YCNH Part 8, widening our circles

Image: Night-heron chick fly-claws its way back up the approximate 30 feet to the nest. 

“The problem with the world is that we draw the circle of our family too small.” – Mother Teresa

I watch night-heron chick leave its safety zone circle to fly-hop down the tree to the ground. 

Chick looks around for a long while. 

It notices a vociferous Mocking Bird.

It looks under the nest for any fallen crab bits.

After 5 minutes, chick walks with deliberation. What caught its eye? The bright red Penta flowers that butterflies like?

No! A drink.

A sibling is curious about what's happening.

Another seems as intrigued from the coziness of their nest.

After the drink and a gaze at a nearby pond, the chick walks toward the tree with its nest. 

Chick looks up to mark the place it's going, probably just like any climber free-soloing.

I click click click as chick starts to move. I wonder how chick will get back up to the nest. 

In this peeking out photo, chick is about 10 feet off the ground. 

If I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it. Chick uses a spider-man tactic—it walks up the tree with the help of flapping. 

It's super-powerish. 

That is chick walking between trees. 

There you have it. 

Chick is getting close to the nest. "Why hello, you're quite the hop-flyer," says sibling.

The exploring chick pauses and does this shake. Can it be an encouragement to the sibling? "Hey, go see the world, buddy!"

The nest. 

Time to rest.

Night-heron chick inspires me to enlarge my life, my view, and what I consider my family circle. That means being open and able to listen to others' ideas unlike mine and be with challenging situations beyond my comfort zone. I’ll need to adopt chick’s utter-awe, let's-learn-something attitude. Fearless exploration.

I’m reaching for the stars on this one. It’ll take practice and courage.

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck family in the neighborhood

I decided to carry my camera on a walk this morning. I'm glad I did. At first glance, I thought the bird was a Lesser Scaup. I even chatted with neighbor Pat about it on my way home. But no. This is a  Black-Bellied Whistling Duck.

I first noticed them in the pond and wondered, is that a family? 

Before coming ashore, they bathed.

With a better look, I narrowed it down to a pair of Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks with chicks or with Frivolous Whistling Ducks. So I asked the talented birders in a bird ID group.

They are a Black-Bellied Whistling Duck family!

Those beautiful blue bills made me think, 'Could they be Frivolous Whistling Ducks' hanging out with that Black-Black Bellied pair?. But no, they are chicks.

Another clue was the pair stood, eyes open, while the chicks slept. The chicks plopped on the ground and they were out!

The pair seemed to be chatting while the chicks slept.

Here are some facts about this bird from the Audubon website.

And, if you want to listen to their call, it really does sound like a whistle. Listen here on All About Birds: 

A soft, high whistle with a long first note and several following notes. They give this call in flight, while standing, or while swimming. They also make a chit-chit-chit in flight or a yip when taking flight.

Though they are called ducks, they "more resemble geese and swans." 

The whistling-ducks were formerly known as tree-ducks, but only a few, such as the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck actually perch or nest in trees. They look most like ducks, but their lack of sexual dimorphism, relatively long-term pair bonds, and lack of complex pair-forming behavior more resembles geese and swans. (More HERE.)

Posted 10/4/18 

 

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron - hatched chick!

Yellow-crowned Night Heron, chick. May 16, 2018

So, Lori gave me a brand-new green bike. This one.

I rode it to check on the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron nests to see how the 4 mamas were doing.  When I looked up, I noticed one mama sitting high in the nest. This is what I saw today, May 16.

Then I noticed a yellow area and my camera saw this.

This is mom and dad when they were nest building (March 20, 2018).

More soon. So many babies in the neighborhood!

NOTE:

When I came home, a Suwanee River Cooter Turtle was laying eggs in the garden next to the sidewalk by our unit. I counted 6 eggs. She spent a lot of time patting the soil and covering it with the pine bark nuggets. A crow noticed and tried to dig them up, but we placed a heavy tile over it to protect the eggs.  Average incubation is 86 days. Look!

Red-shouldered hawk chicks in the neighborhood

So that last post of Winnie the Pooh wisdom about having to let one story end so the next one can begin...

Well, a new story, I mean chick. 

I looked up on an early morning walk and in a big nest is this fluffy darling. It's a red-shouldered hawk chick. I took the photo about 7:00 AM. Both of us looking at the great rising sun.

A couple days later, guess what? My camera found that the chick has a sibling.

The chicks focus is up and out. Looking for mama red-shouldered hawk to bring a meal.

The adult has a good view for food from this Norfolk Pine tree.

And look! She swooped and returned with this for the chick.

Tonight (May 3, 2018), the chicks were standing on the edge of the nest waiting for the adult.

And, it won't be long before they fledge to hunt on their own. 

As I walked home, I noticed the adult perched on a resident's unit. And then, fruition. A "trip to the grocery store" in bird habit. I believe this is a small corn snake. A delectable treat for the chicks.

Something I like about living in Wildewood is the protected habitat that allows the cycle of life to work for all living things.

NOTE 
(This is the first photo I took of the red-shouldered adult incubating this nest. I confirmed the species by a birding ID group.)