Barn Owl and Coyote howl on morning prowl

About two years ago we started taking our morning walks about an hour before sunrise. We were always out "early," meaning after the sky began brightening up. Since I like photographing the setting Full Moon, we occasionally got out when it was very dark. After we became full-time (summer) Florida residents it became a habit. 

During the summer we escaped the heat of the sun and came to enjoy trekking out with flashlights and listening to the sounds of the night. We heard the calls of Eastern Screech-Owls and experienced the pre-dawn songbird chorus.

On April 8 I heard the eerie scream of a Barn Owl. It was high in a Royal Palm next to the gravel road which leads into the wetlands.  It was 6:20 AM, about 45 minutes before sunrise.  I could only see it using my flashlight. It was so dark that my camera would not click, even though I manually cranked the ISO up to 16,000. 

I had to hold my flashlight beam on the owl to permit the camera to focus, and the photos turned out to be very soft, with "red eye" which I corrected during processing:





Years ago, when I first heard heard its unfamiliar scream I thought it was a mammal, perhaps a Bobcat. This time, the Barn Owl called unexpectedly while I was recording the song of a Chuck-wills-widow. 

AUDIO FILE-- Chuck-wills-widow and Barn Owl

This was my tenth, but by far the best local sighting of (or hearing) a Barn Owl since first discovering one in 2015. I found a wing feather in 2018 in the same general location:



The owl first called from on or very near the top of the trunk of this dead Royal Palm. It could be a nesting or resting place, so I am checking it carefully:



On March 25 I heard several Coyotes barking and wailing along the Big Levee Trail. By the time I reached the spot they had departed, but a treed Raccoon may have been their intended prey:





Nearby Chapel Trail Nature Preserve has since closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but my last visit there started with a peaceful stroll along the boardwalk, which starts out through a wooded area:



Among the birds and butterflies at Chapel Trail, a Blue-headed Vireo was a cooperative subject:



A Black-and-White Warbler foraged along the trunks and larger branches:



Cattle Egrets walked along with a Longhorn cow and bull in the adjacent pasture:



A Prairie Warbler flitted high up in the canopy:

  



Out on the wet prairie, there were a dozen of these established exotic Gray-headed Swamphens:





Swamphens were joined by a pair of Mottled Ducks on the flooded prairie:



A Zebra longwing butterfly sipped on wild Lantana blossoms:

 

A male Queen butterfly provided two nice views:





White Peacock wings are often damaged by their fighting,  so I never pass up a chance to capture a near-perfect specimen :



A Magnolia tree bloomed in a light rain shower:

 

The sun rising over the entrance to our local Wounded Wetlands:




The April Pink Moon setting:



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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

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

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Unexpected Beauty

About to walk out of  the wetlands area, I stopped to review my eBird checklist. Suddenly a male cardinal flew down close by and picked up a berry. It was the fruit of a Firebush (Hamelia patens) which  conveniently ripens just when northbound migrants need quick energy. The cardinal is non-migratory and often spends its entire life foraging and nesting in one small territory, so it knows its food sources very well. I watched its table manners as it plucked, squashed, swallowed and then cleaned up after the treat.

Northern Cardinal:











Moments later, after I exited the gates of the preserve, I noticed three Common Grackles sitting close together on the edge of the tile roof of a neighbor's house. Two males appeared to be vying for the attention of a female who looked on. The males postured: 



The male in the middle of the trio appeared to be the most assertive. He puffed up his feathers. Both closed their nictitating membranes  (third eyelids), commonly done as part of the display. 



All three then flew off, so I do not know the outcome.

Overnight rain flooded the wet prairies. Seeking dry ground, seven White-tailed Deer appeared along the gravel road. They were barely visible, but their eyes reflected my camera flash:



They did not bolt away. Every time my camera clicked, they looked up:





Two Raccoons explored the margins of a puddle:





We enjoyed a beautiful red sunrise on two consecutive mornings. This was out of a hazy but cloudless sky on April 12:



The sun reflected off clouds on April 13:

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Linking to:

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

________________________________________________

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

Early morning sightings

Sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic interrupts the familiar routines which formerly made each day of the week special. Now the days flow, one into another. There are no "weekends," no choir practices or church gatherings, all the parks are closed. Grocery orders and even routine doctors' appointments are handled on computers and iPads. The highlight of most mornings is our walk into and around our local wetlands preserve. Here is a random sample of our encounters...

Blue-headed Vireo:



Male Common Yellowthroat:



Gray Catbird:



Red-bellied Woodpecker:



Prairie Warbler:



An energetic Northern Parula warbler:





Iridescent neck feathers are highlights on this Mourning Dove:



A Red-winged Blackbird sings next to a cattail patch:



A Ruby-throated Hummingbird is about to fly north:



A White-tailed Doe graces the morning scene:



Fog lifts along the shore of the placid lake:



Very early one morning we were surprised when two Eastern Screech-Owls began calling along the path. One perched on a signpost for flash photos (I darkened its pupils in these two photos):





The second owl landed on the ground and my flashlight produced a "red eye" in this poor photo.  As with all owls, their pupils react independently of each other.  



Owls have the uncanny ability to rotate their heads 360 degrees in an instant. The slow exposure created this funny "bottle owl:"



Florida normally has a dry season which lasts from late October into early May. This winter we experienced near-drought conditions. Water levels in our local wetlands had been unusually high almost all year around for the prior three years. High water dilutes aquatic prey and wading birds must range far and wide to find food. Trails which we have explored in the past had been flooded and inaccessible.   

Low water now allows me to walk some of the trails created by ATV riders out in the local Wounded Wetlands. I call this one the North Lakeshore Trail. It provides a unique view of a sunrise which softens the ugly scars left by the off-road vehicles  :



A few minutes later, the sun climbs into the open sky:



The low water reveals a labyrinth of ATV tracks through the woodlands, previously out of sight:

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Linking to:

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

________________________________________________

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