Wood Stork, November 2019. The big pond.
On a recent walk, I reconnected with Renee who lives in Oak Village. She asks, "What did you see today?"
I tell then ask, "What birds have visited you recently?"
"There is this Northern Cardinal that comes regularly. I sometimes think it is there to visit my parakeet."
This is a Northern Cardinal I photographed and now I wonder if it's the one that visits Renee's parakeet.
Later, I pass Faith who lives in Springlakes. She told me about a woman who has lived on a nearby street for fifty years (not in Wildewood or Springlakes) and remembers Wildewood Springs and Springlakes as a cow pasture. Plus, she raises monarchs. And then, Faith talked about the big pond and the birds we'll see.
Here are the birds I photographed since my last post.
Happy Cormorants! A group of cormorants has many collective nouns, including a "flight", "gulp", "rookery", "sunning", and "swim" of cormorants.
These two juvenile Wood Storks sat at the edge of the pond.
Then, ready to fish again, one stood up.
A Brown Pelican's gaze.
A Pied-bill Grebe catches a fish.
I eventually sat in an area of shade near the pond, though far enough away not to disturb the birds. Just like the birds, I took a breath and break. Soon, a rat-a-tat from above. A Pileated Woodpecker. I spotted this beauty by the flash of red. This is what I first saw.
I used a long-range lens to see how it twists and turns to find an insect lunch.
Busy, busy, busy. Seemingly hiding from my curiosity.
And then. I caught an in-between hop up the trunk.
Still busy.
And then, a pause.
An Osprey.
A Belted Kingfisher. Oh, that rattle call thrills me.
A Great Egret balances on a tree top.
On my walk home I see a Red-Shouldered Hawk in Wild Palm Village.
There!
Hello to Tom and Jeanne and a Northern Mocking Bird gets a drink in Woodlawn's pool.
A Mourning Dove. I can hear its call just looking at this photograph.
And then, right on the driveway near the Pineneedle mailboxes and newly planted bougainvillea, a Palm Warbler. It's a challenge to photograph them in the tree canopy. I'll be darn, right in front of me on the ground. With a caterpillar. That's how it goes.
A walk before sunset to check a pond near Sherwood where I often find Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. Many whistlers amongst other duck pals.
Posted 11/29/19
