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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Crops & Clips: This week's clicks

Spring is here! As we walk into the local Wounded Wetlands in the predawn darkness, Northern Cardinals are already in full song. It is too dark for photos, but two hours later on the way back home, their clear whistles dominate the soundscape.

Cardinals prefer to to sing from a prominent perch.  A Pond Cypress, beginning to leaf out, provides a perfect podium:

Northern Cardinal male 06-20190326

Northern Cardinal male 02-20190326

Northern Cardinal male 03-20190326

Northern Cardinal male 04-20190326

A demure female occupies a branch lower down and sings a duet with her mate:

Northern Cardinal female 05-20190326

Northern Cardinal female 06-20190326

A rival male, not far away, asserts ownership of an adjacent territory:

Northern Cardinal male 09-20190326

Northern Cardinal male 092-20190326

His mate is more reclusive, hidden in the shrubs:

Northern Cardinal female 01-20190326

Northern Cardinal female 03-20190326

The Worm Moon, the third and final Super Moon of 2019, sets on a cloudy morning on the first day of Spring. This was the best photo I could take before it was totally obscured. If you look closely, you will see Mary Lou walking in with her flashlight at the very bottom of the photo:

Worm Moon twilight 20190321



The next morning the sun rises due east in a clear sky, as seen through the fence in "Sundial Alley:"

 Equinox sunrise over Sundial Alley 20190322

The Moon is much higher in the sky at sunrise on March 24...

Worm Moon over the lake 20190324
 

 ...and it soon disappears into the haze and clouds:


View to west 5 min after sunrise 20190324


On March 26 the waning gibbous Moon...

Worm Moon waning globus 20190326

...is followed, on the opposite horizon, by a sunrise peeking out under a blanket of clouds:

Sunrise under cloud blanket 20190326

Later in the day, a Great Egret casts its reflection in morning light:

Great Egret 2-20190326

Great Egret 20190326

Two Mottled Ducks fly by:

Mottled Ducks 20190326

There has been a huge hatch of Halloween Pennants (Celithemis eponina). These colorful dragonflies help control the mosquitoes and midges and themselves are food for the birds, especially shrikes, kestrels and blackbirds, as well as orb-weaving spiders:

Halloween Pennant - Celithemis eponina 02-20190325

American Kestrel eats a Halloween Pennant, March 22, 2016:

American Kestrel eating dragonfly 04-20160322

A Tropical Orb Weaver spider dispatches a Halloween Pennant, March 23, 2014:

Dragonfly and spider 05-20140323

Along the path, Castor Oil Plants thrive. Their seeds are the source of ricin, a deadly poison:

Ricin - Castor Oil plant 20190321



Good news: We have been blessed by the birth of our third Great-Grandchild, our first Great Grand-Daughter, Kennedy Lee Schneider, whose name includes elements of those of both her parents, Kenneth and Danima Lee.

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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

 Linking to Fences Around the World by Gosia

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

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Thursday, March 21, 2019

This winter was "for the birds"

As a kid in New Jersey we had a junk-man a who traveled through our neighborhood on a horse-drawn wagon with cowbells dangling on a rope along its sides to alert us of his approach. I remember seeing the "Chippies," as my grandmother called them (but more properly known as  "English Sparrows" in those days) feasting on their horse droppings, recycling their nutrients just as the junk-man put our discarded belongings to good use. I was a bit older when the slang term became popular in the US, but I and probably most people were unaware of its origin. It is not accurate (or polite) to say that either of these cast-off products were "strictly for the birds."

If my purpose in starting out well before sunrise and walking three miles into and around our local Wounded Wetlands were to be measured quantitatively rather than qualitatively, it might be fair to say that this winter has not provided me with much nourishment. I often identify more than 20 bird species, which is BirdChaser's RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance), but the species mix has been rather monotonous.

However, "recycling" can have its rewards. Familiar birds can reveal hidden beauty in early morning light. My camera was barely ready to capture the images before sunrise as a Great Egret flew by to roost atop a small tree:

Great Egret 01-20190313

Great Egret 02-20190313

Great Egret 03-20190313

Great Egret 05-20190313

Great Egret 06-20190313

In semi-darkness, a Wood Stork stirs up prey with its bubble-gum pink feet:

Wood Stork before sunrise 03-20190315

First rays lend translucent beauty to an egret's wings as it comes to rest lakeside:

Great Egret 01-20190314

Great Egret 02-20190314

A Little Blue Heron adopts its characteristic "near-sighted" posture as it hunts with its bill nearly touching the water's surface:

Little Blue Heron 03-20190314

Little Blue Heron 02-20190314

Little Blue Heron 05-20190314

Overhead, a Bald Eagle faces the rising sun as it heads towards a favorite fishing spot:

Bald Eagle male 01-20190310

In the deep shade of the rookery, a Green Heron flies in so closely that I cannot fit all of it in the viewfinder:

Green Heron 01-20190309

It draws in its neck to allow me to properly frame its image:

Green Heron 02-20190309

Green Heron 03-20190309

All of the above photos may rightly be criticized as being "soft" or pixillated, as they were shot at very high ISO and had to be brightened and sharpened in post-processing. Yet, in my mind, form may be more important than detail.

Looking back at this winter as spring approaches, from a birding perspective, it could be called disappointing. Numbers and variety of winter visitors have been low.

Only one American Robin revealed itself. I heard it calling and only saw it from a distance:

American Robin 20190130

Palm Warblers, usually so common in dooryards all winter that they are called "Florida Sparrows," were absent many mornings:

Palm Warbler 02-20190217

There was a disturbing lack of the normally abundant Yellow-rumped Warblers:

Yellow-rumped Warbler 02-20190103

Normally, we would see several sparrow species, such as White-crowned, Swamp, Grasshopper, Lincoln's, Clay-colored and Savannah, but only a single representative of the last-named species showed up during the winter.

Savannah Sparrow (November 12, 2018):

Savannah Sparrow 01-20181112

Other local birders have had the same experience, although there have been a good number of rare bird sightings. Maybe it's my age, but I have stopped chasing after them. When birding is slow there is so much more to see without burning gasoline and fighting the traffic, such as...

...fog lifting over the lake...

Fog lifting 20190312

...and on the same morning, a scary storm moving in over the Everglades...

Storm moving in 20190310

...followed by a rainbow, reflected on placid water:

Rainbow 20190310
 

Hallloween Pennant dragonflies have hatched out in good numbers...

Halloween Pennant - Celithemis eponina 20190225

...but butterflies have been disturbingly scarce (Gulf Fritillary):

 Gulf Fritillary 2-20190312

A seedling Lantana popped up in the middle of the gravel path:

Lantana 01-20190315

How about this! A Christmas Flower, Wild Poinsettia in March!

Wild Poinsettia 20190306

A gray Squirrel sauntered along a fence:

Gray Squirrel 20190227

Walking along in my wide-brimmed hat and looking down to avoid snakes, I almost bumped my head on this swarm of honeybees:


Honeybees globular swarm 20190309

I hereby retract all the nasty things I said about this beautiful warm winter and its resemblance to horse manure. If it were not "for the birds," (and the bees and butterflies) what else would I have been doing for those past three months?

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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

 Linking to Fences Around the World by Gosia

________________________________________________

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

________________________________________________