Dodging raindrops

The rainy season has arrived and often encourages us to enjoy the wildlife in our own back yard.

This female Anhinga was resting at the edge of the lake:

She took flight soon after I pointed my  camera her way:

The rain was good for our lawn, and White Ibises foraged in the overgrown grass:

A dark juvenile White Ibis joined them:

Little Blue Herons exhibit quite the opposite sequence of colors. The plumage of this piebald immature heron is molting from white to dark blue:

It also did not tolerate my presence and flew off to the opposite shore:

A Great Egret preened lakeside:

A male Muscovy Drake showed off his "hairdo:"

After we returned to our home in south Florida from our brief stay in Tennessee, our eyes were on a succession of tropical disturbances, one of which strengthened into a hurricane and struck the western coast of the Florida peninsula.

An afternoon shower produced a nice rainbow:

Stormy sunrise on July 7th:

Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened to a hurricane and coursed just off the Gulf coast, making landfall to our north on July 8th. It was the earliest 5th named tropical cyclone on record. The blue spot marks our position:

Out in the local Wounded Wetlands, water levels were high and the deer moved in to higher ground. A nice White-tailed buck photobombed my image of an egret on the wet prairie:

Three other bucks emerged on the scene (iPhone photo):

A fifth and larger buck suddenly appeared at the flooded edge of the prairie, and waded across towards the others:

His left antler was malformed, having two main trunks:

The smallest of the original four hid away and two immediately challenged each other. They jousted briefly as if anticipating a threat from the newcomer:

The "winner" (to the right above) was then challenged by the interloper with the deformed antlers (on right below)  and submitted readily. The third buck seemed to realize it was safer to remain an onlooker:

I assumed that the object of their attention was probably this doe which I found nearby, partially hidden: 

However she suddenly directed her attention to a sixth buck which strolled towards her from quite the opposite direction:

Rain threatened, so I retreated and never did see the conclusion of the deer drama.

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Linking to:

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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Early morning birding Lagniappe

The excitement of spring migration and the drama surrounding the successful rescue of both the eaglets has subsided, but routine morning walks sometimes offer a little something extra.

An adult Loggerhead Shrike caught a dragonfly and fed it to a youngster:

The cute baby shrike:

A Red-winged Blackbird attacked a Fish Crow:

An Eastern Screech-Owl settled close by and posed nicely:

Out on the Bar Ditch Trail, a White-tailed buck with antlers in velvet watched me as I walked along at sunrise:

More than 50 White Ibises flew over in a loose "V" formation:

A Green Heron crouched low in the ditch as I passed by. If it had not moved a bit, I would never have seen it:

Common Ground Doves have been uncommon and even missing the past couple of months, but three suddenly showed up this week. Only one male posed for a photo:

Least Terns usually arrived in early April, courted and then brought their young to our lake, but none appeared this year. Many of the urban terns nest on flat gravel roofs such as that on the supermarket about a mile away. These roofs last about 30 years and many are being replaced with more modern technology involving insulated panels and an impermeable membrane, not friendly to the terns (as well as nighthawks, Killdeer and gulls)  This week I was surprised to briefly see my first and only Least Tern:

A Black-necked Stilt lingered at nearby Chapel Trail preserve:

A female Northern Cardinal carried sticks to a hidden nest:

A Tricolored Heron foraged at the edge of the lake in our back yard. They usually are very shy, but this one provided some nice views:

Water levels in the wetland lake have reached the season's low and the water is receding from the lakeside marsh. This photo was taken ten minutes before sunrise:

At sunrise, the sheltered water behind an old levee reflects a colorful sky:

The rainy season is starting early. The official start of hurricane season his being moved earlier, to May 15 instead of June 1.  On May 18, the sun rose behind storms moving in from The Bahamas:

Our children started school when we lived in New Orleans and learned about "Lagniappe"---  

A lagniappe (lan-Yap) is an old Louisiana tradition, especially in the French Quarter of New Orleans... The word lagniappe might be applied to any unexpected bonus that comes with something else. For example, if you bought a car and found a 50 dollar bill in the trunk, it would be a lagniappe (Wikipedia).

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Linking to:

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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Second Eaglet Rescued - The value of having many eyes on the eagles #963

This is a follow-up to the events described in my earlier post: EAGLETS DOWN

After the failure of the rescue crew to locate the second downed eagle on Wednesday, April 28, our hopes were dashed. We watched for the adults and listened for any eaglet calls. Volunteers heard no sound of an eaglet during multiple visits on Thursday and Friday. Then, late on Saturday) afternoon, May 1, Richard stopped by on his bicycle and heard a call which he recorded and then confirmed as indeed the cry of an eaglet. Phil notified Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and arranged to meet an officer at the nest in the morning.

I arrived at the eagle nest on Sunday morning at 6:50 AM, just after sunrise. At first all was quiet, but at about 7:10 AM there were the distinct calls of an eaglet from an area very close to the sidewalk and a short distance east of the nest tree. With other watchers, we heard over a dozen eaglet cries before the arrival of FWC, at about 8:15 AM.

Phil and the FWC Officer entered the woodland and searched through the tangle of fallen trees for over two hours. Probably because the eaglet was startled by the presence of the rescuers, it fell silent, calling only about twice but never near enough for Phil and the Officer to determine its location. Then at about 10:45 AM they finally felt that, because of the  nearly impenetrable undergrowth and tangle of fallen trees left by Hurricane Irma, it was necessary to suspend the search.

The FWC Officer was just preparing to depart when Richard looked into a break in the foliage and said he could see the eaglet! I waved down the Officer just as he was departing. It was amazing because I found it almost impossible to see the eaglet in the dark and dense forest floor. Richard did his best to point it out, saying, "Look for its yellow feet." That did it and I got partial views of the eaglet standing tall on a fallen log, only about 20 yards from our position at the edge of the woodlands. 

We watched as the Officer, carrying a large net, got within a yard or so from the eaglet. It suddenly ran into a hole between the limbs of the fallen tree. It was crouched down and quite inaccessible. Phil and his wife Mary joined the FWS Officer in trying to access the eaglet. They brought some fish, in case it might entice the hungry bird to come out into the open.

Pembroke Pines Fire & Rescue then arrived with longer poles and a chain saw. The latter was not needed as the eaglet responded to gentle probing by moving to a spot where is was finally captured. 

It was brought to a local wildlife rehabilitation facility for examination and treatment as necessary. Except for mild anemia and hookworm infestation, it was hungry but uninjured. 

Kudos to volunteers Phil and Mary for being part of the exhausting search effort. Richard was doubly a hero for this eaglet. By hearing and reporting its presence the night before, he renewed the search. To top it off, it was Richard who spotted the eaglet just before the search would have again been suspended.

As we were listening for the eaglet to betray its presence, an Eastern Screech-Owl looked out of its nest from a woodpecker hole in a dead palm tree in front of the abandoned nest. The adult appeared first:

Then, a downy juvenile peered out:

The eagles have kept me so busy that I got behind in processing my photos. After losing a couple of days worth of pictures from our visit to Illinois, we did get out one day to local parks. I also clicked a few shots while relaxing on our daughter's back deck. Here are some backyard birds framed by the bars of their iron fence.

Northern Cardinal:

Red-winged Blackbird:

Brown-headed Cowbird at their feeder:

Back yard male House Finch singing:

At nearby Jones Meadow Park, a pair of Canada Geese tended to five goslings:

A demure Field Sparrow at Nelson Lake:

An American Crow carried a stolen robin's egg:

At home in Florida, view from the back patio before sunrise on May 11:

A fish disturbed the surface of the lake:

Later, on our morning walk, I found last year's antler of a young buck, the first I have ever found:

Near where I found the antler, a young white-tailed buck in velvet walked out into the open and stared at me from a distance. Could this have been the one who donated the antler?:

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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
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