Rosyfinch Ramblings: September 2021

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Fall migration

Autumn officially arrived and I visited the boardwalk at nearby Chapel Trail Nature Preserve. A Great Egret happened to pose almost directly under the day-old Harvest Moon:

I was surprised at how quickly the Moon drifted down:

Shooting between tree branches, I had to contort to place the Moon behind the egret:

The egret was not impressed and went about preening:

Actually, I had photographed the Moon a few minutes earlier, moved a short distance along the boardwalk and was lucky to look up and see the egret in a treetop:

View from the dock near the beginning of the boardwalk. The wet prairie is now flooded and the spike-rush is flourishing.

Although the morning radar showed heavy migration, birding was very slow. This is the Doppler velocity image at 5:00 AM on September 24. Green echoes are approaching Miami and red are heading away towards The Bahamas and Cuba. Our home is at the small red "+" which seems to be in the heart of the action.

Instead of finding warblers dripping off the trees I logged only a single species. a Prairie Warbler:

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was my consolation prize. A distracting dozen or more frolicked in the trees:

A grumpy Anhinga was sunning at the far end of the boardwalk. She protested my intrusion so I backed off after snapping a few images. Her red eyes glistened like jewels:

Non-avian objects of interest included a pair of mating Halloween Pennant dragonflies:

...and a Green Anole:

I had better luck in the Wounded Wetlands near our home. A Female Golden-winged Warbler showed up on September 20, my first ever record of this species in the local patch:

More Blue-gray Gnatcatchers livened up the scene:

A Prairie Warbler hover-gleaned for insects:

Another Prairie Warbler was missing his tail feathers. They should be finished molting and generally only replace tail feathers in pairs. Therefore this may have resulted from a close call with a predator such as a pursuing hawk. As bird banders can attest, some birds will "blow" all their tail feathers when severely threatened or to avoid being captured.

Other warblers included a female Black-throated Blue Warbler, here peering out from Ligustrum blossoms and berries...

..and a drab female or possibly first year male Common Yellowthroat:

Acrobatic Black-and-White Warblers seemed to defy gravity while seeking insects hidden in the bark of a Live Oak:

A Northern Parula warbler was mostly out of sight:

An inquisitive Red-eyed Vireo paid a brief visit:

Oh those eyes! A Brown Thrasher peered out between the leaves:

A migrating male Baltimore Oriole added welcome color to the scene:

Out on the lake, only 5 minutes after sunrise, the Harvest Moon hovered over a swirling cloud (A nice example of the low-light performance of my iPhone 11 Pro Max):

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Linking to:

Garden Affair

Nature Thursday

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

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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Thursday, September 23, 2021

Crops & Clips: Night visions #981

The early morning hours are special. Many nocturnal birds are especially active until about a half hour before sunrise. Birding by ear, I can sometimes pick up the calls of Great Horned and Barn Owls I have rarely had photo opportunities with these species. Eastern Screech-Owls are easier to encounter and sometimes pose out in the open even as sunrise approaches.

Last year this one even dozed off as I clicked away in natural light:

Although early morning photos lack feather detail and accurate color rendition, I like the mood they can portray, as in this serene pose of an immature Little Blue Heron which flew in about 20 minutes before sunrise:

An adult of the same species flew in a few seconds later. Its dark plumage almost melted into the background:

As the adult Little Blue Heron flew off, I could barely see it against the dark background and actually focused on its reflection:

A Great Egret was easier to see in the darkness:

Cameras can sometimes seem to "see" in the dark. This distant White-tailed Buck was invisible until he moved. Although binoculars provided a brighter view, he was barely visible through the camera's viewfinder. The camera tries to make up for the darkness by opening its aperture and slowing down the exposure rate. This results in a washed-out image in the RAW photo. Editing the image to darken (decrease exposure compensation) and sharpen it improved the image somewhat :

A little later, another buck suddenly walked out into the sunlight. Its antlers had only four points.

Detail of that dark spot inside its rear leg. It is one of the several scent glands. The deer can voluntarily flare the hairs surrounding the tarsal gland.

Factoid: Making sense of whitetails scent glands: The tarsal gland is a pad of stiff hairs located on the inside of each deer’s rear leg at the hock. At the base of each hair is a fat, or sebaceous, gland that produces an odorless oily deposit that coats the hair creating a stage for scent dissemination. All year through, deer can flare their tarsals. Scent is released by flaring the tarsal hairs into a rosette. Whitetail deer of all ages, urinate over their tarsals (rub-urinate) throughout the year, bucks more so during the rut. Fawns may rub-urinate to locate their mother.

Early morning light cast long shadows which broke up the profile of this female Northern Cardinal:

A male Northern Cardinal was eating the Trema berries:

In our back yard, a female Anhinga was joined by a Little Blue Heron. They lounged together amicably:

Or, did they just disagree about something?

An hour before sunrise on the last day of summer, the Full Harvest Moon was over the horizon as we walked into the Wounded Wetlands:

We had hoped to see it set over the lake but low clouds intervened:

Golden sunrise over the gravel road which leads to the lake:

Early morning view of the lake in the Wounded Wetlands:

I started Rosyfinch Ramblings on September 15, 2006, so this is my 15th Blogaversary!