Struggling to meet my Birder's RDA

To beat the heat here in south Florida, Mary Lou and I set out on our daily 3 mile walk a half hour before sunrise. Temperatures are usually in the high 70s F (25-26 degrees C) but within two hours climb into the high 80s (31-32 degrees C). It is still quite dark at first, so I bird mostly by ear. A White-tailed Deer buck peers at me through the semi-darkness:



The sun is still well below the horizon, but its light reflects against the high clouds:



Not many birds are singing in late July. Many have raised their families and are undergoing an energy-consuming molt. While mockingbirds may sing even during the night during breeding season, they are now quite silent.

Adult Northern Mockingbird:



Fledgling mockingbird in June:



An older juvenile mockingbird exhibits a speckled breast:



Northern Cardinals are a welcome exception. I can often count a half dozen singing males, some in duets with females, which also sing (as do female mockingbirds):



Female Northern Cardinal:



We may hear one or two Carolina Wrens singing despite the heat:



Mourning Doves coo persistently before sunrise...



...as do White-Winged Doves. This one used the roof of our home for his performance:



I walk out on the little "peninsula" and just listen. Maybe I will hear a Pileated Woodpecker or a Red-Shouldered Hawk, but only the calls of Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers pierce the silence:



The monotone trill of an unseen Eastern Screech-Owl is like music to our ears and a reward for being out early. This week I heard two calling, about a mile into our walk. One had a more high-pitched voice. It may have belonged to the juvenile owl, which I briefly viewed through the branches of a thicket, about ten minutes before sunrise:



Here is an adult Screech-Owl which paused in better light very near this spot last year:



This is the time of year when I sometimes fall short of meeting Birdchaser's Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of 20 species

Seeing fewer than 20 species in a morning makes me feel "malnourished." If my list seems to be stuck at 18 or 19, I may delay my return home and risk heat stroke, hoping to see one or two more. It is especially frustrating when I fail to find one of the more common birds, such as a European Starling, or the sky does not contain any vultures or crows. High water discourages wading birds and one morning this week I saw no herons at all.

The fun of birding is not just about "body counts."  There is so much to discover at any time of year. One day last week I saw only 15 species but had the thrill of seeing the eaglet from the local Bald Eagle nest suddenly pass low overhead. Why has she not wandered north, as is the habit of south Florida's younger eagles? By July, most of them are following the Atlantic coast up into the Carolinas and Chesapeake Bay, where waters are cooler and fish are easier to catch. Oddly, she is carrying some grass in her talons. Why?



We know she is a female by her bulk and the extension of the gape of her bill below her eye She exhibits first-year (juvenile) plumage: a dark body, dark beak, head and tail, along with white "armpits." Her set of fresh and longer wing and tail feathers cause her secondaries to bulge and add more than an inch to her length. She flies a direct line from the nest tree to a lake in our subdivision. Her lighter wing linings are also visible in these views as she moves away:





At the lake, the water is still. A Little Blue Heron dashes to find a better fishing spot:



There has been a hatch of White Peacock butterflies. Many seem to be taking their first flights. By tomorrow their wings will be tattered from their constant struggle over territory and mates:





Walking home at 8:00 AM, the restless clouds portend the rain which is sure to arrive by noon:



A Northern Curly-tailed Lizard appears at the base of a tree as I exit the wild area. This species, native to the Bahamas, was introduced into Palm Beach County to the north in hopes that it would control insect pests on the sugar cane. It has spread over the southern part of the State, although this was the first I have seen at this particular location. While invasive, they seem not to be a threat to native creatures:


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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh


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

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Crops & Clips: Favorite outtakes

Getting out a half hour before sunrise on our local wetlands creates a photographic challenge. At first it is simply too dark. By the time we reach the lake it is about 20 minutes before sunrise, so this photo of a Great Blue Heron is not "pixel perfect." Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it looked like an ink sketch.

Great Blue Heron before dawn, March 27, 2012:



A Green Heron perched against the rising sun on July 10, 2018. I liked its energetic posture:



Terribly underexposed images of Mottled Duck before sunrise, July 3, 2018:







Even though these photos nearly ended up on the digital dustbin, they impart a serene kind of beauty in form and action, if not in feather detail.

This past week the dust blown in from Africa is working its magic, providing us with rosy pink sunrises. I like to walk out to the west end of this "peninsula" and listen as the open lake carries in the sounds of distant bird calls and songs:



This is the view to my left, along the eastern and southern shores:



Too much light can also be a problem. As the sun rises, the white plumage of the egrets reflects its rays and requires adjustment of the exposure. (Taken with my Canon EOS 80D with a fixed 420 mm lens system at f/5.6 and exposure of 1/800 sec, ISO 160 and compensation reduced  by 2 full stops to capture the egret's feather detail):



I have been experimenting with early morning flight shots. Luckily, at 6:42 AM yesterday (July 18), two minutes after sunrise, an adult Bald Eagle flew over the lake. It was too far away to grace the pages of "National Geographic," but I documented it for my eBird report:



Remarkably, only four minutes later, an immature (first year) Bald Eagle flew in the same direction, almost over my head! It was the female eaglet from the nest we have been monitoring for over 8 years. Despite the short range, I did not capture much detail, but I thought the bird looked majestic just the same. Curiously, she was carrying some vegetation in her talons:





Last week two Pileated Woodpeckers flew by and then roosted together atop a power pole at the far end of the wetland patch:



Red "mustaches" identify them both as males. One hammered for a moment and then they exchanged a few unpleasant words before flying away:



Earlier this month I caught sight of a Bobcat as it crossed the gravel road about 1/4 mile away. I shot a burst of about a dozen images before it disappeared. They were very blurry, so I stitched some of them together to display them in sequence (click to enlarge):
 
 

On July 13 I had to settle for another very "bad" photo, when the Coyote (first ever seen in this area and discovered a month earlier by my neighbor Scott) suddenly appeared along the path. 

It  stared right at me from a range of over 100 yards. As soon as I reached for the camera it turned and fled. In the space of one second I captured 5 images of its tail end before it disappeared. I will not brag about the quality of the photo, but this one is a "keeper." 



Another "first" sighting for my location this week was a Northern Curly-tailed Lizard. Native to The Bahamas, they were deliberately released in Palm Beach County to control insects in the sugar cane fields:





On my way home I stay on the (east) shady side of the road:


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= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

________________________________________________

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

________________________________________________