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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Early autumn random clicks

Our local Bald Eagles are spending much time at their nest and stepping up "nestoration" in preparation for the breeding season. The male of the pair (Pride) brings in the sticks and the female (Jewel) supervises and rearranges them in the ever-growing nest structure.

Bald Eagle pair nestoration 01-20190921

He places the stick under Jewel's watchful eyes:

Bald Eagle pair nestoration 02-20190921

They don't always agree on what to do with one:

Bald Eagle pair nestoration 03-20190921

Bald Eagle pair nestoration 07-20190921

Pride flies off to gather yet another:

Bald Eagle pair nestoration 09-20190921

As we walked into the Wounded Wetlands under a black sky on September 26, the Harvest Moon had waned to a crescent:

Harvest Moon waning crescent 20190926

Before sunrise, an immature Tricolored Heron cast a reflection on the still surface:

Tricolored Heron 2-20190925

Later, White Ibises overhead:

White Ibises 20190923


Migration routes for 118 bird species:

via GIPHY

Migrant warblers are arriving. This is a female Black-throated Blue Warbler. This species often lingers here into the winter if the berries of Lantana, Firebush, Brazilian Pepper and Trema are abundant:

Black-throated Blue Warbler female 04-20190923

The male Black-throated Blue Warbler's appearance is distinctly different:

 Black-throated Blue Warbler 03-20191001

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers often flock with the warblers:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 01-20190923

A welcome, though less frequently seen migrant is the Worm-eating Warbler:

Worm-eating Warbler 05-20190924

Worm-eating Warbler 04-20190924

This species does not eat earthworms, but does favor dining on caterpillars ("worms" to gardeners and farmers; some have official names such as silkworms and bagworms). Their sharp eyes seem not to miss many:

:Worm-eating Warbler 01-20191004

Worm-eating Warbler eating Worm (Not quite a palindrome, but it reads the same backward and forward, and in this case, upside  down!):

Worm-eating Warbler eating worm 04-20191004

American Redstart warblers are distractingly abundant as they flit actively  through the  branches, fanning and expanding the  bright wing and tail patches to flush out insects. The male has bright red patches...

American Redstart male 07-20191001

...while females exhibit the same behavior and have more subdued yellow patches. First year males are similar to females, but show some orange as in this case:

American Redstart female or immature 02-20191001 

 
Butterfly populations are starting to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma, which wiped out adults, larvae, eggs as well as the leaves and flowers which protected and fed them. Some mornings I was lucky to see even one Gulf Fritillary, here depositing her egg on a spent flower head:

:Gulf Fritillary ovipositiing 01-20190923

I followed her as she oviposited on a leaf. The egg is yellow:

Gulf Fritillary ovipositiing 02-20190923

I went weeks without seeing the usually abundant Julia heliconians. This newly-emerged male made me want to sing:

Julia heliconian male 20190922

Just after the autumnal equinox, as I stood on a path oriented east and west (which I call "Sundial Alley"), my shadow pointed out
towards the Everglades, 270 degrees true west :

Shadow points west on equinox 2-20190923

It is only a  "weed." This tiny composite flower measures only about 1/2 inch, or about 13 mm wide, but proves that beauty can come in  a very small package:

Tiny composite 01-20190923

Tiny composite 02-20190923

I looked up when I heard something in the tree just above my head. Indeed, two  Raccoons were lovey-dovey and waiting for me to depart the scene:

Raccoon treetop  lovers 20190928
 

A female White-tailed Deer walked across the gravel path...

White-tailed Deer yearling fawn 02- 20191001

...followed by her yearling fawn:


White-tailed Deer yearling fawn 01- 20191001

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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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18 comments:

  1. swoon! so many wonderful shots.

    I love that migration gif

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  2. Awesome photography. Please check out my blog posts.

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  3. Beautiful photos. I really enjoyed seeing the migration routes. Amazing how far they travel. Wonderful moon shot!

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  4. Hello, Ken! Wonderful post and photos. The eagle photos are just amazing. Love the pretty Tricolored Heron. The moon shot is beautiful. You have a great collection of Warbler photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, Enjoy your weekend. PS, thanks for the id help, visit and comment.

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  5. I like seeing your shadow....so cool! And the migration map is interesting! We are seeing some different birds this week on our hikes! It's exciting!

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  6. Another incredible collection of superb photographs! It's hard to believe it's already time for eagles and other raptors to be nest building. Time, like a bird, flies.

    Nice shots of the warblers and the Julia continues to evade my lens. One day.

    Thank you for sharing some of your beauty, Ken.

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  7. Once again, EXTRAORDINARY!!

    Thanks for stopping by & sharing your blog at I'd Rather B Birdin this week.

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  8. Once again, EXTRAORDINARY!!

    Thanks for stopping by & sharing your blog at I'd Rather B Birdin this week.

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  9. Nice shadow! :-) Looks like we don't get may birds migrating thorough California.

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  10. Wonderful birds and insects. Great shots!

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  11. Such amzaing photos! Really incredible photos of the bald eagles! Thank you!

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  12. Wonderful photos! We have a bald eagle nest near our river and on occasion, I see one come by.. I love the photo of the racoon looking down on you.! All stunning

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  13. Marvelous photos, all!
    Thanks for joining this week at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2019/10/a-stroll-through-arboretum.html

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  14. Wonderful photos. Hmm, seems like I always say something like that about your images. Well, they are first rate and always interesting.

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  15. Not much stays in our area after mid October and they should really leave before that some years...like this year. It has already been cold and snowy a few times since mid September... although, today it is climbing to +15C...woohooo....

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