In Focus Daily

It’s that time of year when baby birds are hatching. In Florida, the Great Egrets have nestlings; the Roseate Spoonbills have nestlings; and here at home, the Anna’s Hummingbirds have nestlings. I’m home from the Rookery at Orlando Wetlands and by now the chicks pictured above have probably doubled in size, but the Anna’s Hummingbird chicks (I think there are three in the nest) are a bit younger. Their eyes should be open any day and they’ll be ready to leave the nest 25 or 26 days after hatching so I’ll have a couple of weeks to watch them grow.

A little male Anna’s Hummingbird adds a spot of color to an otherwise drab morning at the Ferrari Pond Trail. Overcast skies and leafless trees have been the norm recently so seeing a bit of color, both with budding trees and an Anna’s colorful gorget, is a welcome sight.

March first was Coyote Day for me along the Ferrari Pond Trail. I saw three after not seeing them for months. I was chatting with Don and we were trying to identify a raptor flying in the distance and when we concluded that it was a Northern Harrier, I looked out and saw a lone Coyote trotting across the meadow. The first and the last images are of that Coyote. It was apparently following a scent that led it to something dead buried in the grasses. For about ten minutes, it rolled gleefully in the dead thing, repeatedly rising to shake, then returning to rub its face and body in the putrid remains. When it had had enough, it took off toward the Salt Pond. I walked up to the overlook for a better view and I saw a pair of Coyotes staring at me from the grasses. The first Coyote headed in their direction, then crossed the trail behind me and headed down to the Salt Pond, trotting through the shallow water toward the green grasses past the Salt Pond. I caught up to it briefly before it began mousing quite a distance away and disappeared into the reeds.

When it’s breeding season, the skin around the eye of the Anhinga, also known as the Snake Bird for its long, snake-like neck, turns a vibrant blue-green.

It’s hard to fathom that a bird over two feet tall can be camouflaged in the reeds and vegetation on the edge of a marsh, but if it weren’t for Roger’s sharp eyes, we wouldn’t have noticed this American Bittern standing perfectly still among the reeds. Even when it moved out of the vertical forest of reeds that kept it hidden in the midst of the Orlando Wetlands, its mottled feathers helped it blend into the vegetation.

Vultures, Cormorants, and Anhingas are often seen with wings spread open and their backs to the sun in a stance that helps them warm up, helps their wings to dry, and helps kill parasites on their feathers. This is called the horaltic pose and this Black Vulture offers a perfect example of that very pose. While I’ve witnessed this behavior often, with all three of these species, I didn’t know what it was called. Further sleuthing indicates that the term is possibly derived from the Egyptian god Horus, god of the sky, kingship, protection, and vengeance, and often depicted with the head of a Falcon with wings outspread.

A large Alligator lurked in the murky waters of a pond along the Bird Trail in Orlando Wetlands reminding me of that fifties horror flick, “Creature From the Black Lagoon.” The creature looked nothing like an Alligator and I don’t think the pond could be called a lagoon but that’s what came to my mind when I saw it.

The blackberry bramble beyond the Salt Pond always has lots of birds. This time of year, when there are no leaves, the birds are more visible except there are lots of angled canes that intertwine with sharp, hooked prickles that can obscure the view. Sometimes, I luck out and the birds land on an arching cane with a clean background. Yesterday morning, the rain was just starting when I arrived at the blackberry bramble. I found an Anna’s Hummingbird apparently upset and yelling at something. Nearby, a Northern Mockingbird was deciding where to fly next and a Song Sparrow was singing its heart out.

When I saw this image, the word that immediately came to mind was “whoopee!” To me it is a gleeful representation of the impossibly pink Roseate Spoonbill. There were several pairs of nesting Roseate Spoonbills in a rookery at the Orlando Wetlands and this bird had just left nest duty and was stretching its wings in an apparent show of relief and joy at being off duty for the time being. Of course, now the responsibilities are to find food and the an additional stick or two to build up the sides of the nest as the chicks grow but the bird can finally stretch its wings and move!

Great Egrets are big birds with a wingspan of about 5 feet. So, the other morning at Orlando Wetlands, I was surprised to see one maneuver expertly through what appeared to be a thick mass of reeds. Obviously, the opening was wide enough but from my point of view, it appeared that the bird pulled in its wings just enough to sneak through without disturbing the reeds.

The Wood Storks at Orlando Wetlands were building nests in the tall trees behind the Egret and Spoonbill rookery. While their nests were too far away to photograph, the Wood Storks did fly near us as they brought sticks to fortify their nests.

The Orlando Wetlands held lots of surprises from nesting Great Egrets, Sandhill Cranes, and Roseate Spoonbills to a resting Barred Owl! On our last morning at the Wetlands, we decided to take the Bird Loop. We passed a friendly birdwatcher who told us that a Barred Owl was perched on a willow tree down the trail so we ventured down and there he was in plain view, on his day roost in the midst of a twiggy tree.

Yesterday was our last day at Orlando Wetlands. What a marvelous experience it was. So many birds. So many photographic opportunities. On our morning walk, as we took the 2 mile Bird Loop, we came across a pair of Sandhill Cranes, constructing a nest just off the trail. We stood a respectful distance away from the pair, photographing their efforts when suddenly, both birds stopped what they were doing and walked up to the road near where we were standing and proceeded to cross the road. As they crossed, they approached us closely, seemingly unconcerned about our presence, and giving us a close encounter we did not expect. We backed away but they were so close I was still able to get some fun headshots of each bird.

I am utterly charmed by this Roseate Spoonbill pair at the Orlando Wetlands. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours photographing them. Their interactions are delightful to watch. Of course I’m looking at their relationship anthropomorphically but that is always a tempting way to relate to wild nature. Yesterday they worked together to upgrade their nest. In the first image they seem to be compromising about placement of the stick. In the second, it was sweet to see them working in tandem, both working to guide it into place. They did this while one of the birds continued to incubate the chicks. There are now 3 chicks that have hatched in the nest. Tomorrow is our last day at the Wetlands. I’m excited to see what tomorrow brings.

Yesterday was a great day to be at the Orlando Wetlands in Florida. The Rookery is filled with nesting Wood Storks, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and yes, those beautifully colored but homely Roseate Spoonbills. A Spoonbill nest there has one recently hatched chick and possibly unhatched eggs. As I watched, the nest’s adult pair of Roseate Spoonbills seemed to disagree about the placement of a large curved stick and each one separately and then together tried to maneuver the awkward stick to a place agreeable to both. Eventually, the stick either fell or was dropped out of the nest. After this lengthy exercise, the “exchange” took place. The sitting bird (male and female adults look the same) got off the nest and the flew off while the second bird settled onto the nest to continue incubating the hatched chick and any remaining eggs. The first Spoonbill flew a few yards to the an islet in the shallow pond beneath the rookery and proceeded to bathe enthusiastically for quite some time. It was a joy to share this experience with that uninhibited Spoonbill.

Yesterday, Merlin Bird ID said my bird of the day was the Glossy Ibis. That was not the case. My bird of the day was the Limpkin! The Limpkin is larger than an Ibis and looks similar in flight but the coloring is different and they apparently aren’t closely related. We had expected to start our Florida trip at the Orlando Wetlands which surprisingly (to us anyway) is closed on Mondays. Plan B took us to an area that was filled with Limpkins. And in the afternoon, we found more Limpkins. Limpkins eat primarily snails and small clams. In the second shot, the Limpkin has a small clam, complete with what appears to be nori to complement its sushi meal.

Saturday morning I arrived at the Ferrari Pond Trail just at sunrise. As I walked along the trail, I kept my eyes peeled so I wouldn’t miss anything in the dim light. As I looked from side to side, I noticed a dark shape on a rock. It was a Red-tailed Hawk and the hawk had just captured a vole. I watched and photographed for quite a while as the hawk consumed the unlucky creature. After it had consumed every morsel, the hawk flew to a nearby tree where it proceeded to strop its beak on a bare twig. It was fascinating to watch the entire process. This is the same young Red-tailed Hawk that has been frequenting the trail for a few weeks. When I moved closer, the hawk didn’t mind so I took quite a few head shots as the sun rose above the horizon. The sun, the clouds, and the horizon are all reflected in the hawk’s eye.

The other morning, Mr. and Mrs. Merganser were paddling around Angler’s Cove, disappearing briefly as they dove under water, then emerging again. Only the female Hooded Merganser had raised her crest. They swam in circles for a brief time, then turned and disappeared under the Ingram Parkway bridge. Last spring they had chicks. I’m looking forward to photographing their chicks here soon.

And, “you’ll never break, never break, never break, never break this heart of stone, oh, no, no, no.” So sang Mick Jagger in 1964. Sixty-two years later, a heart of stone appeared through the snow at The Brink of Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I could hear Mick’s voice singing in the back of my mind as I was photographing this ephemeral heart. Maybe you can’t break it, but you can melt it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The White-crowned Sparrows seem to be everywhere right now. They’re foraging in my backyard and spending time along the Ferrari Pond Trail. This one had a stare-down with my camera lens.