Early morning sightings

Sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic interrupts the familiar routines which formerly made each day of the week special. Now the days flow, one into another. There are no "weekends," no choir practices or church gatherings, all the parks are closed. Grocery orders and even routine doctors' appointments are handled on computers and iPads. The highlight of most mornings is our walk into and around our local wetlands preserve. Here is a random sample of our encounters...

Blue-headed Vireo:



Male Common Yellowthroat:



Gray Catbird:



Red-bellied Woodpecker:



Prairie Warbler:



An energetic Northern Parula warbler:





Iridescent neck feathers are highlights on this Mourning Dove:



A Red-winged Blackbird sings next to a cattail patch:



A Ruby-throated Hummingbird is about to fly north:



A White-tailed Doe graces the morning scene:



Fog lifts along the shore of the placid lake:



Very early one morning we were surprised when two Eastern Screech-Owls began calling along the path. One perched on a signpost for flash photos (I darkened its pupils in these two photos):





The second owl landed on the ground and my flashlight produced a "red eye" in this poor photo.  As with all owls, their pupils react independently of each other.  



Owls have the uncanny ability to rotate their heads 360 degrees in an instant. The slow exposure created this funny "bottle owl:"



Florida normally has a dry season which lasts from late October into early May. This winter we experienced near-drought conditions. Water levels in our local wetlands had been unusually high almost all year around for the prior three years. High water dilutes aquatic prey and wading birds must range far and wide to find food. Trails which we have explored in the past had been flooded and inaccessible.   

Low water now allows me to walk some of the trails created by ATV riders out in the local Wounded Wetlands. I call this one the North Lakeshore Trail. It provides a unique view of a sunrise which softens the ugly scars left by the off-road vehicles  :



A few minutes later, the sun climbs into the open sky:



The low water reveals a labyrinth of ATV tracks through the woodlands, previously out of sight:

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Linking to:

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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