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Thursday, August 15, 2019

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:

Tricolored Heron 01-20190801

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

White Ibis 01-20190530

White Ibises 03-20190730

White Ibis 01-20190702

White Ibises are graceful in flight:

White Ibis 04-20190702

White Ibis before sunrise 02-20190215

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

Great Egret hunting lizards in rain 02-20171016

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:

Loggerhead Shrike 04-20170615

Loggerhead Shrike 03-20170615

A shaggy Blue Jay:

Blue Jay 20170615

White-winged Dove...

White-winged Dove 01-20170609

...all ruffled up:

White-winged Dove 02-20170609

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

Great Egret 01-20190730

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

White Peacock on Bidens alba 20190803

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:

Atlas V rocket 35 min before before sunrise 01-20190808

Atlas V rocket 35 min before before sunrise  02-20190808

Atlas V rocket 35 min before before sunrise  03-20190808

Atlas V rocket 35 min before before sunrise 05-20190808

Atlas V rocket 35 min before before sunrise 35 min before before sunrise 04-20190808

Atlas V rocket 35 min before before sunrise  35 min before before sunrise 06-20190808

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:

Pine Bank in fog before sunrise 20190809

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

Sunrise 01-20190809

The lake-shore marsh was flooded:

East lakeshore marsh 01-20190809



= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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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25 comments:

  1. The picture of the Tricoloured Heron is very appealing; the light conditions really accentuate the colours. (Good thing I didn't hit "publish" immediately. I must have had a typo and auto correct showed "Tricoloured Herring!" Now that would be an interesting species!

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  2. Wow, amazing captures. I could tell right away that wasn't any ordinary contrail!

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  3. Awesome birds and sky photos. Really cool sky.

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  4. I love the sky in the last 3 images Kenneth and the light showing the brilliant colours of the Tricolored Heron are amazing. I hope you and Mary Loo have a wonderful weekend.

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  5. woa great collection of pictures. So lucky you captured the unique formation in the sky. Fabulous photography.

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  6. You have wonderful birds in your backyard. Terrific sky photos with that rocket launch.

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  7. That rocket launch looked like quite something...I thought it was a meteor. Love the first bird pic...what a handsome fellow and the last marshland pic is beautiful

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  8. Hello, your sky photos are beautiful. That was cool to be able to see the rocket from Space Center. You have awesome bird in your area, I would not leave my yard if I was able to see all these birds. Great captures. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend!

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  9. Wonderful shots! I've seen a rocket in flight (Space X) but never an ibis.

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  10. A lovely array of beautiful birds! They are so unique to me.
    I know I would be shooting the 'cloud' too! How awesome that you captured a piece of history in the sky!

    My Corner of the World

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  11. "Wow" on that rocket! Glad you took pictures of it. Love your bird photos too.

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  12. That rocket series is exceptional! Loved all your bird images, of course,
    ...wishing you share some of your rainfall numbers with us in DRY HOT Corpus!

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  13. The satelite shot is fantastic. Great captures (and I'd no idea!!)

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  14. The bird pictures are great - but those launch images are really interesting - not seen anything like that before.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  15. Your photos are incredibly beautiful! I especially like the butterfly photo! Thank you!!

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  16. Oh Wow! Those rocket photos are fantastic. You did a great job there.

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  17. Their red bill is very noticable! What a happy surprise you watched (and even more that you could capture it on camera!) the trail of this rocket:) Can tell there are a lot of changes going on in the weather of FL - hopefully it will die down, and no hurricanes will land this year (I know am asking for a lot, lol!) What an interesting post for All Season, Ken. Thank you so much and have a great week:)

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  18. Glorious images of birds and sky - love them all.

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  19. The photos you got of the rocket launch were amazing.
    Thanks for linking up at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2019/08/faces-of-forrest.html

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  20. Fascinating photos of the rocket launch, as well as all the lovely birds in your world.

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  21. That rocket lunch was amazing! I have never seen such thing as that. Those birds look so colorful and beautiful!

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  22. Fabulous shots of the birds and rocket launch. Thanks for sharing them with us!

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  23. You live in a world of wonder, you fortunate man! :-)

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