An overdose of flying eagles

On April 7 I arrived at the local Bald Eagle nest at about 9:45 AM and had just missed lots of action, according to the several watchers already present. The female (Jewel) was roosting quietly in the tall tree just east of the nest and the two eaglets were quite active in the nest.

The eaglets were just about one month old and there was a noticeable difference between the first-hatched eaglet (P Piney 26) and the smaller and still downy younger sibling (P Piney 27). Their names indicate that they are the 26th and 27th eaglets known to have hatched in this nest (and the newly constructed alternative nest).  Since we started watching the nest in 2007, 19 eaglets have survived to fledge successfully. 

After more than an hour I decided to call it quits, though Luis and Lazaro remained on watch. I was walking to my car when a couple of families with young children stopped and asked about the eagles. I returned to the nest area and helped them see the roosting female as well as the eaglets. 

Then, just as I was leaving, my good deed went unpunished, as Jewel suddenly propelled from her perch and flew out to pluck some fresh leaves from an Australian Pine (These trees are not pines and do not have needles-- they are twigs covered by tiny leaves, and also are aromatic and oily. Perhaps they repel nest parasites). 

As she flew over my head to return to the nest I captured a series of flight photos which made me happy to be an eagle lover. The sky was magnificently blue with puffy white clouds.

In the local wetlands, conditions have been dry enough to allow me to explore my favorite Bar Ditch Trail. Sometimes it remains underwater the entire year. This is a view to the east just before sunrise:

In nearby Weston, the Wood Stork colony in the rookery contained about 30 nests. On the main island, I counted over 85 adults and sub-adult storks, plus many nestlings:

A Glossy Ibis foraged along the shore of the lake:

We will be busy with our granddaughter's Quinceañera (Spanish pronunciation: [kinsea-ɲeɾa]; feminine form of "15-year-old") celebration. Because of the pandemic, it has been postponed three times. Rosyfinch Ramblings will go on autopilot for a couple of weeks. Call me technologically impaired, but I do not enjoy working from iPhone. Thank you for visiting!  

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

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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Crops & Clips: Random clicks

 In the local wetlands, a Wood Stork flew in and landed along the lake:

Pied-billed Grebe:

Northern Cardinal:

A male American Kestrel took flight:

I thought I saw a wolf in the distance, but it was a neighbor's escaped Alaskan Husky, a beauty indeed:

He kept an eye on me:

Then, an orange tomcat squinted in the sunlight before running away. He looked too healthy to be living in the wild:

Snow Moon before sunrise in early March:

Waning gibbous Snow Moon:

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

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

________________________________________________

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

Crops & Clips: Flashback three years to April, 2018

At the beginning of the month I like to review images from three years back and  look for favorite themes and memes in the monthly collection-- critters of all kinds (especially birds), skies and reflections, flowers and fences as well as scenes which speak for themselves. 

We started the month of April, 2018 exploring the wonders of nature on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Mexico. Our Illinois children and grandchildren flew in and we spent several days with them on Sanibel Island.  

Instead of my trusted DSLR, I carried my new mirrorless camera (Olympus E-M10 Mkii) to Sanibel. It was straight out of the box and its features and controls were utterly different from those of my Canon. Therefore I learned how to use my new camera by trial and error (mostly error). 

Shorebirds at sunrise (Sanderling, Willet and a gull):

Sun rising over the beach:

Willet:

Panoramic iPhone view of the Gulf from the condo where we stayed:

We visited Ding Darling refuge and were entertained by the antics of foraging Reddish Egrets:

I was not pleased with the colors, as they were sometimes over-saturated and not true to life, as with this Little Blue Heron:

Marsh Rabbit:

Panorama (iPhone) of the estuary at Ding Darling:

On the way home we stopped briefly at Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where we saw Roseate Spoonbills (which did not need the extra saturation to show off their magnificent plumage):

A Great Egret was badly overexposed, but I liked the composition:

Back home at the local Bald Eagle nest, their eaglet had fledged:

Wood Storks were raising their young at the rookery in Weston:

A Tricolored Heron guarded nestlings:

On our wetlands, Least Terns had migrated in to breed on shopping center rooftops:

A vine growing up in a tree in our local wetlands had these pretty little flowers (Clematis?):

Fog lifting on April 18:

We finished the month back in Illinois. We had decided to sell our condo there and live in Florida permanently. Our first visit was Jones Meadow Park near our condo. Recent heavy rains had flooded the trails:

It was a treat to see American Robins, as they are infrequent winter visitors in Florida:

 

Brown Creepers do not migrate into south Florida:

American White Pelicans had arrived at Nelson Lake:

Iconic twin oaks at Nelson Lake:

At Lippold Park, Canada Geese had a nest at the end of the boardwalk, with a fair warning as they will attack people who come too close:

Indeed, this goose, possibly the gander, was guarding the entrance to that part of the boardwalk:

Nearby. three male Mallards swam in precision as they approached a pair of Blue-winged Teal:

We could see the male Bald Eagle on its nest across the road:

A Red-winged Blackbird was singing:

Trout Lilies were in bloom:

Marsh Marigold bloomed along a muddy part of the trail:

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Linking to:

Garden Affair

Fences Around the World

Nature Thursday

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

________________________________________________

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