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Thursday, March 19, 2020

Late winter clicks & crops

Here in south Florida we have enjoyed clear, dry and sometimes cool weather the past couple of weeks. Dry conditions have lowered the water levels in the wetlands, concentrating aquatic prey and attracting long-legged waders, such as this Tricolored Heron:

Tricolored Heron 02-20200301

Tricolored Heron in flight 04-20200301

Tricolored Heron in flight 05-20200301

Great Egret in early morning flight on March 1st:

Great Egret in flight 03-20200301

Great Blue Heron fly-by the same morning:

Great Blue Heron in flight 20200301

Another Great Egret punctuated this view of the north shore:

Great Egret lakescape COREL 20200308

Mottled Duck coming in for a landing:

Mottled Duck landing 02-20200301

Mottled Duck landing 05-20200301

Mottled Duck landing 06-20200301

Bald Eagle flyover:

Bald Eagle 01-20200229

Bald Eagle 02-20200229

The Scarlet Skimmer (Crocothemis servilia), native to east and southeast Asia and said to be the only established introduced dragonfly species, is now fairly common in south Florida: 

Scarlet Skimmer - Crocothemis servilia 20200303 

Julia butterflies became very scarce during the two years following Hurricane Irma in 2017, but this winter their numbers have rebounded. 

Male Julia heliconian:

Julia heliconian male  - Dryas julia 20200303

The female Julia is brownish in color and has stripes which go entirely across its forewings:

Julia heliconian female  - Dryas julia 20200303

Zebra heliconian, Florida's State Butterfly:

Zebra heliconian 20200304

On the home front, a female Anhinga dried her wings on the goose decoy which serves as a float for the intake of our lawn irrigation system:

Anhinga 01-20200306 

On March 7th, we had early routine dental appointments which caused us to be home for a particularly colorful back-yard sunrise:

Monaco Cove sunrise 01-20200307

Monaco Cove sunrise 02-20200307

The next day was cloudy. Overnight, the All Terrain Vehicle drivers had fun inscribing "donuts" on the gravel path. This one was almost a perfect circle:

Perfect ATV donut COREL 20200308

Out an hour before sunrise, we heard the songs of the Eastern Whip-poor-wills, sometimes two or three at a time. This winter I first heard them in November and they finally departed on March 9. Click here for a link to a recording I made on March 4.

Then, on March 15 another Night-jar, the Chuck-wills-widow which breeds here, took up the predawn chorus. So far I have been unable to get a photo of these two nocturnal birds. Since 2009 I have recorded 178 species in this patch and taken pictures of nearly all of them on site.  Another local bird in my "heard but not photographed" category is the Great Horned Owl, although I have seen them at other  locations.

Great Horned Owl, (2018, Illinois):

Great Horned Owl 01-20180505

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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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24 comments:

  1. Beautiful shots. I wish for sun, but rain is on the way...

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  2. so many beautiful photos of birds and butterflies

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  3. Love all of these photos. Guess you are not in total lock down like we are. Unable to walk out of our door without a permit!! I hope we soon get back to normality. Cheers and stay safe, Diane

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    1. Residents expected to voluntarily maintain a "social distance" between others unless quarantined. There is no enforcement and some younger people seem to not feel any obligation to avoid crowds, even though they are at a risk to themselves and anyone who comes into contact with them if they should become infected. We do not travel out for shopping and are having our groceries delivered to our front door. We do walk out in the wetlands early and never encounter any other person.

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  4. Beautiful photos. Love those sky shots, and the duck coming in for a landing!

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  5. That beautifully spray painted sky looks absolutely fierce! The colors can make hearts leap with joy and wonder!

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  6. Your photos always capture my heart.

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  7. Fantastic photos! I love to see large birds in flight!

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  8. Fabulous flight shots of birds and that sunrise is to dead for.The butterflies are so beautiful Kenneth. Stay safe and have great weekend

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  9. There's so much to love in this post! Wow! It is my dream to just see a great horned owl.

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  10. The stormy clouds over the gravel path were beautiful. - Margy

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  11. Hello, Ken! Beautiful sky captures. I love the Owl and all the Heron photos. Great flight shots. The butterflies are gorgeous. Beautiful post! Thanks for linking up and sharing your post. Stay safe, healthy and happy! Enjoy your day, happy weekend. PS, thanks so much for your visit and comment.

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  12. Hello. Wonderful photos. The great horned owl is awesome.

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  13. Beautiful photos! We are happy to live close to trails and get out every other day to hike. It's really helped. Stay healthy and happy! Thanks for always sharing the beauty that surrounds you!

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  14. Your photos never disappoint!

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  15. Excellent pictures! I really love the sky photo with the circular gravel!

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  16. Awesome...for ALL your photos. Hope your dental appt. went well. Of course, I had to pick a favorite bird...your flight image of the tri-colored her on.

    Thanks for linking in! Your friendship & loyalty to our world's birds are very much appreciated.

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  17. Beautiful birds, wonderful photos and such an incredible sunrise!

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  18. That tri-colored heron is amazing, in the image with the wings spread upward, it almost looks like a flag. The red dragonfly is very pretty - never seen it:)Was reading your response to the present situation - it seems common that the young have no idea about consequences! Or, are they just plain defiant? A great post for All Seasons, Ken, and and wish you a beautiful week!

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  19. I love your sequence of the mottled duck. I get now why it's called that. :-)

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  20. Your photos always make me smile with their variety and great photography! The butterflies are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing them all :)

    I'm so happy you are a part of 'My Corner of the World' this week!

    My Corner of the World

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