Wood Duck, clarity's best moment

Wood Duck drake, spring

Wildewood Springs, Bradenton, FL

A colorful Wood Duck drake

in a one-foot balance on a weather-worn piece of driftwood

a drought allowing its view and perch,

a cloudless sky with sunrise light at clarity's best moment.

I took its photo.

Ten minutes later, everything changed.

Bird flew.

Morning light brightened.

I turned and looked elsewhere.

Like a rainbow, drake here and then gone.

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.

Annoyed and annoying birds, an example

American Fish Crows, Great Blue Heron, Thursday, May 19, 2022

I didn't see the cause of the commotion, but two fish crows dove-bombed a Great Blue Heron for about a half hour. Raucous and determined, the message was probably about staying away from their nest. These majestic herons are known to eat the eggs of other birds.

I have read that sometimes crows will harass a Great Blue to cause a release of a caught fish. But, there are two crow nests nearby, so it was probably about protection. They were so loud that a raccoon came out to see what was happening.

This post is a reminder that birds continue to nest in Wildewood Springs. Marc Holtsberg photographed a female Wood Duck returning to one of the nesting boxes in Springlakes. 

Step outside for 5 minutes, let me know what you see

Wood Duck male and female, checking out the nesting box behind Steve Rumpf's place

I stepped out the back door to see what I could see. 

In a short five minute span of time, I saw wildlife. First, Eastern Gray Squirrel is known as nature's tree planter since it caches acorns and then forgets where they all are.

A Tri-Colored Heron. Are you thinking, "Hey, is that a Tri or Little Blue Heron?" Look here and learn how to distinguish the two herons. Clue - it's in the beak and breast colors.

Anhinga is around most days. While spring cleaning in the pollinator garden, it rained lightly for about a half hour. Before flying to the Southern Live Oak across from us in Woodlawn, Anhinga sat on the black pond ring that suspends the irrigation pipe that draws water for our neighborhood. 

Before dawn, I hear this sound (click listen here) and was able to identify anhinga who was also awake.

Across the pond, I saw a Great Blue Heron practicing choosing material for a nest. 

That's a pretty amazing twig, Great Blue Heron.

Heron dropped the twig, now fascinated with an array of choices.

A Red-Shoulder Hawk landed briefly. 

As my five minute break ended, I looked for the Florida Mottled Duck pair nesting in the wild area of the butterfly garden. I noticed a nest there every spring for the last few years. Often a Mallard-mix duck hangs with this pair. I look forward to ducklings. 

Last, as if in a call out that it's not always birds, birds, birds, an otter says hello.

PS.  I wish I had photos of the Barred Owls I hear most mornings. They are here in WS2A! I take that as good reporting on our incredible habitat. Joel Sartore's photograph from Instagram and informative encouragement: 

Devoted Muscovey Duck?

Muscovey Duck, female

My husband said, "What a strange photograph." 

Fitting, I thought. This is a strange scenario.

Early most mornings, I head to the butterfly garden. Adjacent to it is a feral female Muscovey Duck sitting in the crotch of a tree. So I also say hello to her. She's sitting on one egg. See?

(If you wonder how I got a photo, I moved the nearby bench next to the tree trunk, stood on it and held my camera high.)

One egg? Hmmm. Most clutches are 8 - 15 eggs. Is this what is called a good egg?!

The mama duck first cleared out the orchid plants we had placed there. (No problem. Pineneedle has placed almost 50 orchids in trees, so a couple for a hoped for duckling seems fair.)

Some days she's as curious about me as I am about her.

Incubation is 30-31 days. This is day 47, at least.

Such a devoted mama. Yet, I'm wondering about what devotion means within a false view. Just like those 20-some eggs dumped by multiple Wood Duck females in a nesting box, it appears this egg is not fertile.

Pink toes, fledglings, those Wood Ducks, and an Armadillo

Juvenile Wood Stork, sitting under an Oak tree in Pineneedle, 7.17.21

When the Anhinga pair left the nest it built overhanging the pond, I wondered where they went. And then a few days ago (today is 7.19.21) when I saw this Anhinga in breeding plumage, I imagined it was one of them checking the nesting box.

Join the checking-out-the-box crowd, I thought. After days without a hen in sight, Steve found the box filled with over 18 eggs dumped by multiple hens. Fooled me. Not being able to distinguish one hen from another, I thought incubation was a go. I faithfully watched imagining the vigilant hens were tending ducklings in the becoming process. 

 

While waiting these last weeks, Wood Stork juveniles hung out. One napped.

Lately I've seen many young ones in the neighborhood. 

Two Yellow-Crowned Night Heron juveniles looking quite adult-like.

Red-bellied Woodpecker fledges learning to hunt for insects with an adult.

Mockingbird fledges exploring a Pineneedle butterfly garden.

Green Heron looking right and left in a salsa dance way.

A monarch newly emerging from a chrysalis's in the Holtsberg's butterfly garden (Springlakes).

I met Rose Marie from Oak Village as we observed a large Florida Snapping Turtle. She told me how someone driving by said, "Get that turtle out of the street." Rose Marie said she didn't know the turtle species here and decided to let the turtle cross the road. Wise thinking. 

Then Gail said hello and shared photographs of Armadillos. I used to see Armadillos all the time. This is the first time I've heard of a sighting here in Wildewood. This one is looking for ants, their favorite food. Here are five reasons they're awesome.