Neighbors sharing!

American Bald Eagle, this gorgeous photograph - credit Marc Holtzberg

The mission of this website is to encourage appreciation of the flora and fauna around us as a way to delight and inspire care for the habitat we share. Neighbors do delight and send me photos of bird and wildlife sightings. I'm sharing a few of them with you. 

Look, a warbler! Wilma said, "This little bird appears many mornings, eating the insects on our screens. What is it?" We referred to our bird books and e-bird app and confirmed it was a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Look at this photo taken by Marc Holtzberg of a Bald Eagle soaring near the pond.

Betsy looked out the window from Pineneedle towards Woodlawn and saw 2 River Otters scurrying along.

Niece Kristen who lives in Chico, California sent a photo of this darling Ruby-crowned Kinglet looking in from her front door. 

Our curiosity and interest ripples!

Day after Ian, Beth Price's photographs of birds in WWS

Chestnut-sided Warbler, Beth Price, photographer, WWS, September 30, 2022

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Bird photographer, Beth Price, was here in Wildewood Springs photographing birds immediately after Hurricane Ian passed. Most of these sightings were made in Woodlawn, just off the Oak Street wood walkway where there is a lot of natural woodland growth by the pool. She identified 35 bird species in about 2 hours.

Here are a few of those 35: a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

A cool fact about the Yellow-billed Cuckoo - it is one of the few birds who eats hairy caterpillars, for example feasting on 100 tent caterpillars at a time. Links are included in this post to learn more about these migrators.

Beth also shared these photos of Wood Storks resting after the storm.

This next photo is of a female Black-Throated Blue Warbler. Where is the blue? Look at the next photo.

A male Black-throated Blue Warbler

These two photos are of a Chestnut-sided Warbler which was a "lifer" for Beth. This means it was her first-ever sighting of this species.

This looks like a Halloween special bird. It's a male American Redstart.

This is a female American Redstart.

A Bald Eagle soaring above the big pond.

Many thanks to Beth for letting us see through her lens, and for giving permission to share these photos on Wildewood Wonders. 

Our actions affect others

Great Egret and its lunch - a rat! 7.3.22

Behind one of Pineneedle's butterfly gardens in the pond is a black ring*. In July last year, a Mallard hen took her chicks to practice climbing up and down the ring's edge.

A Wood Duck family did the same thing two years ago in July.

Other birds perch on the ring. An Anhingha swallows a caught fish. Cormorants dry their wings. Daily I look to see what's happening.

So I need to tell you that recently I noticed two deceased birds inside the ring: What's this Bird? said they were two Muscovy Ducks. I don't know what happened, but I thought they were poisoned since they were not visibly injured nor eaten by other wildlife. I did not retrieve and take them to Wildlife, Inc. for tests when I first saw them. They decomposed in the center of the ring. 

So, though I'm uncertain about the cause of death, this is another opportunity to share information about poisons and encourage using extra care around the use of pesticides, herbicides, and rat poisons.

Wildewood Springs HOAs disallow rat poisons because of their disruption to wildlife habitat and cycles, the cruel deaths to wildlife, and in the words of a vermin control specialist, "Poisons don't work." Vermin are best controlled by their predators. 

Besides Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons eat rats. It's a favorite food. If a rat has eaten rat poison, it dies slowly. If eaten by another animal, that animal dies, too. Fewer Great Blues and Great Egrets and Raptors = more rats.

Eagles like rats, too. 

Gail and Ed Straight of Wildlife, Inc. told us about the sick American Eagle they tried to save when it was found on the IMG golf course. 

Something the Wildewood Springs community does best - we share information that helps us maintain this rare and precious wetland habitat. Perhaps there are some wildlife we don't like, but we can enlarge our perspective to see that there is room for all of us. Even a need.

PS Great Egrets also eat fish, and strike elegant poses.

 * The black ring's purpose is to hold a pipe that draws water to irrigate Pineneedle's landscape. 

Early December 2021, sightings

Orchid Bee, in a Pineneedle butterfly garden.

This post is a collection of recent sightings in Wildewood. 

As I headed out for a walk this morning, Pat told me about the Barred Owl swooping over her to land on Nadia's courtyard wall. This week. A little later on the walk, Michael said he woke his wife to listen with him to two Barred Owls caterwauling in Springlakes. 

Daily I see warblers in the Laurel Oak canopy behind our place.

An early morning sunrise on a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. A male.

And a female.

In the same tree.

A Wood Stork and an American Fish Crow sharing a Norway Pine treetop. I knew it was a Fish Crow by its call.

A Red-Shouldered Hawk calling and calling. Tom was walking home from laps at the pool and heard it. I checked, and here hawk is:

Calling to who? I found them both here. Looks like it's find a mate season.

On Thanksgiving day, Marc Holtsberg sent this photo - an American Bald Eagle, taken in our neighborhood.

And, a few days ago, he photographed a juvenile American Bald Eagle in the Springlakes area off of Wildewood Drive. 

An Orchid Bee - a living jewel! 

On the big pond, a lot of Wood Storks following the rules. Looks like that Great Blue Heron has a mind of its own as it heads to the pond.

This is how some of our shell-back neighbors greet each other. Peninsula Cooters.

Birds are habitual. So, if you see a hummingbird at a particular place at a particular time of day, try again the next day. Chances are you'll get another sighting. This Osprey is on a Slash Pine branch many mornings I walk - I watch it leave to then grab a fish from the pond behind Tidewater.

Tricolored Heron, last of the molt. 

Eagles nesting in Wildewood? Marc's photographs.

Marc Holtsberg photographed an Eagle landing on top of a Norfolk Pine tree near the big pond this past week. Then he noticed that there were two.

If this is their nest, this is what we will not see - the downy chicks - until they old enough to lift up above the nest. Maybe Marc will get a photograph for us when that happens. Photographs of juvenile Eagles in Wildewood from past years here.

Earth Day, many of us looking out and up

Great Egret, 4.22.20. Earth Day. (SM Barrett)

"It is in you that you must look, not around you." – Eugene Delacroix. 

This quote is good guidance for Earth Day. I'm encouraged to explore my habits and see if they align with what I care about. I found it in award-winning scientist and brilliant teacher Hope Jahren's book, The Story of More. The book's message is to "use less, share more."

Such noticing. Marc Holtsberg took his camera on an early walk. Look what he saw. A pair of Osprey, likely from a neighborhood nest. (Marc's photograph)

Playful rascals - American River Otters. (Marc's photograph.)

Marc said that this family of 12 (!) departed the nest recently. (Marc's photograph.)

And, one of my favorite birds! A Limpkin. (If you haven't heard its call, you can find it in this link to All About Birds.) You'll never forget it. Thank you, Marc, for this photograph, especially.

From Wild Palm neighbor, Sandy, an invite to a Barred Owl cam. This is the type of family we hope finds our recently installed nesting box!

Pineneedle neighbor Walter Goodrich photographed from his window this American Bald Eagle cleaning up the leftovers of a too-much-fish-for-an Anhinga:

Here are some recent sights that caught my attention.

Has anyone else noticed how active the ducks are right now? This Mallard hen kept 3 males fast-waddling behind her, jumping, flying in circles, heading off into the Wedelia (laying eggs or what comes before?) She was vociferous!

A Red-Eared Slider Turtle took notice of the commotion.

This female Pileated Woodpecker checked out a Laurel Oak and maybe this Dendrobium Orchid. They are pretty delicious. (The orchid!) Have you tried one? Pineneedle's Grounds Committee has placed 35 orchids onto mostly oak trees for viewing, not eating.

(Yes, you can eat orchids and other flowers. Like Nasturtiums. Here is a photo of our dinner salad, nasturtium flower and leaves from our neighborhood Butterfly Garden.)

Here she is a few minutes later pausing in the Southern Live Oak behind Rosalie, Pat, and Betsy and Jim's. Let her inspire us to reflect on how fortunate we are to live in an Audubon Certified Wildlife area.

A Green Heron pair continues to nest. This is one of the two. Look for their activity at dusk.

Moonflower vine is one of the lovelies along Wildewood's border on 34th. I took this photo of a partly-prepared-for-weather blossom under the dim light of a soon-to-burst bluster of rain. Like sails unfurled it reminds me of a memorable wordless sail with a girlfriend in a boat her husband built.

Rounding the curve to our home, this airplane contrail (is that what you think this is?) seemed to be pointing out Wildewood, a wonderful place in the world.

UPDATE: Marc Holtsberg says that the contrail is from the rocket launch from Cape Canaveral yesterday afternoon. See the launch replay HERE.

Note - All photographs by others on Wildewood Wonders belong to the photographer named. Posted here with permission.