Rosyfinch Ramblings: February 2024

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Window watch

On Tuesday night, a coastal cyclone type storm (Nor'easter, so named because its strongest winds are from the northeast) pounded us with high winds and overnight snowfall accumulation of 14 inches ( 35 cm). The next day the sky was clear, but the temperature remained well below freezing with strong gusty winds. Lights flickered and some residents lost electrical power.

The day before the storm hit was sunny and the wind was calm. I walked out in the back yard a few times, hoping to see some birds in their natural habitat. My only photo opportunity occurred when two Red-shouldered Hawks flew rather high overhead. I obtained only one clear shot before they continued on:

Back to my window, an Eastern Bluebird approached the heated bird bath, only about 5 feet away. I quickly switched the lens mode to macro and got fairly good focus but limited field of view. The deep shadows attenuated the brilliance of the bluebird's plumage:

Other birds appeared at a more comfortable distance for my long lens.

A male bluebird was a fleeting subject:

An American Robin perched in the bare Aspen:

A male Red-bellied Woodpecker perched nearby. I increased the saturation to better show its eponymic red underbody.

Reliable feeder birds included...

Male Downy Woodpecker:

Male Northern Cardinal:

A brown-striped White-throated Sparrow:

A possessive Blue Jay:

Turkey Vultures had been absent the past several weeks, but a pair showed up warming their toes on a neighbor's chimney:

Sunset on February 6:

Striped Skunk caught on Ring security camera February 15:

For my Reflection meme, I had to go back to a November, 2009 view of sunrise from our back patio in Florida,

This week's header: Sunset on February 12, 2024

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Nature Notes

Wordless Wednesday (on 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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Thursday, February 8, 2024

Bluebirds brighten the day

When I started birding as a kid in New Jersey in the 1940's, Eastern Bluebirds were generally absent from the northeastern US during the winter, although some did persist all year in coastal areas. They have since expanded their year-round range northward and inland, to include southern New England. The provision of artificial nest boxes as well as other factors such as climate change and feeders probably played a role. Indeed, bluebirds may make use of bird houses during cold weather.

I was rather surprised to see a flock of over a dozen bluebirds descend on our small holly bushes to glean the berries left over by the robins. They also inspected our back yard bird houses. Possibly, some may have been raised in one of them:

Some lingered by the feeders:

This female bluebird foraged under the feeder in the shadow of the picket fence:

She looked up, hoping that the Red-bellied Woodpecker might drop some more suet crumbs:

A Black-capped Chickadee perched nearby:

A European Starling made a brief appearance:

A Song Sparrow searched for scattered seeds:

A White-tailed Doe looked out from behind the shrubs in the side yard:

Warm rain melted all the snow, and this week we got to take our first walk along the lake in over a month. The ice was starting to break up, and the weather forecast was for cold but clear skies:

To our surprise, light snow fell that evening, but melted in the morning under bright sun:

There was a colorful sunset on February 4:

View from the porthole window:

This week's header: Sunset February 4

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Nature Notes

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
________________________________________________

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

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Crops & Clips: Flashback to February, 2021 #1095

As I do on the first Thursday of each month, I enjoy looking back over my archived photos, taken three years previously, in February, 2021, to remember how things were then as contrasted with events this year at our new home in Connecticut. As usual, I searched for images which reflected favorite memes: critters of all kinds (especially birds), skies and clouds, reflections, flowers and scenes which speak for themselves. We spent the entire month at home in Florida.

My strength had decreased over the past year and movements were limited by stiffness and pain eventually diagnosed as polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Long term treatment with prednisone almost eliminated the pain and decreased stiffness, but I was unable to make frequent observations of the local Bald Eagle nest and soon had to give up my volunteer position as coordinator of the South Florida Audubon Eagle Watch. My daily step count decreased from over 10,000 to less than 700 and I took fewer photos.

A Northern Cardinal sang vigorously from a treetop:

A pair of Mottled Ducks glided in the still water. The male, to the left, has a yellowish bill and is larger than the female, whose bill is more orange:

Lift-off!

Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Interestingly, this is the trunk of a mature exotic Australian Pine. It shows the patterns of sap holes drilled in previous seasons. I was surprised to learn that its sap is drinkable by humans and its cones and budding leaves are edible. REF: Eat the Weeds:

Pied-billed Grebe in early morning light:

Male American Kestrel:

Anhinga preening in lakeside tree:

A Purple Gallinule seemed to "walk on water." Its long toes distributing its weight as it steps along on the lily pads:

A much larger exotic Gray-headed Swamphen walked in the shallows:

Near the shore, a Wood Stork and a Mottled Duck reflected nicely:

I just happened to look out the back window of our home to see this Osprey half-flying and half-swimming to the shore of our lake at the edge of the lawn. I grabbed my camera but it saw me when I was still far inside the house, so I shot through the window as the Osprey flew off very laboriously with a Largemouth Bass.

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, the Bald Eagles had relocated their nest to a new position which the eagle watchers feared was far less secure than the original nest, which we had been watching since 2007. Behavioral monitoring by the watchers set the laying of the first egg as February 1, the day that the female persistently settled down deep.

Female Bald Eagle incubating on February 2, eye and bill barely visible to upper right of center. Note that this nest straddles on a Y-shaped fork with no supporting branches on either side:

This was the best view I obtained of the incubating female, on February 11:

Laura, an artist friend, obtained my permission to derive a painting from one of my photos, taken in the previous season at the original nest. It showed the male, Pride, on the left, with his mate Jewel. Laura was very attentive to features which distinguished the male from female. Pride is smaller and the gape of his bill only reaches back just short of his eye, while that of Jewel extends well under her eye. She also shows a more impressive hooked beak than the worn one of her mate, who was at least 10 years older.

Orchids growing in a neighbor's well-manicured front yard garden. Sadly, he came down with COVID and passed away only a few weeks later. The neglected garden went into disrepair: