Yard birds and rocket science

It has been unusually rainy here the past few weeks. Lake levels are high, not only due to  the local rainfall, but also because Lake Okeechobee was in danger of becoming too full to handle the deluge from any possible hurricane. Water discharged to the south must pass through the canal system which also drains our lakes.

Some mornings we cannot venture out because of the threat of rain and lightning. A few times our walks had to be cut short because of "pop-up" storms which seem to quickly develop out of a clear sky. The alternative is to keep an eye out for wildlife in our own back yard.

The light was perfect to display the colorful plumage of this Tricolored Heron:



White Ibises enjoy probing in our lawn for anything edible, even if this gets their beautiful red bills all muddy:







White Ibises are graceful in flight:





On our patio, this Great Egret was hunting for lizards in the rain:



Photos taken through rain-streaked windows can appear soft, but subjects are close by and it is fun to capture the moments when they suddenly pose--

Loggerhead Shrike:





A shaggy Blue Jay:



White-winged Dove...



...all ruffled up:



Early sun peeked through the dark clouds to highlight this Great Egret at the edge of our lake:



Butterflies are an interesting diversion when birding is slow. This White Peacock was freshly emerged:



On August 8, the sky was quite clear as MaryLou and I walked into the local Wounded Wetlands. At 6:15 AM, 35 minutes before sunrise, I noticed what looked like the contrail of an airliner catching the light of the sun. It was a nice contrast against the dark sky, so I started taking pictures of it with my pocket camera. It moved quite rapidly, and following is a succession of photos:













It was the Atlas V rocket which was just launched from Kennedy Space Center, 175 miles (289 km) to the north. Its payload was a military communications satellite. This was successfully placed in a geosynchronous orbit which follows the direction of Earth's rotation 22,236 mi (35,786 km) above the equator .

The next morning it was foggy over the lake in the wetlands. Before sunrise, the Pine Bank was shrouded under a pink sky:



The sun rose behind the wrought iron gate, looking due east down "Sundial Alley:"



The lake-shore marsh was flooded:





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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

 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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