Category: attitude adjustments

attention to detail, attitude adjustments, backyard visitors, birds, Florida wildlife, fun, in the neighborhood, nature, Natures little dramas, perseverance, photography

Gender issues…

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Perhaps it’s not the correct political climate to be trying to figure out who the mated pairs of our backyard birds may be. We have our funny immature somebody in the feature photo. But what got me thinking about this again was the appearance of the female red-winged blackbird yesterday.

I think I saw this bird at the Celery Fields, and I was so surprised to find out it was a female red-winged blackbird. So now I wondered if other bird couples had been visiting.
Her Mr. announces his arrival to be sure you notice him.
The other day Bernie was enjoying all the birds out there when this bird showed up and started sounding off. The two doves who were scavenging on the ground popped their heads up, and all the birds scattered immediately, just as a hawk swooped in through the yard, and only a few feet from the lanai. But the hawk must have found his dinner elsewhere.
So I wondered if the female red-bellied woodpecker had ever shown up, and guess what, this is the female. She has a red nape, while the male has a full crown of red on the top of his head also. I looked though my photos and I think I’ve only seen the female, so far at least. And yes, her first stop is to check out the post before she chows down on the woodpecker cylinder.
This guy’s potential confusion may extend to his pretending to be a woodpecker.
I bought the little cup feeder to hold the meal worms which only attracted the crows to the feeder. So I replaced the meal worms with ‘butter buds’ and they are a hit with everybody, including the crows.
My experiments with ‘precapture’ from the other day were less than successful. But all the gnashing of teeth that I did over the technology must have worked because this photo showed up in Lightroom today. So my efforts the other day weren’t a total waste of time.
Any scattered seeds don’t have a chance to sprout with this grounds crew on duty.

The tufted titmouse has been too fast for me to get pictures lately. But I looked up the male/female identification issue and they are identical. You have to watch their behavior as the males are more territorial than the females. I will keep an eye out when they visit next time. As you have seen it’s been a lot of fun watching the goings on at the feeders. And such nice timing since the action is best at ‘happy hour.’

attitude adjustments, facing facts, life goes on, nothing's easy, perseverance, photography, technology, unintended consequences

I’ve been driven to drink…

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The feature photo is something I saw while waiting for a traffic light the other day. It caught my eye because the day before I had dithered over buying this;

Eventually I said “Yes way to the rose”. Don’t take that as a recommendation, it was just okay.
I’ve been through several boxes of this after my friend Rita introduced me to it when I visited her. Nice and light. Summery. And the rose version isn’t bad either.
Happened into Sam’s in time for a wine tasting yesterday. This was so good, fruity, I’d have never looked at the bottle twice. I drank the last glass of the open bottle of ‘Yes way’ last night while I let this chill.
While my guy perused the beer isle at Total Wine I went outside and took pictures of the crazy clouds, then I wandered through Home Goods, and when I checked to see if he was done he was right where I left him in the beer aisle. So I wandered a bit and spotted this, but didn’t buy it.

In this particular case it’s technology that’s driven me to drink. I discovered that my camera will let you take a ‘precapture’. So you focus on a bird and when the action happens you take the shot and half the time you get this;

If you use this new feature you half-press the shutter button while you find your shot, then when to do push the shutter button all the way it takes the photos from a half second before you pressed the shutter. Great, right? So I took a ton of pictures that way the other day. but my software doesn’t want to open them. So this morning I upgraded the software, upgraded the camera firmware, and added a new editing program. And everything fought me as I worked on it. It’s been a long morning and I still haven’t successfully created even one picture. I have wasted half the day, but certainly it must be close to 5 o’clock somewhere…

attention to detail, attitude adjustments, backyard visitors, birds, Florida wildlife, fun, home improvements, Just do it, live and learn, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography

From the lanai…

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Just been sitting on the lanai for the last day or so, trying, but not always succeeding, in taking shots of the visiting birds. And other wildlife. Today I told Bernie that our scene out there is too cluttered. We need another post, and more feeders for the woodpeckers. And plants to bring in the butterflies and pollinators. And more stuff that I’ll think of in a minute…

The red-winged blackbirds are here every day, but the female has the posing thing down a bit better.
I said to myself that the woodpecker looked bigger today.
But when I saw the pictures in the computer I had a horrified moment thinking that I’d told you that this red-bellied woodpecker was a downey woodpecker.
But then I saw this picture from yesterday and felt better. A little downey woodpecker. So now I have two kinds of woodpeckers out there.
This squirrel could see me in the doorway so he thought long and hard before he came out to see if there were droppings under the feeder.
I got a kick out of the female cardinal and the tufted titmouse sharing time on the feeders.
With my long lens plus extender I couldn’t focus on both of them however.
The titmouse drops in and picks up a seed and flys off, much too fast for me even though I’m sitting there with the camera thinking I’m ready. Waiting for the cardinal slowed him down.
Now I see what he has been dropping in to snag.
It’s so much nicer to see the birds in the ‘wild’, so to speak.

I had complained that the butterflies that flit through the yard never land anywhere, but as you see in the feature photo one did land in the bougainvillea. So I zoomed and took some shots, and then cropped them like crazy, but I got him. The birds are busy late in the afternoon when the light is better. It makes for a fun way to spend a little time.

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, exploring new places, Florida landmarks, Florida wildlife, live and learn, making memories, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, on closer examination, Osprey, perseverance, photography

Osprey assumptions…

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There are osprey nests on posts along many of the roads we drive on our usual travels. But we had never seen this nest before because we hadn’t been to Fort DeSoto Park before, at least not together. We had minimum information on where exactly to see the many, many migrating birds that we have seen pictures of lately, but we were optimistic. My favorite pictures wound up being this osprey sequence, even if I may have missed the boat on it entirely. What I saw in the distance, and you see in the feature photo, was a nest being guarded by Dad on the nearby branch, and Mom standing in the nest. Dad, if that is in fact Dad, never moved from that position. And for that matter neither did ‘Mom.’

This is the picture that tickled me! I’d never seen a baby osprey before, so I was thrilled when Junior put in an appearance. But when he rose up some more and started flapping those wings I was amazed.
I thought Mom was too busy keeping an eye on things to pay too much attention.
Then I thought Junior turned his attention to Dad, as in, “Hey Dad, look at me, I’m a big kid,” and smacking Mom in the face in the process.

So I showed my pictures to Bernie and told him why I thought the whole thing was so funny, and he pointed out that the two birds on the nest are the same size, so perhaps they are both babies. Siblings. And Mom may be the one of the branch keeping watch over the shenanigans. And, darn it all, he has a point. I guess the joke was on me. But it was fun to see them anyhow.

a second look, adventure, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, egrets, Florida wildlife, friends, fun, life goes on, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography

Figuring it out…

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My trips to the rookery have been disappointing for a while now. Nests that I knew were there were tucked into the foliage, making them impossible to see. But I have now discovered the secret to seeing the chicks that were growing up in those nests. Just wait for them to grow up and leave home. Maybe they are teenager-equivalent now, and mom and dad are having trouble keeping them at home. So it was a couple of days ago that I ‘found’ them, sort of. We were there earlier in the day than we usually are, so maybe that’s another secret I figured out. It was a fun day at the rookery. That’s the snowy egret chicks in the feature photo, not hiding anymore.

Here are two of the snowy chicks, one tip-toeing to sneak up on some unsuspecting creature, and the other one feigning no interest in what was going on.
When I saw this snowy chick down beneath the nest at the water line I was afraid he’d fallen out of the nest. Could he get back up, I wondered? Then I saw that he was busy hunting bugs for lunch and I decided that he was fine.
I think that the black crowned night heron chick was a bit dazed and confused as he stumbled into the daylight.
He seems to have quite a nest tucked in there, lots of places to pop up and say peekaboo!
I think he is ready to find some lunch now.
I haven’t gotten a picture of a glossy ibis in quite a while. But this one flew down to the water right in front of me, and dipped his bill in for a drink.
That must have looked like a good idea to this Woodstork because he quickly followed suit. I guess they are drinking buddies.
The egret chicks were sounding off, loudly. Calling out to anyone who would listen I guess.
It seems like every year, no matter which rookery I visit, there are three nearly grown Woodstork ‘chicks’ standing at attention, quietly waiting to be fed? I call them the three amigos.
But nearby I spotted these two fuzzy headed cuties.
This log usually has an anhinga or two spreading its wings to dry. But on this day there were two romantic turtles whispering sweet nothings, or so I surmise!

The other new thing I noticed that day was the aroma. Not the most pleasant part of the day.

attention to detail, attitude adjustments, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, home, live and learn, making memories, nature, on closer examination, perseverance, photography

That zoo visit…

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Lemurs hardly ever can be seen in their entirety, meaning that long tail in a picture.
We wandered for a bit since the orangutan enclosure was being tended to by the keepers.
I am convinced that our pets are totally content when life follows a routine and they know what to expect. But looking at that face I have to wonder, what do they think about?
When big daddy emerges he makes quite an impression.
Finally, mom and baby emerge into the morning sunlight.
Is she checking out her audience?
Another pose that makes me wonder what they think about.
All of the wildlife preserves in our area are also inhabited by wild birds who recognize a great place to live. These ducks seem to enjoy life in the zoo.
I saw this little bird land on a post, and since my camera was ready to go I took its picture. Merlin says it’s a house sparrow. But as sometime’s happens, when I saw the photo in the computer I was distressed to see that it’s leg is deformed.
Not a bird but a bird of paradise. The first picture I took at the zoo that day.

Going to the zoo will work out best when you plan ahead. Getting there when the zoo opens at 9:30 you can expect the animals to be active. The orangutans emerge from their dens to find that the keepers have scattered greens around the enclosure for them to eat. Sometimes they put out various pieces of clothing or towels that the orangutans enjoy draping over themselves. There is a good bit of shade at the zoo all day, but it will get pretty hot later. Of course there is a splash pad for the kids to enjoy, and I suppose a parent or grandparent might enjoy it also. A one day pass can seem expensive, until you realize that you can buy a pass that will get you admission for a year for the same price.