Crops & Clips: 2020 Yard Birds

The Coronavirus lockdown has now been going on for nearly eight months. We have not seen our children and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) in more than a year. Of course we have not seen the inside of a restaurant and usually order our groceries online for curbside pickup. 

Visits with family have been virtual, as have most of our medical encounters. The only human outsiders who have entered our home this year have been: a plumber, an electrician and a barber (or should I sound uppity and call her a hair stylist or beautician, which of course she is), all masked and so much appreciated.  

Our back yard has been another story. Over the years we have hosted crowds of visitors, feathered and furred. 

A distinguished visitor was a Wood Stork, twice this past week. This immature bird still has feathers on its head and upper neck, lacking in older birds:

Egyptian Geese have invaded in recent years:

Herons include this Tricolored...

...an adult Little Blue Heron, photographed through the window of the back sliding glass door...

...and an immature Little Blue Heron, far across the lake. Its characteristic bill-down "nearsighted" hunting posture made it easy to spot:

Flocks of Ring-billed Gulls will linger if the fishing is good:

Some Ring-bills flew in before sunrise on December 21

The adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds abandon their young to the care of their mates and migrate early. One appeared in November:

An immature male replaced the adult this past week. He has a speckled throat, while that of the female is clear white:

An Osprey swooped low over our back patio:

A Great Blue Heron posed for a moment before flying off:

A Great Egret foraged across the lake:

Our most numerous long-legged wader species has been the White Ibis:

Almost as common are the established feral Muscovy Ducks. We can't fly out, but they they can fly in:

Mama Muscovy rests on our goose decoy:

The goose seems not to mind all these critters riding on his back--

...a Double-crested Cormorant adult, showing off his double "crests:"

...a Mottled Duck hen, whose drake was reluctant to join her:

...Anhingas, recently a youngster, and back in 2014 before our duck decoy "drowned," a spread-winged adult female:

...in 2016, a Spotted Sandpiper:

...and way back in 2012, a Great Blue Heron:

Our only (visible) furry creature this year has been a Gray Squirrel:

The view at sunrise, December 21 from our "wildlife viewing platform:"

 

Our tabletop Nativity scene. Merry Christmas!

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:

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
________________________________________________

A quiet morning on the wetlands

When we moved from New Mexico to South Florida in 2004, we resolved to spend all our winters there. Even after we purchased a condo in NE Illinois near our daughter's family we rarely ventured north after late October. This winter we scheduled an unusually late visit to celebrate our son-in-law's birthday, but it was marred by his serious accident in early November, when he broke both legs in a fall from a tree stand. 

In early January, while he was still bedridden, our daughter fell and broke two bones in her lower leg. So far we have spent most of the months of October through February in Illinois, helping them and our two young granddaughters. His parents flew in to assist, and this allowed us to return to Florida for a few weeks to host house guests at Christmas and again in late January. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, as this week our daughter was able to bear weight (but not drive for 5 more weeks), and her husband drove to his Chicago office after an absence of over 3 months. 

Here in Illinois we have been occupied with domestic tasks-- transporting the girls and the patients to and from school and medical appointments respectively, preparing meals (etc.), and have spent little time afield. I prepared this post in late December, but all of the above, plus the hatching of our local eaglet, my encounter with the snipes, and especially the Whooping Crane excitement caused me to postpone publication.  

Their two Tibetan Mastiffs have been good company. Weighing over 100 pounds each, they love the snow and cold.



To top it off, there have been problems with Internet connectivity that had to remain a low priority. Luckily, this post remained in Blogger as an unpublished draft. By now the mockingbirds and cardinals are singing there, so although a bit late, it permits me to keep my commitment to post every week. It describes a mid-winter walk into the recovering Everglades mitigation area adjacent to our home:

We enjoyed another pink dawn before walking out on our local South Florida wetlands patch. This photo was taken about 15 minutes before sunrise on December 12, 2012.



Along the way there was a noticeable lack of bird sounds. Gray Catbirds, mostly out of sight, mewed softly.



This Blue Jay emitted a remarkable imitation of a Red-shouldered Hawk, then an Osprey call.



From an overhead wire, a people-watching Eastern Phoebe peered down quizzically at a bird-watcher.



As if to brighten things up, a Common Yellowthroat chattered from the brush, then posed nicely out in the open.



It was an unusually quiet morning for birding, quite a departure from the previous two weeks, when pelicans and spoonbills were present on the wetlands lake. At first it was moderately foggy, causing soft photos. I processed this one of an adult Little Blue Heron in black and white in an attempt to overcome the scattering of light by the atmospheric conditions.



Predictably, American Kestrels have returned to spend the winter here. I witnessed an interesting interaction between two of them. I believe both were males, and they were probably competing for foraging territory. Taken at a distance, my photos are poor.





Following the encounter, one of the kestrels flew off, and the "winner" occupied the coveted top of an Australian Pine.



A preoccupied Red-bellied Woodpecker shared a branch just beneath the kestrel.



The kestrel then settled on a wire in the abandoned utility easement, joining a Loggerhead Shrike that protested mildly. Coincidentally, the next day the wire, which has hosted scores of my photo subjects since 2004, was taken down by the utility company! (See my story about this wire here)



A Great Egret was fishing in a flooded area next to the lake.



An immature Little Blue Heron flew by,



...as did this Ring-billed Gull, carrying something in its mouth.



Pied-billed Grebes were quite vocal, clucking like little chickens.



On our way out, this Northern Mockingbird was reluctant to vacate a post at the entrance to our subdivision.



I think I can see my reflection in its eye.



Our back yard actually had quite a bit of action later that afternoon. The White Ibises were out in large numbers. Nearly all are now in full adult plumage.



My telephoto lens has such a limited field of view that I had to back up to fit this Great Blue Heron into the photo as it foraged along the margin of our lake.



A couple of ibises "spoiled" this image of the heron.



The heron continued to walk towards me, and I had to back up into my next door neighbor's yard for full-frame views.



In the meantime, I tried not to disturb an Anhinga that was drying its wings on my next door neighbor's lawn.



The Anhinga did not take kindly to my approach, and assumed a posture that looked threatening.