Wildewood Wonders: Lesser Scaup

Showing posts with label Lesser Scaup. Show all posts

Stepping outside to look up

Good, beautiful morning, about 7:00 am, 4/9/23 (Easter)

I begin the day by stepping outside to look up. I see this sky.

Often I walk and then sit down for at least 20 minutes. When I still and sit, I notice what's around me.

I heard someone say again, "There are no birds now." Maybe this was a comment about migration. The many different warblers that filled the oak behind our place have left. But, oh my goodness, there are birds.

10 Wood Duck ducklings a few days ago. I saw them leave a natural area and hop into the pond. Maybe this was their first day.

Saturday afternoon, 4/8/23 - there are 6 ducklings. A Little Blue Heron is in the foreground.

Female Downy Woodpecker, April 2023. Difference between Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers? HERE.

There are many ducks. Here is a Lesser Scaup, male.

Blue-winged Teal Duck, male and female (dabbling)

This (I think) Mallard female duck is going to get in trouble.

An Eagle flew overhead.

Susan Herman shared a photo of a soon-to-be Monarch chrysalis.

From the butterfly garden, I took a photo of a soon-to-be-born Monarch butterfly.

Behind Pat and Cathy's place, a Belted Kingfisher in the Southern Live Oak.

Cardinals are plentiful! A male portrait.

A female looking for Betty, or its male partner.

Yeah. She's looking for him. A male Cardinal looking back at that female.

Tri-Colored Heron, breeding plumage. This photo shows its neck. That is a good identifying clue.

The TCH used its wings to hop along the shallow water to catch fish.

It caught one!

A Brown Thrasher. Not as good a photo as Barb would get, though you get the idea.

Three male Wood Ducks, big pond.

Behind our place, a pair of Great Blue Herons. One in the water spray mist.

The other a distance away. They kept an eye on each other.

Keeping an eye on us. This curious juvenile Raccoon came down far enough to peek out over the yellow orchid blooms into our back window. Happy spring morning little masked-guy.

Brown Anole often checks us out, too. After all, we share a neighborhood and world.

Enjoy this beautiful day! Take a chair outside and sit in the shade. After 15 minutes, the birds will get used to your presence, and if you're like me, you'll wonder why you don't spend more time in nature. This wonderful photo was taken by Terry.

Walks to be with the wild

Great Blue Heron at the water's edge.

I'm reading Our Wild Calling by Richard Louv. It's byline is "how connecting with animals can transform our lives (and save theirs)." I immediately understand the premise and relate to the many stories about connecting with wildlife.

Walks in our precious neighborhood settle my mind. My breath and heart beat slow. Nature soothes. These photographs hardly match seeing and hearing the first cardinal's morning call or noticing the silhouette of a Wood Stork high in a Slash Pine near the pond waiting for what comes next. Still, I take these photographs to remember and show you with a hope that our joy and appreciation leads to care of this extraordinary habitat we all call home.

So, in the last week or so, here are a few things I saw.

Just rounding the corner of Pineneedle, I saw a Red-Shouldered Hawk looking for breakfast.

Flocks of American Widgeons on the big pond. Two males are followed by a female.

This pair, a mixed duck breed and an almost Mallard partner, familiar now to so many of us. Hello old friends.

Lesser Scaups on the big pond.

Not in our neighborhood yet not far away, I drove by the utilities pond on 53rd and noticed hundreds of birds.

I circled back to use my camera to get a closer look. Ducks, mostly Redhead, Shovelers, Scaup. And White Pelicans.

I was on my way home from an early beach walk where I had one of those incredible encounters - with a Brown Pelican.

I'm happy to have this memory. Terry took a photograph as I sat to enjoy Terns on Anna Maria Island near Pine Street.

Have you noticed the newly added limb to the Barred Owl Nesting box? I hear Barred Owls many mornings and hope so much they will find that spot just right to raise a family of owlets.

Last, a memory popped up on my screen. Last year at this time, a newly hatched small turtle at our front door. Grandson Gavin picked it up and took it to the pond.

Pre-Thanksgiving pond feast for birds

Tri-colored heron

Birds are feasting at the big pond!

A front passed through and it's breezy and cool. Here is the weather (from the forecast link in the sidebar).

When this happens, birds visit the large pond in numbers. I heard their delighted calls before I saw them.

Here is what made me pause. A Fish Crow's call.