Home

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Dodging raindrops

The rainy season has arrived and often encourages us to enjoy the wildlife in our own back yard.

This female Anhinga was resting at the edge of the lake:

She took flight soon after I pointed my  camera her way:

The rain was good for our lawn, and White Ibises foraged in the overgrown grass:

A dark juvenile White Ibis joined them:


Little Blue Herons exhibit quite the opposite sequence of colors. The plumage of this piebald immature heron is molting from white to dark blue:

It also did not tolerate my presence and flew off to the opposite shore:

A Great Egret preened lakeside:


A male Muscovy Drake showed off his "hairdo:"

After we returned to our home in south Florida from our brief stay in Tennessee, our eyes were on a succession of tropical disturbances, one of which strengthened into a hurricane and struck the western coast of the Florida peninsula.

An afternoon shower produced a nice rainbow:

Stormy sunrise on July 7th:


Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened to a hurricane and coursed just off the Gulf coast, making landfall to our north on July 8th. It was the earliest 5th named tropical cyclone on record. The blue spot marks our position:


Out in the local Wounded Wetlands, water levels were high and the deer moved in to higher ground. A nice White-tailed buck photobombed my image of an egret on the wet prairie:

Three other bucks emerged on the scene (iPhone photo):

A fifth and larger buck suddenly appeared at the flooded edge of the prairie, and waded across towards the others:

His left antler was malformed, having two main trunks:


The smallest of the original four hid away and two immediately challenged each other. They jousted briefly as if anticipating a threat from the newcomer:

The "winner" (to the right above) was then challenged by the interloper with the deformed antlers (on right below)  and submitted readily. The third buck seemed to realize it was safer to remain an onlooker:

I assumed that the object of their attention was probably this doe which I found nearby, partially hidden: 

However she suddenly directed her attention to a sixth buck which strolled towards her from quite the opposite direction:


Rain threatened, so I retreated and never did see the conclusion of the deer drama.

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:


Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

________________________________________________

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

22 comments:

  1. We have had some good rains this week from these systems moving North..Always welcome..Then I don't have to water..It's been mostly in the 90's for 2 weeks now..Tired of summer..Glad you missed the brunt of the storm..
    Bugs, heat and humidity are not my cup of tea..
    Wonderful photos as always..
    A Doe and her new fawn ran past my kitchen window this AM..Too fast for the camera..
    Enjoy the rest of your week..

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just love Angingas even though I don't think I have ever seen one alive. I love your skies and perfect rainbow. The deer are wonderful.
    I'm glad you dodged Elsa. I lived through Alicia in Texas back in the 1980's. I was 90 miles from the coast and it still did a lot of damage even though it was a weak storm as they go. I swore I was going to Nebraska next time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just love your back yard - I'd be very happy to spend my days looking at the lake and wildlife with gorgeous sunsets too - my attempts to photograph during the 3 days of rain I got with Elsa were grey and wet - not very good actually

    ReplyDelete
  4. You get the most incredible shots! I love the bucks and their reflections. And the glorious rainbow!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yet another majestic collection sir

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your skies are super fantastic! And not bad with the reflections either.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Ken,
    You have some great wildlife sighting right in your yard! The birds are always a beautiful sight to see, I love the Egrets, Mottled Little Blue Heron and Ibis and the Anhinga. Neat series on the deer! The sky and rainbow are just gorgeous. We may get some much needed rain today. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Kenneth, beautiful serie photos. I like the birds in your backyard. Beautiful photo of the rainbow, the sunrise and the deers. Have a nice weekend !

    ReplyDelete
  9. You sure found amazing wildlife. How lucky you got to see the bucks. Enjoyed your post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Kenneth! :) The Anhinga is gorgeous! Nice to see the little Blue Herons! I have a Great Blue Heron on my post for Saturday's Critters! Your skies are gorgeous, especially the rainbow! The buck photos are beautiful! :) Always a pleasure to visit! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an amazing place! I live a few blocks away from a nature preserve and walk there everyday but I don't see this variety of wildlife. Mostly ducks, geese, egrets, lizards, snakes, coyotes and lots of rabbits.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Didn't realize you lived that far south. Useful map.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awesome photos of the deer! Love the birds too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awesome nature series today Ken!!
    Sharing this with us, along with great photos is much appreciated at IRBB this week, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. THe rainblow and the sunrise shots are lovely but the deer with the reflection in the water is FANTASTIC! Great capture! #Allseasons

    ReplyDelete
  16. Always a treat to the soul to be here.
    Love the landscape images amidst a stormy sunrise and all the stunning wildlife.

    Hope you all are safe.

    God speed.

    Thanks for this beautiful link on #WordlessWednesday dear Ken.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Such magnificent large birds in your area! You have wonderful action shots. Glad you had no hurricane damage.
    We have mule deer in Colorado and they are very tame and interesting to watch in my area. They like to roam our gardens and eat our flowers as if we planted for them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Once again, what wonderful closeups and action shots of the shorebirds in flight, Kenneth, but those deer reflections were equally amazing. I will never fail to be in awe of the rainbows and sunsets you post from your home. Glad you did not receive any storm damage.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The muscovy close-up is cool! They are like tur-chickens. Goofy.

    ReplyDelete
  20. How awesome to have such nature so close--and with your own 'soap opera' going on, too! H had to smile :)

    Thanks for your link at My Corner of the World this week!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting Rosyfinch Ramblings! I will enjoy a visit to your page just as soon as possible. Some anonymous comments and some containing active links may not be accepted.