Happy Thanksgiving

 Our back yard birds kept me busy. Some perched close by, as did this Northern Mockingbird, atop the "For Sale" signpost:

A Double-crested Cormorant climbed up on the goose decoy which serves as a float for the intake of our irrigation system...

...and spread its wings to dry:

The next day its turquoise-blue eyes glistened in the sunlight:

The immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker made numerous visits to tend the sap wells on the trunk of our Mahogany tree:

Far across the lake, I obtained distant shots of three heron species in one frame, a Snowy Egret with Little Blue and Tricolored Herons:

A Great Egret flew in near the Snowy Egret:

I almost overlooked a Green Heron perched among the other waders:

Thankfully, I was feeling good and visited Chapel Trail for a second time this week. We had to kill time as our home was being inspected prior to sale. It was rainy and the light was very poor.  I captured fleeting images of only two species...

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher:

White-eyed Vireo:

An afternoon shower produced a nice rainbow over our lake: 

Clouds moved away to the east, over the ocean...

...and reflected the setting sun:

Just before Thanksgiving Day I received a copy of this wonderful documentary on Bald Eagles and other birds of prey in the USA. It was produced as part of a popular wildlife series for the Arab World. I was interviewed to feature our local eagle nest (beginning around 7:00 minutes). Though it does not have English subtitles, it has very informative segments (in English) on urban eagles, the place of eagles in Native American culture, Florida Audubon EagleWatch, the American Eagle Foundation and also falconry. The series attracts millions of viewers.

If you have trouble viewing it, please visit this link: https://youtu.be/WDmWCTKs3ZI

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:

Garden Affair

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

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
________________________________________________

Bald Eaglets have arrived

Lots of action at the eagle nest the morning of March 12. I could hear eaglets calling and see that they were being fed, but so far had not seen a fuzzy bobble-head. The male (Pride) took over tending the nest early, probably after the female (Jewel) had spent all night covering them.

At about 7:30 AM Jewel was roosting, cleaning her beak and preening:

Jewel took flight and disappeared to the northeast:

She returned in a few minutes. A grackle harassed her and even landed on her back:

The grackle was persistent and followed her almost to the nest:

The pursuing grackle seemed to imitate the eagle's wing positions:

Jewel was carrying a small stick which she dropped at the nest and kept flying:

She roosted out in the open and provided some nice portraits. Although eagles' expressions are fixed they sometimes seemed to convey an attitude:

Jewel displaced Pride at the nest and he flew off:

Jewel tended to the unseen eaglet(s) which called out quite loudly. So far no one had gotten any photos of the brood which started hatching on March 6th or 7th:

BULLETIN: Thursday morning, March 18: I photographed two eaglets in the nest this morning!

This is the first-hatched, the 26th eaglet known to have been hatched at this nest (P Piney 26). She is probably a female as the odds in favor are 3:1--

The younger sibling is P Piney 27:

 A Snowy Egret forages before sunrise at the Wet Prairie:

View from one of my favorite wildlife-watching "sit spots" at the edge of the prairie:

This week I noticed that trees are being removed along the north edge of the prairie, in an area which is zoned for residential development. It harbored an Osprey nest until a few years back when the area was treated with herbicides. The trunks of the dead trees are still standing, but the live growth, mostly exotic Mealaeuca trees, has been cut back, exposing them like skeletons:

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:

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

________________________________________________

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

Finding furry and feathered fauna

Although we get out early in the local wetlands, we generally shelter in place at home for the greater part of the day. 

Our back yard lake attracts waders such as this Great Blue Heron:

Green Herons are very skittish, so I was lucky to have this one stick in a spot visible from our patio:

This Great Egret paid me no attention as it spied and then caught a small fish:

The fish wiggled violently and scattered water droplets, to no avail:

The first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season, an immature bird which lacked the red on its head, started drilling sap wells on our Mahogany tree:

At the local Bald Eagle nest, the male "Pride" roosted nearby:

Out in the wetlands, a trio of white herons flew in together and walked in line, as if to show off their distinguishing characteristics:

A Snowy Egret led the parade, followed by an immature Little Blue Heron, the taller of the two, which has a black-tipped gray bill and shows a bit of blue on its head. The snowy Egret has a narrow black bill:

An adult Little Blue Heron was also present:

Along the levee trail, as I was peering into the dense  foliage of the fruiting ficus sp tree which I call the "warbler tree," a Merlin made frequent passes which kept the small birds in hiding. The falcon perched at the top of the tallest pine and had a commanding view of the surroundings:

I tried very hard to get photos of the Merlin in flight as it flew by rapidly and unpredictably, once right over my head:

It was  easier to capture it as it stalled before alighting on its roost:

A courageous Blue Jay harassed the Merlin, which has been known to capture even larger birds:

As I emerged from the high grass along the trail to an open area, I cautiously checked for mammals, usually an Opossum, Marsh Rabbit, Raccoon or even a Bobcat. This time I was rewarded by a Coyote with a reddish coat:

A Gulf Fritillary sipping nectar:

A Hunters Moon, also a Blue Moon as it was the second full Moon in October, was ready to disappear over the egret on the lake just before sunrise:

Slightly to the right, in the northwest sky, a streaming cloud caught the rays of the sun before they reached ground level:

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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

________________________________________________