March 31, 2022, 74°, windy, waves starting to get whitecaps, wind 6-10 knots, water rough, partly sunny.
SunriseEgret on the wing.Lucy on the nest.Great Blue Heron on the wing.Lucy the Great Blue on the nest.Ibis out hunting for crab.Brown PelicanPelicanBoat named “Planet Pluto”, but the “Pluto” was removed when they downgraded Pluto.
March 30, 2022, 69°, windy, wind out of the SE 4-6 knots, waves 6 inches. Sunny.
DawnEgret fishing.Egret.Egret on the wing while sun was behind clouds!Yellow Crowned Night Heron.Osprey on the wing.Two cormorants on the swim platform.Cormorant.Cormorant.Allan patiently waiting for me to come by.House Sparrow making a nest in the boat lift by Allan.
March 28, 2022, 69° calm, sunny.
CormorantCormorantGreat BlueGreat Blue Ricky by nest.RickyLittle Green Heron.OspreyDucksMale DuckFemale Mottled Duck.Juvenile Ibis.
March 27, 2022, 65° calm, kicked up to 10-15 knots! Sunny.
Little Blue caught a fish for breakfast!Fish breakfast!Little Blue with fish.Little Blue dunks fish!Snowy coming towards me.Snowy Egret.Snowy.Snowy detail.Lucy the Great Blue in her nest.Two of five Great Blue Herons.Which way?CormorantCormorant fishing.Royal Tern, two of them fishing here.Sailboat “God Willing” from Germany.
March 26, 2022, 65°, calm at first, 5 knots on return, sunny, no clouds.
DawnLittle Blue with a crab for breakfast.Little Blue reflected in still water on the island.DucksLittle Green.Cormorant.Ibis on the wing.Laughing gull.Lucy (female Great Blue Heron) on her nest.Brown Pelican
March 25, 2022, 65°, no wind at first, 4-5 knots on return, 1 inch waves, sunny, water temp 72°.
Juvenile Ibis with a crab for breakfast.And down the hatch goes the crab. Osprey watching me.Little Blue on the oyster bar.Detail of the Little Blue.Cormorant.Cormorant drying out.Male and two female ducks.Laughing Gull.Ricky (left) and Lucy – Great Blue Herons.Ricky on guard.Lucy in the nest.
March 23, 2022, 70°, windy! Partly sunny. Winds 10 to 20 knots, whitecaps! Floor to Allan for his photos from two days ago when I was there!
Sting Rays!Allan got great photos of the sting rays, I could only see the tips of their wings.Allan got great photos of the dolphins too! There were at least five or six.We did not see the female dolphin with the fishnet on her dorsal fin though.More dolphin photos. Contrail at dawn.Yellow Crowned Night Heron.Yellow Crowned Night Heron.Ibis, white except the tips of their wings.Ibis trying to sleep this morning.Mottled Duck.Mottled Duck.Great Blue Heron on the wing.Great Blue Heron.Great Blue.Male Great Blue (Ricky).Ricky on the left, Lucy in the nest, Ethel on the right.Ricky preening.
March 19, 2022. 71°, nice, no wind, mostly sunny, wind picked up to a nice breeze at 4 MPH.
Elvis came to see me.Mother daughter (or maybe father son?) Ibis looking for crabs for breakfast.Adult Ibis.Juvenile Ibis.Detail of juvenile Ibis.Yellow Crowned Night Heron in the mangroves, there were five of them there!Yellow Crowned Night Heron on the wing.Yellow Crowned Night Heron.Cormorant, three of them were playing “king of the hill”.During five minutes they took turns chasing each other off of the swim platform.My platform he says.Detail of a Cormorant – check out the blue eyes!Finally they all got on.Mottled Duck.Lucy the Great Blue Heron in her nest.Detail of Lucy.OspreyEgret fishing.Egret on the wing.
March 18, 2022. 65°. no wind, sunny, beautiful.
DawnRicky on the left sleeping, Lucy in the nest. Everything is fine even after the brief but strong winds we got twice this week.Ethel is nearby watching.Fred another Great Blue Heron was to the right looking on.There were seven Great Blue Herons on the island this morning.This adult Little Blue Heron was on the oyster bed searching for breakfast.Little Blue with breakfast of crab.Older male on the right, juvenile Duck on the left.Female Mottled Duck.Brown Pelican.Brown Pelican on the wing.Brown PelicanStrange bird searching for crabs.He caught several crabs, he uses them for bait when fishing.
March 13, 2022, 41°, windy and cold, wind 10-15 with higher gusts out of the north, Sunny. Water temperature 68°. The wind has pushed most of the water out of the bay!
Egg casing left by a Lightning Whelk.When people take out their boats and leave the dock lines down in the water (it is sometimes hard to reach those on the pilings) I pull the lines out of the water and secure them so that they do not get covered with algae and stuff. I pulled one up this morning, and look at what came up with the line? A seahorse! That is a first for me! I have seen them out in the grass flats while diving for scallops (and in aquariums) but to bring one up while securing a line!? After taking his photo I put him right back.Lucy in her nest, the nest did well in the storm.Lucy lay down in her nest.Little Green under the dock keeping out of the wind.Male Mottled Duck.Female Mottled Duck.Turkey Vulture on the wing.Little Blue, the juveniles do not get their blue feathers for a year. Little Blue Herons start off their lives with white plumage, then look piebald with blue and white feathers and finally look more “blue” as adults. Some people call these plumage phases “morphs”.Little Blue with breakfast of a fish.Osprey on the wing fishing.A flock of about 200 Ibis was here.A flock of Crows came and scared the Ibis away.Juvenile Ibis. Just the opposite of the Little Blue, the Ibis starts out brown, the as the molt their white feathers come in.Adult Ibis, the feathers are fluffed up because of the cold.Part of the flock of Ibis.The crows also chased off the Gulls!The wind was disturbing the water and I got a great mise-en-scène (background) for this Yellow Crowned Night Heron!More mise-en-scène!Yellow Crowned Night Heron posing for his photo.
March 12, 2022, 74°, windy white caps on the waves, cloud cover, too rough and no sun, so I did not go out. Here are some older photos I have taken though. I am really glad I did not go out, a storm is about to hit here at 9AM, I would have been caught out in it!
Severe storm, tornado warning!!Osprey taking off.Osprey and the moon.Juvenile American Eagle on the oyster bar.Black Skimmer fishing using his lower bill to catch fish.The Black Skimmer has a very unique bill.Juvenile Anhinga with breakfast.Male AnhingaCormorantEgretIbisJuvenile Ibis.Little Green Heron.Juvenile Little Blue Heron changing from white to blue feathers.Adult Little Blue Heron.
March 11, 74° windy.
Ricky watching.Lucy adding the twigs Ricky brought to the nest.Ricky and Lucy.RickyDucksJuvenile Ibis on the wing.Turkey Vulture.Osprey fishing.
March 10, cloudy, 74° wind 10 knots, waves 2-4 inch Lucy in the nest.
Lucy in the nest, wind blowing her feathers.Osprey on his usual perch 20 feet from the Great Blue nest.Oyster Catcher, here with her mate, she was banded at birth.Boat in for repairs.
Wednesday March 9, 2022, 74°, sun and clouds, wind whipping up the waves. Waves 12″, whitecaps. Not a day to go out in a little kayak but I wanted to see how the Great Blue Herons were doing in their nest in all this wind. Only Lucy was there, but she was fine.
Not many photos today, the wind and waves were too much.
Lucy in the nest waiting for Ricky. I hung around for 15 minutes but he did not show. The wind and waves were battering me and getting me wet, but I made it out and back.Lucy in the nest waiting.Osprey taking Spanish moss to his nest I imagine.Osprey on the wing.Little Green under the dock in the marina.
Monday March 7, 2022, 69° start 74° on return. Sunny breeze 6-10 knots with gusts to 16. Waves about 2 inches, makes for blurred photos at times.
DawnRicky decided to come over to the nest (to the left).Ricky threw his head up in greeting Lucy.Two lovebirds.Lucy and Ricky touch beaks in what looks like a kiss.And they touch beaks several times.Such affection!Ricky joins Lucy in the nest touching each other in what looks like a hug.Then more kissing.Then Ricky goes off for more twigs.KingfisherCormorant on the swim platform.CormorantSnowy Egret under the dock.DucksMale Anhinga drying out.Anhinga detail.Anhinga in the air, feet tucked right underneath.Juvenile Ibis at dawn in the mangroves.Juvenile Ibis.Juvenile Ibis searching for breakfast.Juvenile and adult Ibis.Little crabFiddler crabs.
Sunday March 6, 2022. 70° to start, 77° on return. Sunny, breeze 4-6 with gusts to 10. Water 75°.
Dawn 6:55 this morning soon to be 7:55!Oyster catcher – Jim asked me to name the birds, this one is Sam, his sidekick Bandy (the one who is banded) was not with him today.This is Barry, the Little Blue Heron.Barry the little Blue found a critter to eat for breakfast.Close up of Barry’s breakfast.Barry the Little Blue.Henrietta the Mottled Duck.
Episode 1. I caught Lucy and Ricky in their just started nest making babies. Episode 2. The Great Blue Herons continued building their nest. Episode 3. (today) Ricky the male is working very hard getting the sticks. Lucy the female stays in the nest, she greets Ricky warmly when he comes with the next stick, then incorporates it into the nest. She pulls and pushes on every branch until she gets it right. She did drop a portion of one stick overboard – it looked to be about eight inched long and was straight. Maybe not to her liking. Ricky watches over the process and sometimes reaches in to the nest to help? He then sits and preens himself to put into place the feathers that were disturbed as he makes his way through the jungle of branches to find the next right one. He tests many branches, then flies back to present his findings. Another Great Blue Heron Kay and I dubbed Ethel landed a few feet from the nest while Ricky was off working. Lucy ignored her but we wondered what Ricky would do when he got back. But, Ethel moved about 40 feet away before Ricky came back. Then when Ricky flew to look for the next branch, Ethel followed him and landed close to him. But there was no interaction.
Lucy in the nest working away and Ricky watching.Lucy awaiting Ricky to return.Ricky returning with a stick.Ricky lands a few feet from the nest.Lucy warmly meets her mate Ricky.Lucy raises her crown feathers and displays her chest feathers (detail of above).The hand off – Ricky stretches out and Lucy accepts the offering.Another hand off.Ricky sticking his beak where it may not belong, but Lucy accepts it.Ricky with a stick.Lucy patiently waits in the nest, ready for the next stick, she sees him coming and raises her crown feathers..
Saturday, March 5, 2022, 69° to start, 74° at return. Wind 4-6 mph start 10 with gusts of 18 at end. Not a cloud in the sky.
6:55 AM, the sun peeks over a roof.Dan took my photo. On my trip every day I have: 1. The kayak with Hewey the duck as my guide. 2. Life preserver 3. Long handled trash picker 4. Paddles 5. Thermometer for water temperature 6. Wind/Air Temperature guage 7. Whistle and lanyard 8. Marine radio 9. Pen and paper 10. Flashlight and extra batteries 11. Lens cover 12. Cloth to clean lens 13. Suntan lotion 14. Bottle of drinking water 15. Bucket to put trash in 16. Camera and 32GB chip 17. Sunglasses 18. Hat 19. Cell phone 20. Ziploc bag Kevin’s passenger caught a nice Snook.Nice catch!Kevin removes the hookThen back the Snook goes.A Crow.Mom Great Blue in the nest making sure all twigs are set right while dad preens.Dad Great Blue off to find another twig.Coming back with the twig for mom to place.The hand off – male right, female Great Blue Heron left.Mom places stick, dad waits.While mom is busy, dad sneaks in to adjust a stick!Mottled Ducks.Female Mottled Duck,Male DuckLaughing Gulls.IbisFemale Anhinga in the mangroves. Female Anhinga checking me out. Love the eye makeup.Turkey Vulture.Little Blue Heron fishing.Little Blue in the oysters.Detail of the Little Blue.Osprey overhead fishing.
Friday March 4, 2022, 68° start, 78° return, no wind all sunshine!
Dawn, sun is marching back north.Female Great Blue Heron on nest signaling “I love you” to her mate off to the left.Male Great Blue arrives with a branch to add to the nest.The branch is passed – male Great Blue on right, female on left.Don’t their heads and necks make a heart? as the female Great Blue accepts the branch.Female Great Blue turns to incorporate the branch into the nest.Male and female mottled duck, it is that time of year!.Little Green.Juvenile Ibis.The Snowy stays right with the juvenile Ibis, the Snowy is flighty and can send the alarm, the Ibis disturbs food for the Snowy, symbiotic.SnowySharingCormorant standing in the shallows, first I have seen that.Cormorant, love the eyebrows!Almost Cormorant.Little Blue Heron.Detail of Little Blue.
Thursday, March 3, 2022, 63° start 74° return, no wind, sunshine!!
6:58 AM, dawn partly cloudy – high clouds.Little Green Heron searching for breakfast.Brown Pelican splashed down but no fish.Brown Pelican went ashore, then took off.Great Blue Heron fishing under the pier.Great Blue Heron was fishing, then flew up to the nest.Great Blue landing on the nest.Great Blue adjusting the sticks in the nest.DuckLaughing GullTricolored Heron fishing, he runs in circles or to the side just like the Reddish does! The tricolored heron, formerly known as the Louisiana heron.Close up of the Tricolor.Tricolored Heron striding along.Tricolor with crest of dark purple and white feathers!Tricolored HeronTricolored running and looking for breakfast.TricoloredTricolorA pair of Willets.Willets.Willets.Parent and Juvenile Ibis grazing.Ibis found something to eat.Parent and Juvenile Ibis.Ibis with a damaged wing, he still flies though.Ibis portrait.Snowy on right with his attendant Ibis. The Snowy’s seem to all do a one on one with the Ibis. They are looking for the Ibis to stir something up I think.More Snowy one on one with Ibis.Close up of a Snowy.Snowy showing off a yellow foot.Detail of a Snowy.Snowy in breeding plumage.
Wednesday March 2, 2022, 62° to start 68° upon return, water temp 71°. Light shifting breeze.
Dawn, no water. birds love it!The Roseate Spoonbill was back!Spoonbill on the right, a Stork on the left!Roseate Spoonbill, not the curve down at the tip of his beak like a fingernail, just like the Pelican.Roseate Spoonbill.Great Egret.Great Egret.Great Egret fishing.Stork.Stork.The stork puts his beak into the sand, the scratches to stir up something, just like the Snowy does!Detail of Stork fishing.Stork found a tidbit.Stork, a friend said that they wondered how anyone could think up that this ugly bird would deliver babies!DuckRing Billed GullKingfisher on a dock line.Little Green on a mangrove prop root.Little Green sitting on the prop root of the mangrove.Cormorant on a piling.Detail of the male Cormorant.Close up – check out the blue eyes!Tricolor on the island.Female Anhinga in the mangroves.Anhinga drying off.Anhinga just out of the water.Close up of the Anhinga.The Anhinga also has colors around the eye.Ibis coming in to join the crowd to check out the exposed bottom.Ibis and Snowy all checking out the bottom.Osprey overhead fishing.Great Blue Heron.Great Blue Herons making babies.Male Great Blue Heron (right) hands female a stick for the nest (the nest is under the female).Female placing the stick in the nest.Gentleman from France visiting, he competes with boards like this.$200,000 on the stern of this boat!
