Thursday, May 20, 2021

Early morning birding Lagniappe

The excitement of spring migration and the drama surrounding the successful rescue of both the eaglets has subsided, but routine morning walks sometimes offer a little something extra.

An adult Loggerhead Shrike caught a dragonfly and fed it to a youngster:


The cute baby shrike:

A Red-winged Blackbird attacked a Fish Crow:

An Eastern Screech-Owl settled close by and posed nicely:

Out on the Bar Ditch Trail, a White-tailed buck with antlers in velvet watched me as I walked along at sunrise:


More than 50 White Ibises flew over in a loose "V" formation:

A Green Heron crouched low in the ditch as I passed by. If it had not moved a bit, I would never have seen it:

Common Ground Doves have been uncommon and even missing the past couple of months, but three suddenly showed up this week. Only one male posed for a photo:

Least Terns usually arrived in early April, courted and then brought their young to our lake, but none appeared this year. Many of the urban terns nest on flat gravel roofs such as that on the supermarket about a mile away. These roofs last about 30 years and many are being replaced with more modern technology involving insulated panels and an impermeable membrane, not friendly to the terns (as well as nighthawks, Killdeer and gulls)  This week I was surprised to briefly see my first and only Least Tern:

A Black-necked Stilt lingered at nearby Chapel Trail preserve:

A female Northern Cardinal carried sticks to a hidden nest:

A Tricolored Heron foraged at the edge of the lake in our back yard. They usually are very shy, but this one provided some nice views:

Water levels in the wetland lake have reached the season's low and the water is receding from the lakeside marsh. This photo was taken ten minutes before sunrise:

At sunrise, the sheltered water behind an old levee reflects a colorful sky:

The rainy season is starting early. The official start of hurricane season his being moved earlier, to May 15 instead of June 1.  On May 18, the sun rose behind storms moving in from The Bahamas:


Our children started school when we lived in New Orleans and learned about "Lagniappe"---  

A lagniappe (lan-Yap) is an old Louisiana tradition, especially in the French Quarter of New Orleans... The word lagniappe might be applied to any unexpected bonus that comes with something else. For example, if you bought a car and found a 50 dollar bill in the trunk, it would be a lagniappe (Wikipedia).

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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

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

  1. That owl shot is fabulous and those eyes, wow. Great sky shots as well.

    Hope all is well, Diane

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  2. Thank you for a wonderful virtual walk this morning, Ken!

    All of you photographs are simply superb. I'm very jealous of your cooperative Screech Owl. The "skyscapes" are captivating.

    Hope this wind subsides soon and we sure could use a bit of rain.

    I have a few more days of 1 MG/day of Prednisone and we'll see how things are once I'm off it completely. So far, so good! No pain or stiffness. Hope you will have similar results.

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  3. Beautiful sky shots and the owl's eyes are amazing!

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  4. Fabulous shots! those skies make me dream!

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  5. What fabulous skies and I love that Tri colored Heron. Of course the owl is my favorite sighing! My new Jeep has some little hidden things called Easter Eggs...like a tiny picture of flip flops in a hidden spot. That's been fun to discover!

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  6. Your bird photos are incredible.

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  7. Hello Ken,

    I love the Shrike photos, The Screech Owl is awesome. What a handsome buck!
    I miss seeing Ibis and the Green Heron and Tricolored are favorites. Your sky photos are gorgeous. Great post and collection of photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy Sunday and a great new week! PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  8. You seem to have a much greater change in your local birds, month by month, than I do here. Must be nice to meet the 'old friends' as they come back year year.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  9. Enjoyed seeing the range of birds you've been watching this month.

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  10. Gorgeous photos!
    I love the reflection in the photo of the Green Heron crouching in the ditch!

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  11. Gorgeous series and - OH MY! What a stunning sky.
    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2021/05/make-hay-while-sun-shines.html

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  12. Another post of wonderful images! The birds are so pretty and the skies are incredible :)

    So happy to see your link at 'My Corner of the World' this week!

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  13. Hello Ken,

    Your sky photos and scenes are just gorgeous. Wonderful variety of birds. I have never seen two Shrike so close together. I love the Buck images, the Screech Owl, the Tricolored Heron is a beauty and the Green Heron is a favorite. Great post! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  14. Fantastic pictures! Thanks for sharing the magic.

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