Category: Natures little dramas

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, egrets, Florida wildlife, fun, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, perseverance, photography, Tricolored heron

A beautiful day…

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It may not have been exactly the day you might have pictured when I describe it as a beautiful day. It’s a little early to be dreading the hot weather already this year, but that was my first thought when we decided to head to the rookery at about 3 PM yesterday. Scorching sun was on my mind, with my recent and seemingly unending visits to the dermatologist lately I slathered on sunscreen and donned a hat and off we went. Much to my surprise the sky was hazy enough that the sun wasn’t an issue. And another surprise came when I looked at my pictures. I wish you could see them as I see them in my computer because I think the foliage looks amazing. The birds are nice too of course, but that foliage looks so good. It wasn’t any talent on my part, or my nice but middle of the road camera and lens, it was the light. And you can’t buy that!

You see the ‘kids’ carrying on in the feature photo. This is the nest that we saw last time. Mom looks exasperated.
Then mom decided she’d had enough for a while. Can’t say that I blame her.
This Woodstork pranced around and flapped his wings and he finally got his lady love to notice him, and he bowed down before her.
And then his moment was spoiled by an interloper grabbing the attention.
This is my favorite picture of the day. Yes I love the snowy egret, but the foliage really got me. Have you ever heard the sound snowys make? If you haven’t you ought to google it. They may look elegant, but it took me a long time to decide that it really was the snowy making that silly noise.
I thought the tricolor heron had just taken a drink, but it seems he got a nibble too.
If a dragonfly chooses to pose then I’ll always choose to take his picture.
We only found one other nest with two younger great white egret chicks.
This nest was further into the foliage and even the photoshop tricks weren’t going to be able to let me get the branches out of the way without ruining the picture.
This little guy is trying to be not so little.
On the drive home we were lucky enough to be stopped for a traffic light with a family of sandhill cranes moseying along the side of the road.
Even if there was a place to pull over I wouldn’t stop for pictures of them on this road. I’d be afraid I’d disturb them and cause them to head into the street. But I wasn’t going to miss my chance to shoot out the car window.

When we were getting out of the car and I heard the decibel level of the birds out there I was sure we’d finally see the numbers of nests that we’ve seen in the past. And I think they are there this year too, but deeper in the foliage or on the other side of the ‘island’. I’ve heard that the later toward sunset the better the rookery gets, but we were ready to head for home, and dinner.

'scene' along the way, a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, changing times, facing facts, Florida wildlife, growing old, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, nesting, perseverance, photography

Chick-lets…

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I was ready. I had the extender and the 100-400mm lens on my Canon R7. Ready for all the bobble-headed chicks we would see when we arrived at the rookery yesterday. Except it took a very long time to ‘find’ any chicks at all. Another photographer pointed out that many of the nests themselves were gone after the extreme winds we had had on Thursday. The trouble with becoming invested in the natural world around me at this late stage of life is the sad realization that it’s a life and death struggle daily for even the cutest of creatures out there. And maybe that pertains to us humans also, especially as the years pass by.

Maybe it’s all the BritBox I watch, but this photo made me think ‘happy families.’
Turning the eggs is an essential part of the process.
The tricolor herons nest deep in the low foliage, so when one shows itself I always have to take its picture.
This shot was an oops, except I kind of like it.
This wood stork worked hard to uproot that piece of foliage out of the water. Then he flew to the nest with it. See above photo.
These two chick-lets are very new and only bobbed their heads for a few seconds at a time.
Mom was keeping an eye on things.
Ready for his close up.

While seeing nests with chicks in them was a challenge yesterday, hearing chicks yelling for food was hard to miss, making the whole experience even more frustrating. So again I have resolved to go back sooner rather than later.

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, backyard visitors, birds, fences, Florida wildlife, moments, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, perseverance, photography

Hawk-ish…

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Every other time I’ve tried to photograph a hawk I’ve had to run to get my camera and then try to sneak out onto the lanai and get the door open without sending him on his way. But this time I was already in the doorway to the lanai with the camera in my hands when this hawk just appeared out of nowhere and landed on the fence. He looked this way and that, and stayed long enough for me to take lots of shots and think how nice it was that the light was lighting up his feathers. And then he took off all of a sudden, and I thought we were done. But this time he was back in a few seconds, landing facing me this time. And again, he was keeping an eye out, looking around, and then he got an itch…

I appreciated the nice light on his feathers.
Then he was back, and facing front this time.
Then he had to scratch an itch.
And scratch some more.
Imagine him scratching your back for you.
And then he was done, I thought.

But he wasn’t done. I thought we were done so I put the camera down, but he flew into the yard again, facing towards me with his wings spread and perfectly lit up by the sun. I was concentrating on the hawk, so I didn’t see a grackle fly onto the feeder, but the hawk did, and he very nearly got him. One of my many almost perfect shots that live only in my mind. He really was done this time, and I heard him calling as he flew away.

attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, Florida wildlife, in the neighborhood, nature, Natures little dramas, on closer examination, perseverance, photography

Little brown birds…

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Every so often a new little brown bird shows up out back. Except they really aren’t new, once I look them up I remember that we’ve seen them before. In this case the little brown bird that caught my eye yesterday was a Carolina Wren. I thought the color was so rich, and there is so much detail in the wings. There were a couple of them out there, one of them is the one in the feature photo.

This is the other one, and as you can see in the photo his beak is deformed. After paying attention to birds for a while, and seeing posts from other photographers, you being to realize that something does go wrong in nature now and then. But this bird seems to be doing well, I’m happy to say.
See, he snagged a seed no sweat!
I so appreciate it when the birds land in my little birdie feeder, which I bought in hopes of it being a photo prop. And this little bird is color coordinated also.
Sweet little birdie.

Here’s hoping that this little bird sticks around for a while so we can see how it’s doing.

attitude adjustments, backyard visitors, birds, facing facts, Florida wildlife, fun, gardens, in the neighborhood, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, Natures little dramas, nothing's easy, perseverance, photography

One step ahead…

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The struggle is real. Backyard predators abound. And I don’t know what messes the ‘no mess seed’ that I buy is preventing, but it sure isn’t bird poop. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I bought the Bird Buddy last year, but it has been fun. Expensive, but fun.

Both poles are double baffled at the moment, but the squirrel still has big ideas. A re-rearrangement of the feeders out there is in order.
This double baffle has been a success for months now. But he never seemed interested in the other pole until I added the cute little bird feeder.
I can appreciate the Mrs. Redwing so much better when she is sitting in the bougainvillea than when she and all her friends are feasting out there all at once.
On this day the bougainvillea was full of redwings sitting there like ornaments on a Christmas tree.
A bluejay has been passing through the yard regularly, but when he would attempt to land on a feeder it would swing and he’d fly away. Until a couple of days ago that is. I was happy to see him to take a picture, but their reputation as bullies probably means I’ll be complaining about him eventually.
And the blue birds keep visiting. I need to move this cute little feeder since it’s tempting the squirrel. Trying to stay one step ahead is a challenge.

On the way to Wild Birds Unlimited I declared that I would refrain from buying any blue bird specific feeders or seed, because adding another feeding spot would probably just encourage the blackbirds all the more. And I stuck to my guns even though the first thing we saw when we arrived was a table display of little blue glass feeder cups, and blue bird specific feed. They seem to like what we are providing already so why ask for trouble?

attention to detail, backyard visitors, birds, Florida wildlife, gardens, in the neighborhood, nature, Natures little dramas, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, silliness, squirrels, Taking it in stride

It’s a mystery…

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My daughter once asked me if I realized that someone dies in all my books. And yes, I did realize that once she said it. But I thought of myself as a mystery lover, just not necessarily a murder mystery lover. This mystery is a bit tamer than that, and I expect it will never be solved. It involves the cylinder holder that we’ve been using to hold a cranberry/seed cylinder, as seen in the feature photo. The bottom stem part fits into a slot in the top umbrella part, but the seed cylinders are exactly the same length as the stem and it’s hard to see if you have the two parts connected properly. I’ve found the bottom part plus whatever seed is left on the ground once or twice. But last week I saw the top part hanging in place, with no bottom part attached, or anywhere, and it had had a good sized cylinder on it at the time. And so it has remained a mystery as to what happened to it. The metal stem part was T shaped and had a couple of perches for the birds to use to eat, but the tray part was flimsy plastic. Still and all I’d expect to see it under the perch, devoid of seeds maybe, but still there.

Suspect #1, climbs the poles and thinks about how he can get to the feeders.
Suspect #2, has in fact managed to conquer the first baffle, but the addition of a second baffle has kept him at bay.
Suspect #3, contents himself with eating what the birds scatter under the feeders.
For the moment I have retired this cylinder holder. The access from the top and sides has caused it to be devoured in a matter of days. And who is eating all this seed? Not necessarily the cute little birds like this Downey woodpecker, but the vast hordes of red-winged blackbirds that descent like a cloud and take over all the feeders.

And there you have the new set up, for now at least. A new cylinder holder, ka-ching, with a much easier and secure assembly, and a larger ‘roof’ to keep so many birds from accessing it at the same time. And the new little bird feeder that the larger birds seem to have a problem landing on. I’m am hoping that the blackbirds will move on to greener pastures, though they don’t actually migrate. This has been a learning experience for me, and as they all seem to be, an expensive one. But I’m still hopeful that soon the clouds and rain and cooler temperatures will give way to the kind of winter weather that caused us to move to Florida. And we’ll be sitting and enjoying our happy hour with our feathered friends.