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| Purple Gallinule |
Good Birding ! !
Monday, March 30, 2015
Purple Gallinule
The Purple Gallinule is a colorful, but secretive bird of the southern marshes. I remember once staring for long minutes in the hopes of seeing one crawling about the reeds.
The treat of Wakodahatchee and Green Cay is that they provide more than just glimpses of birds, such as the Purple Gallinule. There are also that opportunities to watch as an elusive bird teeters along branch stems and forages for its version of delectable treats.
Good Birding ! !
Good Birding ! !
Friday, March 27, 2015
Egrets Display Their Finery
Egrets suffered terribly from the feather trade. When you see them in their nuptial splendor, and remember the propensity of humans for greed (the feather trade) and vanity (women's hats), we are fortunate to have them at all.
The Great Egret is no slouch ...
... but the Snowy Egret is breathtaking, and that is an understatement ! !
Wow ! !
The Great Egret is no slouch ...
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| Great Egret displaying |
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| Great Egret displaying |
... but the Snowy Egret is breathtaking, and that is an understatement ! !
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| Snowy Egret displaying |
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| Snowy Egret displaying |
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| Snowy Egret displaying |
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Burrowing Owl & Shrike
Time for a brief respite from the wetlands. On our way south from Wakodahatchee and Green Cay, we stopped in the Fort Lauderdale area for a brief visit to Brian Piccolo Park. This is 180 acre recreational park with picnic areas, ball field, tennis courts, and more.
It is also home Burrowing Owls. The burrows are marked with stakes and ropes. We found six or seven by driving around slowly. A pair were perched by the entrance to one burrow. In a couple of others, I could see (from a distance, so as not to disturb the birds) owl eyes looking out at me.
I found it remarkable that these birds could coexist with people and their recreational activities, but apparently they manage.
The park also provided the opportunity to carefully observe a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes as they went about their pre-nuptial activities. He brought insects to her as a demonstration of his ability to provide for her offspring - and hopefully his offspring as well.
Good Birding !!
It is also home Burrowing Owls. The burrows are marked with stakes and ropes. We found six or seven by driving around slowly. A pair were perched by the entrance to one burrow. In a couple of others, I could see (from a distance, so as not to disturb the birds) owl eyes looking out at me.
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| Burrowing Owls |
I found it remarkable that these birds could coexist with people and their recreational activities, but apparently they manage.
The park also provided the opportunity to carefully observe a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes as they went about their pre-nuptial activities. He brought insects to her as a demonstration of his ability to provide for her offspring - and hopefully his offspring as well.
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
Sunday, March 22, 2015
More Waders
As I continue to review the wetland waders photographed in Florida, I have to give a place of prominence to the Cattle Egret, which were just coming into their nuptial splendor.
Cattle Egrets are native to Africa where they forage alongside camels, ostriches, rhinos, and tortoises - as well as farmers’ tractors. The one occasion in Vermont when I saw the Cattle Egret, it was following a tractor as it plowed a field in Spring.
Cattle Egret
These birds somehow found their way to South America; the first record was in 1877, which may make them officially an exotic (non-native). They arrived in the United States in 1941 and were nesting by 1953. Cattle Egrets spread throughout North America and are common to abundant in some areas.
When the White Ibis appears in Cape May, it usually creates a stir, with birders carefully reporting its presence and location and pursuing it with considerable intent. This may have been the most common wader I saw in Florida; these birds were wading in wetlands, grazing on lawns, usually in flocks.
Snowy Egrets have made a wonderful recovery from the devastations of the feather trade a hundred years ago, and are common north and south. There will be additional photos of the nuptial splendor of these dainty birds, but this will do for now.
True birds of the southern swamps are the solitary and secretive Limpkin (falling taxonomically in the vicinity of the rails and cranes) and the Great White Heron. A bird of the Everglades and Keys, the Great White Heron is currently considered a sub-species of the Great Blue Heron.
Good Birding!!
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| Cattle Egret |
Cattle Egret
These birds somehow found their way to South America; the first record was in 1877, which may make them officially an exotic (non-native). They arrived in the United States in 1941 and were nesting by 1953. Cattle Egrets spread throughout North America and are common to abundant in some areas.
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| Cattle Egret |
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| White Ibis |
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| White Ibis |
Snowy Egrets have made a wonderful recovery from the devastations of the feather trade a hundred years ago, and are common north and south. There will be additional photos of the nuptial splendor of these dainty birds, but this will do for now.
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| Snowy Egret |
True birds of the southern swamps are the solitary and secretive Limpkin (falling taxonomically in the vicinity of the rails and cranes) and the Great White Heron. A bird of the Everglades and Keys, the Great White Heron is currently considered a sub-species of the Great Blue Heron.
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| Limpkin |
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| Great White Heron |
Good Birding!!
Friday, March 20, 2015
Secret in the Marsh
The American Bittern is perfectly designed to disappear among the reeds of the marsh. I saw two fly in and more about at Green Cay, but when it came time to photograph them, I could only find this one. Its streaking almost perfectly camouflaged it, making it nearly invisible ...
Camouflage, small size, and dense sedges combine to make the Least Bittern almost invisible. I have been in wetlands where the only sighting was when the bird suddenly flew up and dropped back among the reeds, or as a speck in a spotting scope focused on a distant edge of reeds. More likely, it gets checked on the day's list when it vocalizes somewhere in the marsh. So it was a special treat when this female stalked her way into view ...
The Sora will occasionally be bold and walk into view ... but not often in the northern marshes, where we hear it but do not often see it. So at Green Cay it was yet another treat to glimpse this secret in the marsh ...
Good Birding !!
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| American Bittern |
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| American Bittern |
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| Least Bittern (female) |
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| Least Bittern (female) |
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| Least Bittern (female) |
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| Sora |
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| Sora |
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| Sora |
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Green Heron
The Green Heron is the smallest of the true herons, and to my eye, the most beautiful.
Folk names for the patient stalker include Poke, Fly-up-the-Creek, and Crab-catcher.
Edward Forbush describes a Green Heron "stretched out flat on a slanting log at a point where it projected from the water. Beneath this log minnows found shelter. The bird rested motionless ...
... when suddenly it darted its head under water and brought up a wriggling minnow in its bill, and having swallowed it, ...
... remained motionless and ready as before."
Now that's good birding !!
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| Green Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Green Heron - patiently waiting to strike |
... when suddenly it darted its head under water and brought up a wriggling minnow in its bill, and having swallowed it, ...
... remained motionless and ready as before."
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| Green Heron - ready to strike again |
Monday, March 16, 2015
Three Herons
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| Tricolored Heron |
In the wetlands and coastal areas where I occasionally have opportunity to bird, encounters with Tricolored Heron and Little Blue Heron are uncommon. So it was a particular treat to have multiple up-close meetings with both of these beautiful little birds ...
... and yes, at about 2' in height, when you get up-close with these birds you realize that they have lots of legs and neck, and not a lot of body and bulk.
As aside, I'm not sure why the Tricolored Heron was renamed a few years ago, but I much prefer the old name, Louisiana Heron. Giving the bird to a state is undoubtedly filled with historical and geographical inaccuracies, but "Louisiana Heron" has so much more poetry, rhythm, and pleasure for the ear.
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| Little Blue Heron |
The Tricolored Herons were in nuptial attire. Note the blue beak which gets both sexes red hot to trot. I was busy taking photos, so I'm not sure if this pair mated, or whether he just mounted her back in a kind of heron foreplay ...
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| Tricolored Herons |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Little Blue Heron |
... but watch out! They will reach out and grab you in a flash !!
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| Tricolored Heron - Strike! |
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| Tricolored Heron - hors d'oeuvre ! |
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| Little Blue Heron - immature |
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| Yellow-crowned Night Heron - immature |
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Anhinga
The Anhinga, like the Wood Stork, seems like something out of another time. It is graceful in the air ...
... but awkward on land. I wish the still camera could have captured the bumbling efforts of this gentleman to find the right place on land to finally spread his wings for drying ...
I photographed this guy while he was still preening for the camera, but the good looking lady nearby was ready and waiting ...
Wood Storks do not always share the limited real estate with other nesting birds. Observers told me of several Great Blue Heron nest which fell victim to the real estate wars. But this Anhinga pair seems to have reached an accommodation, perhaps because they are content to take resident below the top-most penthouse level which the Wood Storks prefer. She appears to be incubating (lower right) while her mate preens nearby.
Anhingas were well into their nesting season ...
... with some nests filled with hungry and demanding young, or in this case, with a brood of sleeping kids.
Anhingas are sometimes known as the snake bird, with its long, thin neck and narrow head. We watched this one surface with a fish in its beak and swim across a large pond in this neck-extended manner. Eventually it worked the prey into the right position and enjoyed its dinner.
Good Birding!
... but awkward on land. I wish the still camera could have captured the bumbling efforts of this gentleman to find the right place on land to finally spread his wings for drying ...
I photographed this guy while he was still preening for the camera, but the good looking lady nearby was ready and waiting ...
Wood Storks do not always share the limited real estate with other nesting birds. Observers told me of several Great Blue Heron nest which fell victim to the real estate wars. But this Anhinga pair seems to have reached an accommodation, perhaps because they are content to take resident below the top-most penthouse level which the Wood Storks prefer. She appears to be incubating (lower right) while her mate preens nearby.
Anhingas were well into their nesting season ...
... with some nests filled with hungry and demanding young, or in this case, with a brood of sleeping kids.
Anhingas are sometimes known as the snake bird, with its long, thin neck and narrow head. We watched this one surface with a fish in its beak and swim across a large pond in this neck-extended manner. Eventually it worked the prey into the right position and enjoyed its dinner.
Good Birding!