We spent the entire month at our Florida home, preferring this rather than braving the cold at our condo in NE Illinois. Fair weather let us get out into our local wetlands nearly every morning.
Palm Warblers were our daily avian companions. They are usually so abundant in residential neighborhoods that some people call them "Florida Sparrows." Their long legs are an adaptation for foraging on the ground and they constantly wag their tails up and down:
A Palm Warbler explores the crisscross bark on the trunk of a native Cabbage Palmetto (aka Sabal Palm), so named because its terminal bud may be removed, cooked and eaten as "heart of palm." This also kills the tree:
A visit to nearby Chapel Trail Nature Preserve yielded views of Wood Storks, a species which was formerly a common back yard visitor but whose numbers were sharply declining in south Florida. A tactile feeder, the Wood Stork stirs the shallow water with its bubble-gum pink feet to frighten prey into its open jaws:
Commonly, sight-feeding herons join storks and both may mutually benefit from the association. Great Egret with Wood Stork:
Tricolored Heron on the boardwalk railing:
Pine Warblers are fairly common at Chapel Trail in December. This was no exception:
Out on the local wetlands, just before sunrise as temperatures dropped, fog developed over the water. The sun is just touching the Pine Bank behind the Wet Prairie:
On another still morning, smoke from trash burning on a nearby farm created a fine layer just above the head of this Great Egret:
White-eyed Vireo:
Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker in flight:
Only a few times have I found a Short-tailed Hawk roosting close by. This is the light morph:
A few days later, a dark morph Short-tailed Hawk flew overhead:
Here is the first and only Ruby-crowned Kinglet I have ever seen in the local patch (December 28, 2016):
That same day a male Painted Bunting appeared:
It was surprisingly inconspicuous amid the red and green of the Brazilian Pepper bush:
A few species remind me of how the subsequent two Decembers then changed for the worse. Hurricane Irma was to strike in October, 2017 and it had a very adverse effect upon the butterflies, so abundant in 2016. Probably the hardest hit was the Julia longwing. They are still quite scarce now in 2019.
This is a male Julia:
The female Julia is paler and has different wing markings:
The undersides of both male and female Julia are similar. This is a female:
Gulf Fritillary butterflies were also markedly reduced and their numbers remain depressed:
White Peacocks seemed more resilient. After almost disappearing in 2018, their population has bounced back:
Zebra heliconians have also recovered and are again quite common:
A trio of rather similar species-- a Soldier:
Queen:
Monarch:
Orb Weaver. Note that the two thick main support strands are reinforced with zigzagging strands of heavy silk. (It has been said that its pattern sometimes resembles a printed message, but I cannot read this one):
Besides birds, butterflies, blooms and berries, I did see a few mammals. Among them, a curious Gray Squirrel in the front yard,,,
...a White-tailed Doe...
...and a Feral Cat, which still wanders in the patch::
Among the more than 800 photos I processed, I found only one image of a fence. Reflections of a Great Egret and a neighbor's fence:
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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
Linking to Fences Around the World by Gosia
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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