Birds' faces are frozen in place. They cannot smile, frown or otherwise change their expressions. Yet a certain tilt of a vireo's head can cause us humans to imagine that they can.
This White-eyed Vireo emerged from a thicket for only a few seconds as I feverishly snapped a burst of photos.
Back at home, we have a new addition (besides our latest great-granddaughter!). A boater damaged the Mallard decoy which serves as a float for our lawn irrigation system, so it was replaced by a goose. No sooner had it been put into service when a Double-crested Cormorant with emerald jewel eyes found it to be a convenient roost:
The Palm Warblers are migrating away to the north. This was the last one I saw, on March 28:
Great Crested Flycatchers are passing through...
...as are Northern Parula warblers:
A Raccoon paused on its way across the path:
A Black-and-White Warbler crept along the trunk of a small tree:
Mottled Ducks were courting. Two males chased three females:
Plumages of both sexes are similar. The two males have plain greenish yellow to orange bills, while the bills of the females are darker orange with black markings. The variable color of the wing speculum is due to reflection of sunlight):
Two pairs of Mottled Ducks lift off. Note the color of their bills. The males are often slightly larger than the females:
It was not a good day for reflections on the lake:
Before sunrise on March 31, an established feral Muscovy Duck looked out of place out in the wetlands:
The view to the west over still water, just before sunrise:
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Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James
Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni
Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart
Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue
Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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A little after sunrise, the wind was calm and the sky was entirely clear. The surface of the lake mirrored the unblemished blue from above. The morning silence was broken by the strident flight calls of two Black-necked Stilts as they settled near the water's edge.
Two more arrived...
and three others joined them, seven in all:
My camera's auto-focus was confused about whether to sharpen the real or the virtual image, and I too was a bit dazzled by the sight of fourteen black and white red-legged birds. Over the open water there was no sense of depth perception and my photos appeared to be two-dimensional:
It was like spelling banana-- I didn't know when to stop!
Suddenly they flew off together and left me all alone, looking at an empty mirror:
The next day (April 2), the Sun again rose against a cloudless sky. Venus shone above the crescent Moon:
In the semi-darkness twenty minutes before sunrise, I had set my camera at maximum sensitivity and was rewarded when an Eastern Screech-Owl decided to call from a small tree next to the path. I did not use a flash and the image is a bit soft (hand-held with an exposure of 1/20 second at ISO 16,000). Click on the photo and look closely at its eyes to see a reflection of dawn's light on the horizon:
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Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James
Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni
Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart
Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue
Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh
________________________________________________
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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