In Focus Daily

When I looked up at the Moon the other morning, I realized that Artemis II had just returned from the dark side and was beginning its return journey back to Earth. I like to think that somewhere in this photograph, the Artemis is heading toward me. Artemis will splash down off the California coast this afternoon. I think it is exciting that we are finally returning to the Moon after more than fifty years. The Space Race was such an important part of everyone’s lives in the late 1950’s and throughout the 1960’s with milestones achieved by both the USA and the USSR making household names of astronauts and cosmonauts. Now, after a lengthy hiatus, we are back in the quest for the Moon. The Artemis Astronauts suggested a name for one of the previously unnamed craters, with Canadian Astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen saying, “It’s a bright spot on the moon … and we would like to call it Carroll,” in honor of the late wife of NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission. I like the idea of having a crater named Carroll.

Most mornings along the Ferrari Pond Trail, I can hear the Marsh Wrens calling. But they are small and they can easily conceal themselves deep in the cattails and reeds. The other morning, this little one was vocalizing right at the edge of the trail and it was surprisingly visible although sometimes a reed covered its face. I thought the cattail seedling that is stuck to its head was quite charming.

There has been excitement and anticipation by the regulars at the Salt Pond this week because we have finally seen a pair of American Avocets there. Last year, the pair (could it be the same pair?) had an exposed nest that was destroyed before they produced a brood. Yesterday morning, three of us witnessed the pair mating. Until then, we’d only seen them separately on the pond and weren’t even sure there was a male and a female. The funny thing is that the female was ready and waiting patiently for the male to do something. She was standing still with her head down while the male seemed clueless at first, standing near her but not doing anything. He finally waded around her and in the first image, seems to be expressing some interest. Then, in the second image, he mounted her and finally, they strolled away, heads together. Ahhh. Avocet amore.

In a couple weeks, I’m heading to Ecuador to photograph hummingbirds. There are at least 132 species of hummingbirds there. I’m looking forward to photographing lots of new species there. In the mean time, I’m practicing. On Easter morning, I went to my friend Truman’s home hoping to photograph Anna’s, Black-chinned, Calliope, and Rufous Hummingbirds, all species he’s spotted at his backyard feeders in the past couple of days. Neither the Black-chinned nor the Calliope showed up while I was there but lots of Anna’s and this male and a female Rufous were there so I was happy. I had a chance to make sure my hummingbird rig was ready for the trip to Ecuador and that everything was working as expected. It does take practice, after all.

A Say’s Phoebe fluffs its feathers in the early morning chill. This Phoebe seems to like the rotting, moss-covered fence post near the Salt Pond as a lookout for flies. I see it there most mornings. I’m assuming it’s the same bird. We seem to have lots of regulars of different species that hang out near the Salt Pond.

Yesterday morning there were more than a dozen adult California Quail on the Ferrari Pond Trail. They were feeding along the edges of the trail, and as I approached, they didn’t fly off but rather moved further down the trail, nibbling as they went. I finally got too close for their comfort and they flew off into the brambles. On my way back, when they were no longer backlit, I captured this male taking one last bite before he flew off.

What’s in a name? This is a California wildflower that is commonly known as Blue Dick. Enough said. It’s also called Wild Hyacinth. I took this the other morning on an outing of the Lincoln Hills Photo Club’s Nikon Users Group to nearby Coyote Pond Park.

A female Snail Kite glides low over Florida’s Lake Kissemmee looking for a perch on which to land and devour the Apple Snail she had just snatched from the shallow water. She’s clutching the snail in one of her talons, hidden by the right wing as she banks to a landing.

The other day I posted a photograph of a male Cinnamon Teal swimming in the Salt Pond surrounded with ripples of water that reflected the colors of the sky and the reeds and grasses nearby, making it look like it was swimming in a psychedelic pool. A pair of Cinnamon Teal has moved to a smaller shallow pond presumably to make a nest and I photographed the male resting in the non-psychedelic pool.

Yesterday, I finally took possession of my brand new Nikkor Z70-200 f/2.8 SII lens after FedEx modified its journey to me from Bedford Camera and Video in Arkansas. It is faster and lighter than my old Z70-200 lens and it has an Arca Swiss foot, a welcome addition for Nikon lenses. It was late afternoon when I opened the box and I decided that the best subject available to me at that time was the lavender plant in a pot on my patio which looked beautiful with the saturated light created by the thin overcast. The honey bees swarming the plant were a welcome addition. I love the 70-200 lens, especially for landscape and I suppose one could argue that the lavender plant is a mini landscape, complete with wildlife. This is a shot taken at 200mm at its minimum focusing distance of slightly more than two and a half feet.

A pair of Northern Harriers is frequenting a marshy area along the Ferrari Pond Trail. Prior to 1982, Northern Harriers were called Marsh Hawks. In that year, the American Ornithologists Union decided to change the name officially to Northern Harrier. Marsh Hawk is the name I first knew for this bird because I had an out-dated edition of the Peterson Field Guide so that name usually comes to my mind first when I see one. Yesterday morning, I noticed the male sitting on a weathered fence post. After taking some shots while he preened, I was ready when he exploded into flight and captured a few flight images before he turned away, trying to avoid the attacks of a much smaller Red-winged Blackbird that was escorting him away from the Blackbird’s territory.

The Red-tailed Hawk that has been a consistent visitor to the Ferrari Pond Trail consumed what appeared to be a vole yesterday morning. The hawk was on a post close to the trail. It has become pretty acclimated to people walking along the trail and to the photographers who stop to photograph it when it is perched nearby or eating. Yesterday, we stopped and watched, then approached closer. The hawk was not bothered by our presence and although it stopped to look up as if to say, “don’t even think about it” (as if we might want to steal its prey) it continued eating, apparently unconcerned. Something fell off the stump into the grass below and the hawk jumped down to find it then flew to another nearby stump to finish what it found and we left it there, still eating.

Yesterday morning, while out on a bird walk with the local Birding Group, my friend Truman called to tell me that the Rufous Hummingbird, a photo of which he’d shared with me the day before, was visiting his backyard feeders. Most of the few birds we’d seen so far that morning were far away and even viewed through the spotting scope they were microdots. I excused myself from the group and drove to Truman’s house just a couple of miles away. Within the first ten minutes of arriving I’d photographed Western Bluebirds, White-crowned Sparrows, Lesser Goldfinches, Black Phoebes, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and Bewick’s Wrens. And, as if on schedule, not one, but two adult male Rufous Hummingbirds made their presence known, bullying the Anna’s Hummingbirds and claiming dominance over the feeders. One watched from a high perch near the feeders and one watched from a lower perch in a nearby Olive Tree. All in all, it was a great morning for birding.

The water looks like a tie-dyed tee shirt from the sixties and the Cinnamon Teal’s bright red eye makes it look like it might have dabbled in the psychedelic waters a little too long.

It looked to me like the Black-crowned Night Heron was drinking water from the pond at Angler’s Cove. I was wrong. It was bill vibrating, a type of behavior in which the heron opens and closes its beak beneath the surface of the water as a way to lure fish. The warm weather and bright sunshine here have helped the Azolla expand across the water obscuring what’s under the surface. I’m guessing that the Heron decided that bill vibrating would be the most effective way to get its breakfast when it was difficult to see what was beneath the surface because of the invasive plant floating on top.

One early morning on Lake Kissimmee in Florida last week, we watched a female Snail Kite snatching an Apple Snail from the shallow waters of the lake. She is almost a complete silhouette against the morning sunrise that turned the surface of the lake a shimmery silver. A trail of water cascades off the snail that she will soon consume.

Another turtle?? Saturday was my first day back after being gone for a week and the sun was just rising above the horizon, dissipating the tule fog the clung to the water’s surface when I got to the Salt Pond. I spotted a Coyote that crossed the pond and disappeared into the tall reeds. In a couple of minutes, a Coyote (not sure if it was the same one) emerged from the reeds clenching a turtle in its jaws. I found that to be fascinating as this is the second turtle I’d seen being consumed in just a couple of days. Just this past Thursday I watched a Snail Kite in Florida trying to consume a small turtle and now, this Coyote was carrying its prize off. Turtles seem to make hard work for whichever critter decides to take one on. I wonder if it’s worth the effort?

Sunshine on Lake Kissimmee was welcome on our last morning on the lake. Finally, I was able to capture Snail Kites hunting, in this case, a female Snail Kite. They glide slow and low over the shallow waters of the lake looking for Apple Snails.

An American Bittern stands still, a silent sentinel in the yellow pond lilies surrounding it on Lake Kissimmee. It took me a while to see it after everyone else on our airboat had focused their lenses on it. I would like to say that the Bittern’s excellent ability to camouflage as it stretches tall and sways with the reeds was what kept me from seeing it right next to our stopped airboat. Sadly for me, that was not the case and Moose went above and beyond, tapping me on the shoulder, and pointing numerous times in the direction of the bird when I continued to peer cluelessly into the lilies. If he lost patience with my inability to locate the bird, he didn’t show it. Rather, he persisted, losing his own precious shooting time to make sure I finally saw it. And, finally, I, too, got the shot! Thank you, Moose.

Snail Kites are an endangered species and their highly specialized diet consists exclusively of fresh water Apple Snails including both native Florida Apple Snails and a much larger, invasive Apple Snail species. At least I thought that was their exclusive diet until the other day. We encountered a female Snail Kite attempting to extricate a small freshwater turtle from its shell. She struggled with it for quite some time. It is fascinating to note that with the introduction of the large invasive snail, the slender, highly specialized bills of the Snail Kites have actually evolved in a couple of decades to enable them to consume the larger snails. The turtle and its shell are very different from the snail and the Kite was not having an easy time separating the turtle from its shell. I wonder if their bills will evolve again for this specialized meal. I hear it tastes like chicken.