You may not think so at first glance, but that lizard in the feature photo is a real daredevil. He took his own sweet time walking along the fence, stopping to puff out his neck and impress any females that happened to be paying attention. This female, however, wasn’t especially impressed. But by being on that fence I’m sure that the hawk that had just stopped by could easily spot him and then what would he do? He tested the limits of my zoom lens.
Yesterday we sat out on the lanai visiting with college friends after having lunch in a nearby restaurant. For once we had a six-minute drive home, it was great. The birds provided the entertainment while we enjoyed our drinks, but then it was time for our friends to set off for their 90 minute drive home…
I was delighted when the red wing blackbirds first showed up in the yard last year, but when they came back in large numbers this year and were emptying the feeders regularly they weren’t so delightful. But their name comes from the Greek, agelaius, meaning belonging to a flock, so I guess they come by it naturally. Lately we are seeing them one at a time, I confess that makes me happy.This may or may not be the culprit who chewed a hole in the screen after I left a chunk of the woodpecker cylinder on the lanai. I removed the temptation and we patched the screen, but somebody chewed another hole in the screen just to make sure it was really gone.It was getting later in the day when the brown thrasher emerged from the bougainvillea and hopped around on the ground looking for tasty treats.Maybe Mrs. Cardinal saw fit to toss him a tidbit or two.Mr. Red Belly opted for a grab-and-go snack this time.This Carolina wren stopped by for a drink while we were enjoying drinks of our own while we chatted.Female cardinals used to be the most common birds we saw out back and I used to wonder why I was taking yet another picture of one. But the males were always fewer in number, and I’ll never get tired of seeing them.
If the hummingbirds would have shown up it would have been perfect. But I’ll keep watching for them.
Living on the Nature Coast of Florida provides constant photo ops, and I need an outlet to share what I see. And sometimes what I think...
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A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 