Dusty Blue Moon

Last weekend we celebrated a rare  Seasonal Blue Moon. The usual Blue Moon occurs when there is a second full Moon in a single month. The second during any one of the four seasons is called a Seasonal Blue Moon. The latter is a bit less frequent, but both happen about every two or three years. Both may rarely occur in a single year, as happened in 2018, but this will not be seen again until 2037, a few days before my 102nd Birthday. 

When there is a full Moon, we enjoy getting out early to watch it set into the lake from a vantage point about a 15 minute walk from our home. Best viewing occurs during the half hour before moonset, but on Saturday morning it was too early for us. The  nearly-full Moon set around 6:00 AM and disappeared from the clear sky just as we started out on our walk. 

Steven, a friend and very accomplished birder, accompanied me. As usual, MaryLou broke ranks and power-walked a mile out and we were only about halfway in when, on her way back home, she blew past us in the dark. Steven sought three target birds. The first was the Barn Owl, which we encountered very soon. A pair have been breeding in the hollow tops of dead Royal Palms. I "discovered" them in 2015, but did not find nest #1 until 2019. They occupied nest #2 this past breeding season, raising one owlet which fledged in February. For the past month the pair have been roosting on a third dead palm just to the north of nest #2. This was where we heard and then saw it on Saturday. Much too dark for photos.

A Chuck-wills-widow, the second of Steven's target species, treated us to a nocturnal fly-by. Again, no photos.

We reached the extinct heron rookery before sunrise. An unseen Green Heron called out. Steven caught sight of a cluster of three Yellow-crowned Night-Herons high in a tree and silhouetted against the brightening eastern sky. My best photos were horrible:

As the sky brightened, Steven's eagle eyes spotted (yes, an immature Bald Eagle, but also) what, at first, appeared to be a large nest. On closer inspection, it was a family of Raccoons. As their parents remained curled up asleep in the branches above them, two youngsters stared back intensely:

A few days earlier, on August 16th I had located an Alder Flycatcher near the entrance to the Wounded Wetlands. This was the priority bird for Steven, but it failed to appear this morning:

Steven did locate a Great Crested Flycatcher which I had overlooked:

The next morning I hoped to photograph the setting of the Blue Moon just before sunrise. However, it was barely visible through the murky sky, tinged brown by a huge cloud of Saharan dust:

Other sightings this past week have been a Monarch butterfly on the flowers of Firebush:

On August 16, before the dust storm, we enjoyed a pastel sunrise:

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Linking to:

Garden Affair

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: A macro-micro morning

Many of my sightings on early morning walks have been of far-off subjects. My photos reflect the effects of distance and poor lighting, as well as the fact that furry and feathered creatures are not accustomed to the human presence out in the wetland preserve. Yet, I was able to capture some nice closeups of butterflies and dragonflies.

Morning rain showers and thunderstorms have reduced our already limited time outdoors due to our need to avoid the stress of daytime heat along with pandemic-induced isolation. Plans and family hotel reservations for our flight back to Illinois for our granddaughter Carina's Quinceañera celebration (and a small family reunion for our 60th Wedding Anniversary which happens to be today, June 11) had to be postponed until mid-July, then moved again into September. Even that date is surrounded by uncertainty. Needless to say, Carina is not happy about Corona!

Before sunrise, a  Spotted Sandpiper startled me by flying up from the shore and landing on a faraway rock formation:



A male Belted Kingfisher would just not let me get any nearer:



Another lakeside loafer was a Green Heron, but it would have nothing to do with me and flew off in the distance:



Bright sun and shadows took away much of what was left of this Little Blue Heron on a big blue sky:



The previous morning, the male Bald Eagle from the nearby nest set off to go fishing at sunup. He flew right over my head from behind and it took me too long to get him into good focus:



A Northern Cardinal sang from a distant perch:



Can you even see the Great Crested Flycatcher?



I chased him down...



...and nailed him... but he looks so sullen:



A big male Bobcat decided to cross the road long after I had passed  by. He obviously spotted me and watched...



...as he walked away, a mere  speck on my lens:



One last look:



Back in April I was not even searching for it, but a male Black-throated Blue Warbler was so busy fluffing and preening that he seemed not to see me. With the subject deep in a thicket, my auto-focus was confused by the intervening branches:



To cut my losses, I settled for a simple portrait and left  the rest of the pixels on the cutting room floor:



I squeaked with my lips to make this Eastern Screech-Owl poke his head out of its woodpecker-hole bedroom. It was quite far away and the Sun was just rising:



Shooting through our back yard window, I saw that this Tricolored Heron's feet were about to disappear as it descended to the lake shore... Time for one last whole-body shot... 



...and back to portrait mode before it dropped out of sight. Its bright blue bill indicates it is in breeding condition:



Two Mottled Ducks left a long wake while they crossed the canal as the morning fog dissipated. The Wounded Wetlands are on the right, and the look-alike fences of my neighbors are lined up along the opposite bank:



Some bugs were nice to me, such as these dragonflies. 

A Needham's Skimmer shows amber in its wings:



The Blue Dasher is small and inconspicuous...



...while the Halloween Pennant displays its orange and brown wing markings, earning its name by perching like a flag on a tall stem:





I cannot pass up a photo session with a White Peacock. It is probably newly emerged, as its wings will quickly be damaged in the competition for mates:



Snow on a summer-like day in south Florida?



No, these are the tiny spent petals of the male flowers of the Royal Palm. The green female flowers are clustered on either side of the fragrant male plumes, So many bees can be attracted that sometimes it sounds as if an electric motor is humming overhead: 



The smooth green object on the ground is the capsular shaft, the petiole or "boot" which falls off each flower as it matures. The older lower leaves also are shed, leaving a ring of scars on the trunk of the ever-growing tree. Like the internal growth rings of woody trees, the spacing of the rings and the diameter of the trunk reflect the good and bad seasons:




Our city has never had measurable snowfall, but here is an example of "Florida Snow" around the base of a Royal Palm:




On June 8th the planets Jupiter and Saturn lined up with the full Strawberry Moon. As my most distant subject of the month, this image was produced by my iPhone 11 Pro Max:



MaryLou had hand surgery yesterday, so she is celebrating our Anniversary with  a big bulky bandage on her right hand. As her "Right-hand Man" I cooked her favorite breakfast this morning but will not be able to focus her binoculars. Can't believe that June 11 1960 was so long ago!

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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

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: Flashback to April, 2017

A new month begins, prodding me to get out of my COVID-19 pandemic-induced funk and start looking through my photos from three years ago. I will try to find images which depict favorite memes: critters of all kinds, flowers, fences, reflections and skyscapes as well as photos which speak for themselves. We remained in Florida the entire month, but did spend a week on the west (Gulf) coast with our visiting Illinois family. 

The month of April started off with a handsome male Northern Cardinal on a Pond Cypress which is just sprouting new leaves...



...a male Black-and-White Warbler...



...a male Prairie Warbler...



...and a male Gulf Fritillary. The "male" theme was accidental as they represented the first four creatures I photographed on April 1, 2017. In the case of the butterfly, only the males possess a series of pheromone-secreting androconia, visible as transverse (ladder-like) striations on six veins on each of its fore-wings. (You may need to enlarge this image to see them):



Great Crested Flycatcher:



Northern Mockingbird:



Green Heron:



In the rookery, a pair of Green Herons shared a tender moment with their first egg, on April 9:



Our daughter and family visited from Illinois. Our granddaughters went out with MaryLou to view the Bald Eagle nest:



We spent Easter vacation on Sanibel Island on Florida's Gulf Coast, where we watched an Osprey eat a fish:



At Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve, a Reddish Egret hunted, energetically dashing to and fro:







On the beach, a Willet displayed its distinctive wing markings:



A Ruddy Turnstone probed in the sand:



A Royal Tern flew along the water's edge:



Dunes at Bowman's Beach on Sanibel island:



A Tiki Hut on the boardwalk at Bowman's Beach:



Marsh Rabbit at Bowman's Beach:



Back home, at the local nest, the two eaglets were climbing on the branches and would soon fly freely:



Common NIghthawks had returned to breed:



Carolina Wrens had been present all year, but were singing much more vigorously in early Spring:



A notably tortuous neck on this Tricolored heron:



Solitary Sandpiper and reflection:



A Bunting eating the "Shepherd's Nettles" seeds of Bidens alba on April 21. It is probably an immature Painted Bunting, as its back has a greenish cast, but... 



... it appeared to have some blue feathers on its breast, suggesting it may be an immature Indigo Bunting. (This was probably an aberration due to the color temperature of the processed image). Both species usually migrate north before the end of April:



A Mottled Duck and Black-necked Stilt:



Sunrise as seen from our back patio...



...and our front yard:


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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

________________________________________________

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

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