Walking Bar Ditch Trail

Despite the threatening afternoon clouds and thunder almost every afternoon, we received relatively little rainfall during August. I was anxious to take advantage of the fact that the Bar Ditch Trail might still be dry. An hour before sunrise on September 5, I set out in the pitch dark, planning to walk back after about two hours, before the sun got too hot. Indeed, the path was not flooded and even dryer than my last walk a few weeks before.

High clouds persisted after sunrise. The shade was welcome, but made it difficult to identify and photograph some birds in dark foliage against the ground-glass sky. One rather large bird showed very little color. Its very large bill stood out. Luckily, I had attached a flash unit. Before it flew off I captured a burst of full-color images which revealed it to be a female Summer Tanager, only the third I have recorded in my patch over the past ten or more years: 







Earlier, I heard the call of a Green Heron but could barely see it:



About five minutes before sunrise, an adult Bald Eagle passed overhead against an amorphous pink sky. Its image is grainy at 1/1000 second exposure and ISO of 6400, but I like the effects:



Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were numerous:





A male Northern Cardinal carried a berry:



A female cardinal with a berry-stained bill peered out of the shadows:



My flash brightened up a female Prairie Warbler...



...and brought out the hooked bill but  not the eye color of a Red-eyed Vireo:



A Brown Thrasher scolded me briefly:





A Loggerhead Shrike kept watch from a treetop:



A Gray Squirrel was almost invisible as it crouched on a limb. I think I can see my reflection in its eye:



Sunrise over the Bar Ditch Trail:



This is my favorite stop along the far reaches of the trail. Here the ditch widens a bit and is surrounded by Cattails and Sawgrass:



Back on September 3, the Corn Moon reflected in the lake in pre-dawn twilight:



While photographing the Moon, about 10 minutes before sunrise, I caught motion out of the corner of my eye. It was a Coyote, carrying something in its mouth:



I then adjusted my camera settings to "see in the dark" by manually cranking the ISO up to an unprecedented 25,600, which allowed the shutter to function at 1/1000. The results were poor, but I hoped to identify whatever the Coyote was carrying. Was it a prey item, or possibly one of its pups. It might be relocating its den?  

 

The (same?) Coyote soon walked out from the same area of brush. It appeared to be a female with swollen teats. She wandered off to the north, sniffing here and there as if hunting:



Moments later, a second Coyote emerged. This looked like it was probably a male, larger and with a robust tail:



To my surprise, when I turned around, a third Coyote was staring at me. As soon as I raised my camera it fled (a Mourning Dove stood by):



On the way home, looking back from the Levee Trailhead, clouds were gathering to the south:



Are those birds flying or angels dancing?

Links to earlier posts about the Bar Ditch Trail (the last two tell how things were here ten years ago, quite a contrast now in the Wounded Wetlnads): 

Beauty is in the eye of the Barn Owl 

https://rosy-finch.blogspot.com/2020/09/beauty-is-in-eye-of-barn-owl.html

Bobcat on the Bar Ditch Trail

https://rosy-finch.blogspot.com/2020/04/bobcat-on-bar-ditch-trail.html

Frozen Fish and Scavenging Serpents

http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=275

Bobcats and a Moccasin

http://blog.rosyfinch.com/?p=274

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Linking to:

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

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