A morning visit to Chapel Trail Preserve

At least once a week I try to visit Chapel Trail Nature Preserve, a City park in nearby Pembroke Pines. In previous years I led a public monthly wetlands walk during the cooler half of the year (September - March). Thanks to COVID-19 all the walks were canceled in the fall of 2020 and early 2021. 

For a time the park itself was closed, but in recent months restrictions have been eased and visitors are encouraged to wear masks and practice social distancing. 

On March 11 my visit was shortened by an approaching rain storm. Under menacing clouds I snapped a few shots of American Coots...

...and Gray-headed Swamphens....

...before heavy rain arrived and I sought shelter in my car:: 

As the sky began clearing I decided to check the Bald Eagle nest, hoping to see the eaglet(s) which hatched about a week earlier. I found both members of the pair on the nest. The female (Jewel) was sitting high and the male (Pride) appeared to be tending or feeding a chick, but they were out of sight

Pride flew off the nest to roost nearby:

The skies darkened and ended the morning's bird quest. 

My next visit to Chapel Trail, shortly after sunrise on March 18, was more productive. I was the first visitor-- almost! A Raccoon left tracks in the heavy dew which covered the boardwalk:

A Purple Gallinule was harvesting the spent flowerheads of the Spatterdock (Yellow Pond Lily). The developing seeds of this plant are one of the gallinule's favorite foods:

A distant male Belted Kingfisher kept watch. It will soon be migrating north to its breeding range:

Blue-winged Teal were visiting before their departure to Canada and the the northern tier of the US:

Two pairs circled the wetlands before settling down

A Great Blue Heron obliged me by posing on the boardwalk before flying off...

...and settling down in the wet prairie, where fresh Spikerush was restoring green color to the landscape:

A male Boat-tailed Grackle looked me over:

The bright blue bill of a Tricolored Heron indicated that it was in breeding condition:

An adult Little Blue Heron flew over, non-stop:

Carnivorous Florida Yellow Bladderwort were blooming. They capture insect larvae and even small fish fry by trapping them underwater in collapsed hollow tubular root-like leaves. When disturbed, the end of the tube snaps open and creates a vacuum. which sucks in the prey:

Blossoms decorated the Wild Magnolia trees:

On our local wetlands in the darkness an hour before sunrise, the fragrant Moonflowers almost glowed. This vine Ipomoea alba, aka Tropical White Morning-Glory, is an annual native to North America and flourishes as a perennial in subtropical climate of south Florida. Unable to photograph them in such poor light, I used flash to see them before the flowers closed up and died after sunrise.

As expected at the vernal equinox, the sun rose directly to the east over the lake, lined up with "Sundial Alley:"

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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

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

Every year we enjoy a get-together with one of my classmates from New Jersey. We stayed together from Kindergarten through High School graduation. He and his wife usually spend February in Florida on Hutchinson Island in Palm Beach County a couple of hours north of our Broward County home. We meet for an early dinner at a steakhouse "in the middle," giving Mary Lou and me the excuse to do some birding on the way up. This year we made our first visit to  Peaceful Waters Park in Wellington, not far from the restaurant.

Peaceful Waters is aptly named, as we had a little trouble finding it, tucked away in the corner of a much larger sports complex. Although we asked some other visitors where it was, they only knew about the various soccer games that were underway on the several fields. We parked near a sign that said "Wetlands Parking," but there were no arrows to point the way, so we simply walked in a direction opposite to all the crowds. On our way we met a couple coming back and they confirmed that we were on the right path, adding "You'll really like it!" So true.

A well-maintained boardwalk meanders through the park's wetlands under heavy clouds. We had a few light showers, but the cloudy conditions produced soft light, ideal for photography:



Before we even entered the boardwalk we saw a Sandhill Crane walking along the berm that encircles the park:



The crane stretched its leg gracefully, like a ballet dancer getting ready for a performance:



I got a couple of nice portraits. The first demonstrates the crane's binocular vision:





Then we saw a second crane, tending and guarding a nest containing eggs. We learned they were about ready to hatch:





The crane settled down to continue incubation:



The park is rich with wildlife. One of my favorite birds is the Purple Gallinule:



The gallinule's long toes enable it to walk across the lily pads:



Dancing cross-step!



The gallinule shows off its "Bigfoot:"



A Common Gallinule is reflected on the calm surface:



A Tricolored Heron forages among the water plants:



Nearby, a Little Blue Heron seems to have an "attitude:"



A pair of Blue-winged Teal swims by...



...and a pair of Mottled Ducks are in courtship mode:



A Great Egret fishes next to a bed of blooming Pickerel Weed:



Another Great Egret hunts for lizards in the shrubbery along the berm:



Two male Boat-tailed Grackles compete for "King of the Cypress snag:"



On our way out, we saw one of the cranes walking along the perimeter fence:



A Loggerhead Shrike was perched on the fence rail:





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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

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

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Change is inevitable

Each time we relocate between our first and second homes in south Florida and northeastern Illinois the time lapse of several weeks or months amplifies our awareness of changes that have taken place. Like Rip Van Winkle, we see the full impact but fail to perceive the gradual transition from what was then and what is now. 

Change is inevitable, from the destruction of our quiet  sitting spot, now in full sunlight and overgrown with grasses, to the clearing of the prairie in front of our Illinois townhouse.

When we returned to Florida only a month ago we saw that vandals, who earlier removed the only 5 mature native Trema trees, had carved an ATV road through the heart of the last small patch of woodlands that we called our "Fake Hammock." Click on this link to see it before it was disturbed. They also ignited a small wildfire. Now the quiet dark and cool spot under the canopy has become a nighttime gathering place with a fire pit.

Upon arrival in Illinois I captured this view from the top floor of our Illinois condo. The scene has changed radically. Where meadowlarks, Spotted Sandpipers and Horned Larks once nested and Sandhill Crane families visited we now stare upon a drastically altered landscape. See Illinois "Yard" Birds. Construction of additional townhomes was not unexpected, but delays in completion of the project allowed us to grow accustomed to the scarred but bountiful prairie that developed as the land lay fallow over the past nine years.

On a positive note, there were interesting creatures to be seen in Florida during the week prior to our departure for Illinois. As usual, Mary Lou and I got out before sunrise, and she beat me home by over an hour. This is a view looking to the northwest just as the early rays are reaching the high clouds.

The lake held a welcome surprise. A noisy flock of Black-necked Stilts flew across the water in front of me.

An Osprey occupied its usual roost.

A Common Nighthawk, probably getting ready to nest at the side of the path, watched me from its perch on a wire.

Gray Catbirds were everywhere, but not a single warbler had migrated in. Southeasterly winds seem to be encouraging migrants from Cuba to follow north along the west side of the Florida peninsula or even cross the open water of the Gulf of Mexico.

Least Terns have arrived, and within two days I observed their mating rituals. The male brings a little fish to the female who adopts a bill-up posture. If he proves to be a good provider, she will accept him as a mate within a week or so. See the full ritual in: The Least of the Terns.



Duck migration was in progress. Several small flocks of a dozen or so flew rapidly to the north, high overhead and illuminated from beneath by the first rays. Most were teal and shovelers. This flock consisted of Blue-winged Teal.

Cormorants were mirrored in the early morning calm.

The humidity was high, and this immature Red-shouldered Hawk spread its well-worn feathers to dry them in the rising sun.



All was well in the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron rookery, with at least six nests in various stages of completion and at least three pairs incubating.



There were two immature birds among the dozen or more adult herons.

An Eastern Box Turtle ambled across the path. I would have missed him, but Mary Lou pointed him out.

This Opossum was crossing the gravel road. When it saw me it started moving away. Suddenly it stopped and picked up a freshly-killed rat. It proceeded to eat it in large bites, right down to its tail.

We made a last stop at the local Bald Eagle nest to check on the welfare of the recently-fledged eaglet. It was roosting just adjacent to the nest tree, calling to be fed.

The eaglet swooped down right in front of me, heading for a tree where an adult was resting.

The adult did not even look up at its demanding offspring, and continued preening.

A young Gray Squirrel scurried up a tree in my neighborhood as I finished my walk. ¡Hasta la vista!