Softly alert and open

 

Can you find the Tufted Titmouse? 

Birding takes a sauntering gait and widened peripheral vision. Funny, when I place gentle attention on my breath, I relax a bit. Enough to step into being with nature and open to what arises. When I hear a bird call, I stop and pause. I look out and up in the direction of the sound and wait for a flutter of movement. 

I heard this call. 

Then I sensed a flutter in a Sabal Palm. That photo shows the challenge of locating a tiny bird in the expanse of green we are so privileged to share with all wildlife. What an incredible place Wildewood is!

Titmouse flew to a Southern Live Oak. I saw one bird but heard reciprocation.

And then two! A pair flitting here and there, calling to each other. Getting these photos was lucky. (Today is March 17, 2023 - happy St. Patrick's Day!)

Here are other sightings of the Tufted Titmouse in our neighborhood.

All About Birds says that titmice often flock with chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. Nearby, this Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Recent visitors to the owl nesting box

Look! A Tufted Titmouse in the owl box.

Barb Reis has her eye (and camera lens) on the owl nesting box. All photographs on this post are hers .

The titmouse gathers wood chips from the floor of the nesting box. For a nest perhaps?

A Red-bellied Woodpecker, female. 

A pair of squirrels take cover after a rain.

A Great Crested Flycatcher in the owl box - is bird daydreaming?

And then...oh my goodness. We have been waiting for a Barred Owl to find the box!

In the lens: White Ibis, Blue-headed Vireo, Titmice, Yellow-Crowns

White Ibis

March 6, 2022

I took walks this weekend, so here is a showing of what I saw in the neighborhood. There are so many birds in the canopies, usually pairs. A sign that spring arrives soon.

Blue-headed Vireo (another photo from about this time last year)

Yellow-Crowned Night Herons, they're back! Courting and snuggling. Remember, that deep mustard color on the crown designates female.

Male Hairy Woodpecker

Pine Warbler

Northern Cardinal, male

Tufted Titmouse, actually a pair. Here's one of them.

They are fast!

A Male Red-Bellied Woodpecker enjoying the Bottlebrush Tree.

A Northern Mockingbird

Limpkins chasing each other, then building their nest in an untrimmed Sabal Palm. 

American Fish Crow

No photo, but walking home from the pool two nights ago, we saw and heard two Barred Owls caterwauling. Now, if they'd just choose that nesting box in Pineneedle to make a family.

On this day (April 2), I saw...

Spoonbill Roseate

What delightful temperatures today.

A front passed through lowering the temperature and giving us a late evening rain. March 2020 is on record for just a trace of rainfall (.01 inch, TPA International Airport). Plus it's on record as a hot March. Hot and dry means Florida Wildfire threats are in place. 

I headed over to the big pond and stood under the magnificent Slash Pine trees enjoying the cool breeze. Then this Wood Duck female and 8 chicks caught my eye.

Mama duck led her flock to feed on Papyrus growing at the water edge.

A Peninsula Cooter had its nose above water, floating in the late-afternoon sunshine.

A pair of Spoonbill Roseates flew in. 

The one with black and deep pink color is an adult. The other with lighter plumage coloring is younger. 

What was that? My eye caught movement in the pond. Oh! Hello, otter. 

Then, oh no. 

I saw otter go underwater and watched its telltale line of bubbles quickly head to the Papyrus plants. 

Since I can't fly, I sent my best uplifting thought to the Wood Duck family: stay awake, someone's hungry! As if telepathy worked, I witnessed a fast response. Mama Wood Duck called an alarm and flew just above the water towards the middle of the pond. Chicks followed demonstrating a remarkable ability to, what looked like, walk on water. Look.

One fell behind. 

I take photographs with a long-range lens so it wasn't until I got home that I realized a miracle. Or luck. All 8 chicks survived. I could have saved my tears.

Otters (there were two), kept going. 

Further upstream was what I believe is a Florida Mottled Duck female with chicks. I could not get a photo afterward to see how they fared. I didn't witness a fast swim away from this family.

Life is a good teacher and friend says Pema Chodron in her book, When Things Fall Apart, Heart Advice for Difficult Times. That book was a huge help to me years ago. Still is.

I continued a saunter around the pond. I heard, then saw, a Tufted Titmouse. See the rust orange bar under its wing? Dead giveaway for identification. That and a light grey coloring.

Next, a Pileated Woodpecker on a Southern Live Oak, the one we often see with strands of Spanish Moss waving in the breeze. I bet if Pileates voted, this might be their favorite tree.

This tree and woodpecker are near a row of Pineapple plants. All of them held soon to be mouth-watering delights for these neighbors.

I put my camera away for the rest of the walk except to check the Yellow-crowned Night Herons. A neighbor reported that they were not there. Ah. But they are. Low in the nest, just like us, they are settled in for about 6 weeks. They will alternate incubation responsibilities with their partner.

At dusk, I wanted another peek at the big pond. I noticed the Wood Duck family happily paddling, perhaps toward home for the night. 

We are in a stay-at-home order because of Covid-19. Walks are allowed. So, it is my hope that what is posted here brings smiles, even reminds us of how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful place at an extraordinary time.

On my walk, I saw...

I sat by the pond edge listening to this male Cardinal's call. It looked like his whole body lifted into song, a loop of love over and over and over. I thought of a dear friend with a medical challenge who continues to heal. There are so many people who love her that join in a similar song of spring's hope and new beginnings. And even those who don't know all that there is to love about her, well, they sing with us, too.

On my walk home, I saw a Brown Thrasher.

A Tufted Titmouse demonstrating the art of hanging from Spanish Moss, then poking around for insects in a Sabal Palm.

A Palm Warbler so fast that I was certain I would not be able to show you. But then look here. That's one for giving up certainty. When I showed my birding pals this photo, they were uncertain if the warbler was a Palm or a Yellow-throated.

So, I sent a lucky-for-me second photo! Quick as a click, the expert said, "See that rusty crown?" I did, which means this is a Palm Warbler.

In case you need to be reminded its spring, here is a crow gathering nesting material.

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker on a precious dead trunk left for the purpose of habitat for woodpeckers' food and nesting. Some villages in Wildewood allow this in the wilder areas.

And a Peninsula Cooter Turtle saying hello to a Glossy Ibis.

Last photo. A double take for me. How is this possible? A Great Egret walking on top of a tall bush. Would you call this a miracle?