Month: May 2022

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Daily Blog

Bird Photos May 2022

Monday May 30 – Memorial Day. 74° light breeze kicking  up 4 to 6 inch waves. Quite bumpy in the bay.

Dawn
Two dolphins.
Allan sent over his photo of two dolphins.
The nose of a manatee.
A Mocking Bird.
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican at rest.
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Look at that fuzzy top of his head! A juvenile Little Green Heron.
Osprey at the north end of the island.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue and a Duck way up the Bear Creek.
Snowy fishing.
Snowy Egret.
Snowy with a snack.
Snowy
Little Blue Heron
Little Blue
Ibis up in a longleaf pine.
Ibis, unfortunately I clipped off the black tips of his wings.
Female Anhinga in the mangroves.
Female Millard Duck.
Juvenile

Ducklings following momma.

May 29, 2022, 70°. absolute calm most of the trip. A great day for dolphins!!

Before sunrise, clouds on the very horizon, cloudless otherwise.l
Sun glancing off of the glass.
Dolphis all around me! One sounded like it did a leap, but it was behind me, what a huge splash!!
A mother and her baby!
Mother and baby again.
Lots of dolphins!!
Osprey
Osprey
Snowy struking.
Snowy with a snack.
Snowy on the hunt.
Snowy with breakfast.
Snowy
Ducklings, they have very sharp toenails and can climb on slippery rocks.
Mother and four ducklings.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Little Green Heron.
Little Green Heron
A little Green Heron fishing.
Little Green Heron
Gret Blue Heron
Great Blue
Great Blue

May 28, 2022, 75°, no wind at first, 5 to 8 mph on return – out of the west.

Dawn
Mullet swimming in a school.
Sea grape, they say the fruit makes good jelly.
Red Mangrove with seeds almost ready to drop.
Conures on the wing.
Little Green
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Detail of Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Ducks are growing up.
Ducklings picking sea creatures off the sea wall.
Snowy
Snowy
Great Blue Heron in the mangroves.
Regal looking Osprey.
Egret striking at a fish.
Egret
Egret
Egret in the mangroves.

May 26, 2022, 77°, sun and clouds. Wind picked up to 10 mph and 4 inch waves.

Dawn
I keep seeing coconuts floating, now I see why!
Yellow floats with silt barrier used during construction, but what construction?
Ibis with pouch still.
Another Ibis.
Ibis
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Detail of Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Little Green Heron.
Egret
Egret fishing
Egret
Ducklings
Allan sent over this photo of a Great Blue sitting on his dock!
The Great Blue was still there when I came by!
The wind was flipping up his feathers!
That feather must have been annoying!
Osprey right overhead! They were enjoying all the wind we are getting.
I love how his feet just tangle his talons right together.
Categories
Daily

Bird Photos May 2022

Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 75° beautiful day. Another day with the manatees! I had not brought my phone, so no photos (my camera only focuses about 10 feet away, he was 12 inches from my lens), but a manatee came up and put his nose on the side of my kayak!! I petted him, gave him a scratch. He slid under my kayak and ribbed his back on the underside! I was glad he did not push too hard and dump me! Then he played with the handle on the stern that hangs down, tossing it around. Then he came back for more petting and a little scratch!!!!!
What an amazing time!!!

The nose of the manatee!
Dawn
Blue Jay
Egret on the wing.
Egret on the dam.
Baby duck.
Duck enjoying his bath.
Juvenile Ducks.
These three do not have an adult with them.
Great Blue Heron.
Great blue with the owl that is there to "scare off" birds. The owl is ignored.
Detail of Great Blue Heron.
Osprey on the wing.
Osprey
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned with breakfast.
Yellow Crowned in my path.
Yellow Crowned Heron

Monday, May 23, 2022, 77° cloudy at start, cleared up later, but photos are still not so sharp due to lack of light.

Cloud cover.
Galinule (or Swamp Hen).
Manatee! One of four all in one spot!
Manatee with head out of the water!
Manatee
Manatee right beside ne!
Osprey on the wing.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Black Crowned Night Heron.
Egret on the wing.
Egret
Egret
Little Green Herom.
Little Green Heron fishing.
Snowy
Snowy fishing.
Duck
Ducks still growing.
Female Duck.
Junior
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron

Friday, May 20, 2022, 75° clear sky at 6:45 when I went out, fully clouded over with thunder and lightning to the south as I returned at 7:15. Short run this morning!

Thunderstorms on the way, short paddle today.
Allan took photos of two manatees this morning.
The ISP was having problems, but it was not my connection, I was getting over 200 Mbps!
The moon before the clouds came rolling in.
Sunrise, before the storm.
The sun made it look like fire!
Two Oyster Catchers on the oyster bar - looking south with the slate gray sky in that direction.
The two Oyster Catchers.
The local Hawk. I think it is a Red Shouldered Hawk.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in my path as I left.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron as I caught up to him later.

Thursday May 19, 2022, 75° mostly sunny, NO wind.

Moon htis morning.
Dawn
Sun reflecting off of windows and then off the water.
Galinule
Galinule
Blue Jay
Sparrow
Manatee nose.
Manatee tail.
Manatee back.
One of two Oyster Catchers on the oyster bed.
Osprey with moon.
Great Blue
Little Green with breakfast.
Little Green.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron, adult
Juvenile Yellow Crown Night Heron.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Juvenile Little Blue
Ibis in s tree.
Ibis still with his wattle.
Juvenile Duck.
Duck
Bird of another type flying around..
Allan saw two dolphins circling his dock getting breakfast!

Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 74°, no wind, quite still.

Dawn
Moon just before dawn.
Oyster Catcher on the oyster bar!
Oyster Catcher mate, with breakfast!
Pair of Oyster Catchers.
Three Spotted Sandpipers on the oyster bar.
Three little guys!
Snowy Ehret.
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Crow with his breakfast.
Dove
Ibis on the oyster bar.
This White Ibis is showing all the characteristics of breeding season. There is a bright red gular sac (or wattle) at his chin. His bill is also blacker at the end. This sac is only visible for 10 days or so in mating season so it was a pretty lucky find.
Great Blue Heron.
Detail of Great Blue.
Little Green Heron.
Adult Little Blue Heron.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron looking up at the adult above.
Detail of Juvenile Little Blue.
Two baby ducks, no longer with the flock.
The third baby Duck without a keeper.

Monday May 16, 2022, 72° water temp 72°, no wind at atart, 4 mph at end. Sunny.

Dawn
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Snowy
Snowy with breakfast.
Snowy fishing.
Little Green in the dark.
Juvenile Little Blue.
Great Blue by the abandoned nest.
Great Blue Heron

Sunday May 15, 2022, 72°, little wind, sunny after the sun cleared the clouds.

The sun is up, but not clear of the clouds yet.
The moon was almost full last night, so I got out my Nikon Coolpix P900 and took a photo of it. My D300 does not work to get a sharp photo of the moon, but the Coolpix does.
I think that they have nets in those bags.
The Hawk in the mangroves, a Blue Jay was pestering him!
Crows
An Egret on the oyster bar.
An Osprey.
The Ducklings.
Little Blue
Yellow Crowned Night Heron, there were 8 out this morning!
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Night Heron
Adult and Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue Heron.
Great Blue
Spider web
Squirrel
Cal's pet pig! Three months old.

Saturday, May 14, 2022. 70° no wind, lots of sun.

Dawn
A large manatee.
;Blue Jay at someone's bird feeder.
Hawk up in the mangroves.
A very large Hawk.
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, these guys are making nests in any opening they can find!
The Swallow above is no larger than the Great Blue Heron's right foot!
Little Blue Heron with his long mane feathers.
Little Blue fishing.
Little Blue.
Another Little Blue.
And another Little Blue!
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned #2
Yellow Crowned looking at me.
Detail of Yellow Crowned night Heron.
Duck standing on the bulbous bow protrusion of a power boat..
The ducklings are growing up!
Second set.
One flock.
Ducks on the wing

Friday May 13, 2022. It started out with a few clouds, then the clouds closed in. A light breeze 70°.

Cross a black cat, walk under a ladder or break a mirror, western culture has any number of great ways to bring about bad luck, but few are as curious as Friday the 13th. Deeply rooted in misfortune, the fabled day of disaster comes around once or twice a year to spook us into submission. There’s even a name for the irrational dread of the date: paraskevidekatriaphobia — which in itself is a specialised form of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13. Friday the 13th is a universally acknowledged day of bad luck.

The most commonly held theory of the origin can be traced back to a Norse myth about 12 gods holding a dinner party. at Valhalla. While the group initially intended to feast in the fabled halls, the event was interrupted by a 13th uninvited guest, the God of Mischief, Loki. According to legend, Loki tricked Höðrm the blind God of Winter into shooting his brother Baldr, the God of Summer with a magical spear tipped with mistletoe. The murder cast an awful shadow over the land and brought a fresh sentiment along with the number 13, which represented the unwanted 13th guest.

“Balder died and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day, but not for me today!

Dawn
Photo of the dolphin (one of three) heading south.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron with his breakfast of crab!!
Another Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Brown Pelican
Female Duck
Great Blue Heron landing at my launch site!
He decided to go down to the water.
Great Blue Heron.
Close up of Great Blue Heron on the wing.

Thursday May 12, 64° sunny, beautiful day.

Dawn
So many mullet were jumping I decided to try to get a photo, and here it is!
And another mullet jumping! It seems that no one knows why they jump, I think that they must have a floatation sac they are refilling...but who knows??
And another mullet!
A dolphin came to Allan's dock and he got some great shotos of it!
Dolphin chasing his breakfast.
Pelican at dawn flying overhead.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in searc of breakfast.
Detail of Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned.
One of four Yellow Crowned I saw this morning.
Osprey
Dove
Great Blue Heron
Egret Preening.
The ducklings are growing up. The two on the left have joined the rest of the flock/
The first Cormorant I have seen in a while!
Detail of the Cormorant.

Wednesday May 11, 2022 – 64° sweatshirt weather! Light breeze, sunny.

Dawn
Yellow Crowned Night Heron looking quizzical!
Yellow Crowned.
I saw 6 Yellow Crowned Night Herons this morning.
Spotted Sandpiper.
Osprey
Little Blue Heron.
Little Blue.
Juvenile Ibis
Adult and Juvenile Ibis
Laughing Gull.
Great Blue Heron.
Great Blue.
Ducks
Duck
Three Cormorants flying over.

May 9, 2022, 72° – cooler, 5 mph breeze, sunny.

Dawn
Swallow, one of many building nests nearby.
Large Raven.
Doves on the oyster bar.
Osprey carrying a huge fish!
Egret flying by.
Two Canada Geese flying by.
Ibis up in the mangroves.
Ibis

May 8, 2022, 74° slight breeze, sunny.

Pelicans on their daily overflight.
Osprey watching..
Dad, mom, and three ducklings.
Mom and three ducklings...photobombed by a Tri-colored Heron I did not see!
More ducklings.
Two caretakers and eight ducklings.
Great Blue displaying.
G.reat Blue Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned
Yellow Crowned
Forth Yellow Crowned Night Heron I saw this morning.
Monarch Butterfly in my garden - one of several.
Monarch Butterfly on milkweed.

May 6, 2022. 74° some clouds, slight breeze out of the SE.

Dawn - some clouds.
Detail of the Great Blue Heron.
Fancy top of pilings.
Eight ducklings.
Yearling assigned to take care of ducklings.
Osprey on his branch.
Juvenile Little Blue.

Cinco de Mayo 2022.  74° no wind, a light breeze.
Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

Dawn
A Blue Jay showed up!
A Spotter Sandpiper.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Little Green Heron.
Detail of the Little Green Heron.
Little Green Heron on the oysters growing on the seawall.
Little Blue Heron searching for breakfast.
Little Blue detail.
Little Blue fishing.
Male Duck
Mom and three ducklings.
Male Duck
Mom and three ducklings,
Great Blue Heron "hiding".
Great Blue Heron.
Great Egret
Great Egret

Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Another beautiful day, 74° light winds, sunny.

The route I ususally take, 3 miles paddling.
About dawn.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in the path I use to launch my kayak.
Juvenile Little Blue
Little Blue with breakfast of crab.
Little Blue Heron
Juvenile Little Blue.
Spotted Sandpiper.
Osprey
Osprey on his perch.
Great Blue Heron.

Monday May 2, 2022. 72° no wind, sunny.

Dawn
Juvenile Little Blue.
At dawn this dove, a Little Blue, and a Yellow Crowned Night Heron were at the oyster bar.
A little Green Heron flitting around.
Little Green climbing along the oysters on the seawall.
Female Duck.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Spotted Sandpiper
Juvenile Little Blue. He has taken to stand on our trimmed mangroves where he finds lizards and stuff to eat.
Juvenile Ibis, has not lost all of his brown feathers yet. He will be all white in a year or so.

Sunday May 1, 2022. 72°, no wind to start, light breeze upon return.

Dawn
Spotted Sandpiper
Osprey standing guard.
Little Green Heron.
Detail of Little Green
Snowy eating clam for breakfast.
Profile of Snowy, known by its yellow feet..
Great Blue Heron
Detail of Great Blue.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Detail of Little Blue.
Gallinule
Three baby ducks left.
Black Crowned Night Heron.
Detail of Black Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.