So, today, Sunday June 28, 2020.
An adult Green Heron takes off as if saying hello to Anhinga, a juvenile Green Heron (hello child?) and circles around behind Deb and Bob's, Judy's, Betty's, Sandy's, Selma's to head north via the perimeter of the Pineneedle/Woodlawn pond.
(See that blue blur? Yes, I know, that Green Heron sure looks blue, but here is a good example of how confounding it is to be a birder. Color dances to its own rhythm with light.)
That fly-by startled the juvenile Green Heron to follow the adult until they parted ways. See it camouflaged on the bleached branches?
Juvenile landed on the pond edge just east of the Woodlawn pool. The sun was bright.
I made a decision to watch the young bird through my lens until it left. The time was 8:27 AM. Green Heron was hungry. It began to hunt for what looked like snails in the water.
And then, it looked up. At first, I thought it saw a fellow GH inviting a fly-with-me. No! It was after flying insects. Here is a very blurry photo of a successful insect catch.
Two turtles, a Peninsula Cooter and a Florida Softshell watched as well. So much curiosity!
I practiced my best mountain pose (tadasana), sometimes realigning my stance and noticed my breath coming in and going out. A large-rimmed hat and cold neck scarf helped ease the hazy 90-degree heat that weather sites said felt like 105 due to the Saharan Dust wave.
258 photos later, at 9:38 AM, after one hour and eleven minutes, I set my camera down and took a seat. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. Soft attention on Green Heron. Blue Jays, an American Crow, then a Fish Crow called. Two Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, one on a tree, the other drummed on the Wood Duck box. A pair of Cardinals chirped as well as a Gnat Catcher. Then a Great Crested Flycatcher call, a tease to find it. But, I resisted and continued to watch Green Heron.
A little later, a neighbor pointed to the invasive Balsam Apple vine full of seed pods growing over the azalea bushes. Oh! I've noticed this vine growing madly in Wildewood now.
Curious about how long the bird would hunt, I didn't want to leave and I also wanted to pull the vines. I decided to take the Balsam vine cover off of the azaleas and every once in a while look over at bird.
(Pull this vine where ever you see it. It has a kudzu longing. It is rated as highly invasive to central and south FL. There is so much growing in Wildewood now, all hands are needed. UF link.)
A half-hour passed.
In the entire time, Heron walked a distance of about 20 feet.
Two hours, five minutes later, at 10:32 AM I photographed bird look and catch one last big butterfly or moth. Then it disappeared into the Papyrus plant for what I imagined was a nap.
