Walking Bar Ditch Trail

Despite the threatening afternoon clouds and thunder almost every afternoon, we received relatively little rainfall during August. I was anxious to take advantage of the fact that the Bar Ditch Trail might still be dry. An hour before sunrise on September 5, I set out in the pitch dark, planning to walk back after about two hours, before the sun got too hot. Indeed, the path was not flooded and even dryer than my last walk a few weeks before.

High clouds persisted after sunrise. The shade was welcome, but made it difficult to identify and photograph some birds in dark foliage against the ground-glass sky. One rather large bird showed very little color. Its very large bill stood out. Luckily, I had attached a flash unit. Before it flew off I captured a burst of full-color images which revealed it to be a female Summer Tanager, only the third I have recorded in my patch over the past ten or more years: 







Earlier, I heard the call of a Green Heron but could barely see it:



About five minutes before sunrise, an adult Bald Eagle passed overhead against an amorphous pink sky. Its image is grainy at 1/1000 second exposure and ISO of 6400, but I like the effects:



Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were numerous:





A male Northern Cardinal carried a berry:



A female cardinal with a berry-stained bill peered out of the shadows:



My flash brightened up a female Prairie Warbler...



...and brought out the hooked bill but  not the eye color of a Red-eyed Vireo:



A Brown Thrasher scolded me briefly:





A Loggerhead Shrike kept watch from a treetop:



A Gray Squirrel was almost invisible as it crouched on a limb. I think I can see my reflection in its eye:



Sunrise over the Bar Ditch Trail:



This is my favorite stop along the far reaches of the trail. Here the ditch widens a bit and is surrounded by Cattails and Sawgrass:



Back on September 3, the Corn Moon reflected in the lake in pre-dawn twilight:



While photographing the Moon, about 10 minutes before sunrise, I caught motion out of the corner of my eye. It was a Coyote, carrying something in its mouth:



I then adjusted my camera settings to "see in the dark" by manually cranking the ISO up to an unprecedented 25,600, which allowed the shutter to function at 1/1000. The results were poor, but I hoped to identify whatever the Coyote was carrying. Was it a prey item, or possibly one of its pups. It might be relocating its den?  

 

The (same?) Coyote soon walked out from the same area of brush. It appeared to be a female with swollen teats. She wandered off to the north, sniffing here and there as if hunting:



Moments later, a second Coyote emerged. This looked like it was probably a male, larger and with a robust tail:



To my surprise, when I turned around, a third Coyote was staring at me. As soon as I raised my camera it fled (a Mourning Dove stood by):



On the way home, looking back from the Levee Trailhead, clouds were gathering to the south:



Are those birds flying or angels dancing?

Links to earlier posts about the Bar Ditch Trail (the last two tell how things were here ten years ago, quite a contrast now in the Wounded Wetlnads): 

Beauty is in the eye of the Barn Owl 

https://rosy-finch.blogspot.com/2020/09/beauty-is-in-eye-of-barn-owl.html

Bobcat on the Bar Ditch Trail

https://rosy-finch.blogspot.com/2020/04/bobcat-on-bar-ditch-trail.html

Frozen Fish and Scavenging Serpents

http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=275

Bobcats and a Moccasin

http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=274

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Linking to:

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

________________________________________________

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

An overdose of warblers at Chapel Trail

I must admit to sometimes overdoing it when I see a beautiful bird in good light. Only the capacity of my camera's memory card will hold me in check. This was the case during a recent visit to Chapel Trail Nature Preserve in nearby Pembroke Pines, Florida. The park has a boardwalk which traverses a reclaimed Everglades wet prairie. As was the case with most public attractions, it closed down back in March because of the pandemic. During the cooler months we usually lead a South Florida Audubon Society monthly nature walk at this location and I was hoping it might open in time for the November event.  

In late August, anxious to escape the confinement of COVID quarantine, after checking the Bald Eagle nest near Chapel Trail, I drove by the entrance to the preserve and was surprised to find that the gates were open. There were no signs restricting entry, the parking lot was empty and the boardwalk was not barricaded, so I parked and walked in. Rain threatened and I was not able to spend much time there. 

Near the boardwalk's entrance, a pair of Gray-headed Swamphens were tending to four half-grown youngsters. While three of them were actively foraging, one appeared to be dependent upon its parent and constantly begged to be fed. This species has a specialized technique for obtaining its favorite food, the fresh roots and shoots of the abundant Spike Rush. Using their huge prehensile feet, they pull up the roots to display the new growth, then carefully strip open the stalks to expose the white nutrient-rich pulp. 

The adult swamphen patiently harvested the tender morsels, which were immediately seized by the hungry chick:

       



The other adult was accompanied by two of the other chicks:

 

Six months ago, before the preserve closed down, an adult swamphen high-stepped:

 

A call to my contacts reassured me that the preserve had just officially opened and that signs were to be placed advising that the boardwalk is too narrow to permit social distancing and masks must be brought and worn when there is unavoidable contact with other visitors.

Views of the boardwalk during my next visit:





That day I encountered several migratory species. Among them were a Red-eyed Vireo...



...and a flock of Eastern Kingbirds:





This kingbird perched atop a Swamp (Red) Maple which typically puts out new leaves in mid-summer:



Warblers were a main attraction. Prairie Warblers had returned from their nesting locations among the coastal mangroves:





Some Black-and-White Warblers breed locally. Their ranks were probably swelled by new arrivals heading south:

  

Yellow-throated Warblers also nest along coastal and northern Florida and are welcome invaders inland for most of the year. They can be elusive as they search for insects in the foliage, so it is rewarding when I can catch one out in the open on a bare branch. During a visit which lasted only a few seconds, I was able to capture bursts of over 50 photos. A sampling of my "overdose": 









Their bills are longer than those of most other warbler species:



Next to the parking lot, I saw a creature which could be a body-double for one in Jurassic Park. It is a Brown Basilisk, an exotic species introduced in the pet trade, but now well-established in south Florida:



As is common in sub-tropical climates, the skies over our back yard were clear at dawn and the wind was calm with no hint that afternoon thunderstorms may visit:

Thanks to COVID quarantine, we had prime seating to watch a backyard Great Egret catch a snack. The sequence of events:









This September has two full Moons. Saharan dust attenuated the rays of the early one:

 

When there is only one it is called the Harvest Moon, but if it appears twice, the first is known as the Corn Moon, here reflecting on the lake in the wetlands:



In mid-August, the Moon and Planet Venus had a close encounter above our home. The constellation Orion is visible in the sky to the right in my iPhone photo. Click to enlarge:



The occupants of that section of sky are identified here:




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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)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

________________________________________________

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