We had a welcome and increasingly rare visitor to our back yard on June 20. I had not seen a Wood Stork here since an adult showed up in August, 2015. It may have been the same one which appeared a week earlier. Both were one-day visits. Before that, one had walked up on our patio in June, 2015: The recent visitor was an immature bird, as evidenced by the light yellowish or bone color of its bill. By the time they are three years old, adults have developed black bills. It was probably a second-year bird, as those which hatched out this year would retain some feathers on their heads and their bills would be brighter yellow. It walked along the lake shore just off our patio: In typical fashion it stirred the water with its pink foot to frighten fish into its waiting open jaws: A Tricolored Heron scurried about as it fished along the lake: Unlike the stork, which is a patient tactile feeder who waits for the prey to approach its jaws, the heron uses its keen eyesight to spot and pursue anything edible. It caught a small fish along with a dead leaf and carried both up onto our lawn. This prevented the fish from escaping into the water as the heron used its tongue to dislodge the vegetable matter: The heron joined the stork in a quiet corner of the lake where floating coconuts had accumulated. (Some have sprouted into trees which will eventually be removed by the landscapers.) We often see such associations between sight and tactile feeders, as this can be mutually beneficial. The heron helps the stork find schools of fish. The stork then scatters them out into open water. Note the maturing mangoes on a neighbor's tree: The stork extends one wing while stirring the water with the opposite foot. I used to think they were doing this to cut down on glare so that they could see the fish, but they don't catch by sight. Rather, the fish tend to collect in the shade of the wing, making them more likely to stray into the stork's waiting jaws: A Great Egret fished nearby. The fence and red walls of a neighbor's house reflected nicely: A Blue Jay roosted on our mango tree. Our fruit ripened much earlier this year: We left the topmost mangoes to the wildlife. Egyptian Geese savored them: Out in the local wetlands, mosquitoes descended in hordes. Among them was a very large species with a painful bite, the American Giant Mosquito (Psorophora ciliata), sometimes called Shaggy-legged Gallinipper or Feather-legged Gallinipper. Indeed, it has banded shaggy legs and looks like a wasp. It appears sometimes after a spell of heavy rain but is not known to carry any human diseases: As usual, we go out early. Here is MaryLou up ahead of me with her flashlight, under the full Strawberry Moon: Sunlight touched the Wet Prairie through morning haze, dust blown in from Africa: Back at my computer I discovered that one of my views revealed a distant deer: Anti-solar rays opposite the sunrise, reflecting the Saharan dust, converged on the western horizon, creating a mirrored or false sunrise: Recently cleared of debris left almost two years ago by Hurricane Irma, the levee trail was inviting: A Marsh Rabbit appeared on the track: Ahead, a female White-tailed Deer checked to see if it was safe to cross. I slowly raised my camera: The doe led her half-grown fawn across the trail: A buck, its growing antlers still in velvet, followed close behind: I knew where the deer were most likely headed, so I crept over to get an open shot. The buck spotted me first: The fawn emerged from cover and trotted right past me: Sensing danger, the doe raised her tail like a flag and then bounded after her offspring: The buck followed, and their hoof-beats rattled on the gravel track: A Mourning Dove basked in the sun: Storm clouds gathered: = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
With spring migration long over and the summer solstice approaching, I have found it a bit challenging to compile a list of twenty or more bird species sighted or heard on each of our morning walks in the "Wounded Wetlands" of south Florida. Since we are about 18 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean, we cannot expect to see the greater variety of species associated with tidal waters. As the duties of raising nestlings and feeding fledglings take priority, the morning chorus of bird song is diminished and birds are less evident. Long-legged waders are discouraged by unusually higher water levels which disperse their aquatic prey. Feathers are wearing down and soon will need to be replaced. By mid-summer many species will undergo a post-breeding molt, requiring them to expend much energy. Migration and reproduction are other energy-intensive phases in a bird's life cycle. In between, the birds rest and take advantage of abundant food supplies to fuel the next stage. This shabby preening female Northern Cardinal seems to already be in need of fresh plumage, but the molt must be postponed until after she finishes rearing her brood: Saharan dust is moving across south Florida, causing some haze but adding color to the sky before sunrise: On a clear morning, the the beams from the rising sun, enhanced by dust in the atmosphere, converge as anti-solar rays on the opposite horizon. They create a false or mirrored sunrise: The colorful view from the levee shortly after sunrise: Setting out before sunrise on a typical late spring morning, here are some of the expected species-- Brown Thrasher: Loggerhead Shrike: Northern Mockingbird: This is a juvenile mockingbird, as evidenced by its spotted breast and yellow corners of its mouth (gape): A shrike and a mockingbird compete for insects together in a patch of gravel: A White Ibis probes the turf: A Killdeer sits on her eggs: A Bald Eagle passes overhead before sunrise: Butterflies are disturbingly scarce. One morning I found a newly emerged White Peacock in excellent condition. They fight over territory and mates, quickly damaging their wings:
Julia heliconian butterflies were previously abundant, but almost disappeared after the autumn of 2017 when Hurricane Irma devastated the flowering and host plants and probably wiped out an entire generation of eggs and larvae. Now I often go several days without seeing any at all. This male gave me a nice photo opportunity as it sipped nectar from a Lantana flower: We harvested well over 100 pounds of mangos and gave most of them away to neighbors and members of our choir. Those out of reach on the tree were left for the squirrels and birds. I scooped out the fruit and froze about 50 more of them and we still had these left over: On the morning of our 59th Wedding Anniversary, a white dove (feral Rock Pigeon), the first I have ever seen in the wetlands patch, posed for a moment as if to celebrate the occasion: There is an upside to the rainy weather, as seen from our back patio on June 18: = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
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
