits Florida on the way to a more southerly wintering range. It arrived in late August and stayed into October 22. I visited and photographed it almost daily.
Louisiana Waterthrush, July 31, 2018:

Louisiana Waterthrush 03-20180731

Several subtle characteristics help distinguish the Louisiana Waterthrush from the similar but more common Northern Waterthrush, whose peak migration occurs later in autumn.  Both have plain brown to dark gray backs, though the Louisiana species tends to be a warmer brown. Both have light breasts with dark markings. The Louisiana has larger markings which tend to separate into spots. The Northern's streaks are more confluent and reach more strongly up to or near the throat. Both species have a distinctive light eyeline. As compared to the color of its breast, the Louisiana's eye-line is whiter, often broader and becomes buffy and more narrow or disappears in front of the eye, not extending to the base of the bill. The legs of the Louisiana Waterthrush are usually brighter reddish pink.

The Louisiana Waterthrush has contrasting buffy flanks:

Louisiana Waterthrush 04-20180731

Note the substantial bill of this Louisiana Waterthrush, which is thicker and longer than that of the Northern Waterthrush (August 16, 2018):

Louisiana Waterthrush 06-20180816

The great majority of fall migrating Lousiana Waterthrushes appear in our County from mid-August into mid-September. July and October sightings are quite rare. eBird records reveal that there have been only 5 other July sightings and no other October reports of this species over the past 10 years

For comparison, here are some views of a Northern Waterthrush, taken on October 10, 2018:

Northern Waterthrush 04-20181010

Note the confluent breast streaks and narrow and duller duller eye-line which matches its undersides and extends all the way to the base of the more slender bill of this Northern Waterthrush (August 29, 2017)

Northern Waterthrush 03-20170829

This year, a Louisiana Waterthrush appeared in the same location as last year, on August 14. Its  buffy flanks  show up nicely:

Louisiana Waterthrush 01-20190814

Louisiana Waterthrush 06-20190814

Unlike last year, this has so far been only a one-day appearance for the Louisiana Waterthrush.  

The White-tailed Deer usually hide in the Everglades wilderness, but wet conditions have driven them to higher ground. Our homes and roads are built upon stone and gravel which was blasted and carved out of the pristine Everglades to form several lakes in the subdivisions, so our neighborhood preserve is a haven for the deer when they wish to dry their feet. 

While observing a few warblers I was startled to see an 8-point buck heading right towards me. I was nearly out of sight behind a berm:

White-tail buck approaching 02-20190818

Since it is mating season I did not want to be attacked by a disappointed suitor who confused me with one of his kind, so I climbed up the berm to be sure he recognized me. Actually, his attention was fixed upon a doe, hidden in the high grass nearly in front of me, just to my right:

White-tail buck approaching doe 05-20190818

The doe scrambled out of cover:

White-tail doe coming towards me 04-20190818

The deer were so close by that I had trouble fitting them into the viewfinder until the buck stopped to scratch an itch or shoo a fly...

White-tail buck scratching 092-20190818

...then bounded away...

White-tail buck fleeing 093-20190818

...followed by the doe:

White-tail doe fleeing 095-20190818

My desktop computer died this past weekend and I may have lost 7 1/2 months' worth of RAW images, as my Carbonite backup only saved the JPG files. After two days only 11% of my files have been restored. I am forced to write this on my laptop. Here are a few views from the previous week--

Female Anhinga in  our back yard. Her wing feathers are new and unblemished, while her tail is still molting:

Anhinga female 01-20190817

Black-and White Warblers are more numerous as fall migration gets to a slow start. This is a male:

Black-and-White Warbler male 01-20190817

Female Black-and White Warbler lacks the black face patch:

Black-and-White Warbler female 03-20190817

Glimpse of a Northern Parula warbler in poor light:

Northern Parula 01-20190915

Another bad photo of a Northern Parula in flight, but I liked the action. This is a male, which has a dark reddish area on its upper chest:

Northern Parula saturated 03-20190814

An adult  Red-shouldered Hawk flew low overhead...

Red-shouldered Hawk 05-20190813

...and its wingtips in this better view did not entirely fit into my composition:

Red-shouldered Hawk 07-20190813

I love the honeysuckle scent of the Ligustrum in bloom, and so do the Honeybees. In coming weeks its berries will feed the hungry migrants:

Honeybees and ants on Ligustrum 20190814

A  Horace's Duskywing butterfly sips nectar from a Bidens alba flower:

Horace's Duskywing 20190815

We hear the Coyotes uttering harsh barks and a few whining howls early in the  mornings. These are the fresh tracks of a Coyote in wet sand. The rear paw (to the left) is smaller than its front paw. Note the somewhat oval shape of its prints as opposed to those of of most domestic dogs, which have rounded prints with more widely spaced toes. Also, the latter usually have shorter nails because they wear them down on floors and pavement. The two middle toes of a Coyote  are so far forward that the nails of the two outer toes emerge almost behind them:

Coyote tracks 01-20190813 

Just after sunrise, a westerly breeze stirred the surface of the lake on an otherwise peaceful morning:

Westerly breeze at sunrise 20190811

A cloud tower rose in a great column to the northeast about 15 minutes before sunrise on August 26:

Cloud Tower 20190826

Behind the Pine Bank, about 40 miles away to the west, a thunderstorm raged over the Everglades. My path into the lake is no longer on a peninsula. Rather, it is an archipelago:

Cloud ove Pine Bank before sunrise 20190826


= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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
________________________________________________


24 comments:

  1. Very nice! Great field mark and pic descriptions for a tough two birds to ID in the field!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful photos. Love the cloud tower shot. Sorry to hear about your computer. I worry a lot about having the same situation happen to me. Stay safe with the hurricane coming your direction. Very scary!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fabulous bird and sky photos. The buck is also magnificent.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous shots! That cloud tower is amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great reflection pictures. When we lived in Southern California coyotes were a problem. A pack would come behind our house at night so it was dangerous to let our cat outdoors. We ended up having to make him into an indoor cat which he hated. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the deer having a scratch....the reflections in the last two photos are amazing...well captured!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gorgeous deer, and your birds are always finely shown. The cloud column is startling to see.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Ken! Love the deer, great captures and sightings. The birds are lovely. I have not seen many Waterthrush this year, I have heard a few. The warblers are all beautiful. I love the tower cloud shot, beautiful skies! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day, have a happy new week ahead! PS, thank you for the nice comment on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That cloud tower is dazzling! Love the deer. Your bird photos are exceptional as always.

    I want to send you my thanks and appreciation for joining us this week at I'd Rather B Birdin'. Good luck with your computer woes (and reinstalling everything).

    ReplyDelete
  10. Came by to tell you I’m thinking of you on this Sunday morning and wishing you safety on this scary hurricane morning . (And loving your pictures from another August too of course. Be safe!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great reflections. The cloud tower is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That Water Thrush looks like a fine bird. Hope you can ride out the storm - and you never know what birds its may bring. Stay safe.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW! Fabulous photos! Love the cloud tower.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That cloud tower is amazing! Had to smile about the incident with the deer - and i thought the male was suppose to chase the female, no the other way around! Wow, what you call a "bad" picture of a bird, I wish I was at that level! Hopefully this hurricane will not land near you, but will decide to land i sea or disappear! Heard not too long ago that they can "steer" storms like these... Hope the rest of your week will be enjoyable too and you don't have to sit in the dark!Jesh

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great shots!
    Thanks for joining us at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-strange-sight.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your photos are always so amazing - love the birds and sky shot. Stay safe during the storm.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely photos. I hope the hurricane takes a detour out into the Atlantic. That's one thing I definitely do not miss about living in Florida!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Such amazing nature shots. Love the deer in motion-

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great photos. Those cloud photos at the end were remarkable.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting Rosyfinch Ramblings! I will enjoy a visit to your page just as soon as possible. Some anonymous comments and some containing active links may not be accepted.