Great Egrets are stunning birds, especially when they’re in breeding plumage. Although I often see them where I live, I was able to approach them much more closely in the Orlando Wetlands this past February. Those sharp toes make the perfect neck scratcher.
There aren’t many pink birds in the world. This Roseate Spoonbill just finished bathing and is preening its pink feathers, the color of which it gets from the foods it eats, like Crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates that contain pigments called carotenoids that help turn their feathers pink.
They never really left, but I haven’t seen the Ferrari Pond Coyotes for a few weeks between missing some morning walks and the area being groomed by herds of goats. Yesterday I saw four of the five pups, Mom, and one juvenile from last year. The pups are growing and playing and romping. I’m not certain if this is Mom or one of the juveniles from last year. I followed as it headed in the direction of the Salt Pond anticipating that it would emerge on the other side of the trail and cross the Salt Pond. A change of mind, one last glance, and it disappeared from view.
In Ecuador this past April I was blown away by the Tanagers. Every day it seemed we were introduced to yet another stunningly colorful species of Tanager. On our first day, we met this gorgeous cinnamon colored Tanager and I was struck by its beauty, never having seen a bird that color before. I was stunned to discover that it was the female White-lined Tanager, not the male. It was a couple of days before I saw the plain black male. The bird gets its common name from a thin white line that is usually only visible on the shoulder of the male’s wing in flight. However, its Latin name, Tachyphonus rufus, is named for the gorgeous rufous female. Go figure!
A Western Bluebird zeroes in on a landing stick, laid bare by the goats brought in to clear the brush along the Ferrari Pond Trail. I hadn’t seen the Bluebirds in a while along the trail and there were two there yesterday morning, both vying for the same bare perch which was about the only thing left standing.
Snowy Egrets are fun to watch as they move slowly and suddenly plunge their heads into the water, sometimes emerging with dinner but in this attempt yesterday morning at the Salt Pond, the Egret came up with nothing.
The gorgeous rust color of the breeding American Avocets is starting to fade away to dull gray as breeding season ends.
What appears to be an empty gallery, with its shiny floors, waits to be filled. Yes, I’m venturing outside my comfort zone. Yesterday, I attended a class on Intentional Camera Movement taught by Cokie Lepinski, an accomplished and very creative photographer who is a member of the Lincoln Hills Photography Club. Mid class we were all sent out to try our hand at ICM but at midafternoon it was a blistering 103° outside so we basically stuck to the hallway by the meeting room to find inspiration. This was my favorite shot. I used my Nikkor Z24-70II lens with a 2 second exposure, zooming the lens out during the 2 seconds. I neglected to take a still shot for comparison so I’ll leave it to your imagination what my subject was.
After watching the White-faced Ibis on their nests in Woodland recently, I was reminded of the photographs I took at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Florida last year of Glossy Ibis in breeding plumage. They are gorgeous.
Bucky Beaver was at Angler’s Cove early yesterday morning but it looks like he needed to “brusha, brusha, brusha, with Ipana Toothpaste.” A sprig of Azola was clinging to his lips as he paddled around the pond. If that jingle doesn’t immediately start playing over in your head, you didn’t grow up in the fifties or you haven’t seen Grease!
An American White Pelican floats in Ferrari Pond in early morning light.
Red eye is not a problem when photographing a Black-crowned Night Heron. Its eyes are already bright red. No Photoshop required.
You might think, “no buts about it” but I say “Yes, butts about it!” I know that “butt” shots are considered rude, but I just had to share this. A squadron of American White Pelicans flew into Ferrari Pond yesterday morning. They hunt as a group, forming a semi circle or short line and move together in the water herding fish. They dip into the water in unison, scooping their prey up along with gallons of water, raising their butts in the air as they scoop. I tried to get all of them together with their butts raised at once but they were out of sync.
If ever a bird had a smug look, it’s this male Ruddy Duck. He’s probably thinking, “I’m so cool, I’ll bet you wish you had a blue beak!”
White-faced Ibis nests filled the stands of cattails that grow along the edge of the main pond at the Woodland-Davis Water Treatment facility. I didn’t count but there had to be at least twenty nests distributed through the cattails. And the chicks were begging to be fed. It was fascinating to watch the long-billed chicks and the longer-billed adult coordinating their beaks. The chicks in the nests were at varying stages of development. These chicks were among the older and larger chicks that we watched. The pin feathers are clearly visible under the wing of the chick on the left.
I visited the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Treatment Facility a couple of days ago. What got my immediate attention when we arrived was the loud and constant calling of the Black-necked Stilts. I see stilts all the time in Lincoln and they forage in the Salt Pond without making a sound. At the treatment plant, however, they have young. We saw two pairs of young Stilts, one pair younger than the other and as long as the young were out in the open (and even after they disappeared from our view) both sets of parents were in the air and calling loudly, swooping over the pond and even dive-bombing unsuspecting ducks that were deemed to be too close to their young.
Some of the Snowy Egrets at the Salt Pond are still sporting breeding plumage and acting aggressively toward other Snowy Egrets and whatever it is they might be stabbing at under the water.
Fisherman like to protect their prime fishing spots and apparently, Snowy Egrets are no exception. While I was shooting American Avocets the other day at the Salt Pond, I kept hearing the sound of what turned out to be a squabble between two Snowy Egrets. I’m not certain what the transgression really was but, as depicted in the first image, Snowy Egret Number 1 noticed something amiss and took to wing to settle the problem. The wing of Snowy Egret Number 2 is just visible in the lower left corner of the first image. The squabble continued during several set-tos between the two birds. Snowy Egret Number 1 was clearly annoyed with Snowy Egret Number 2 and was still obviously annoyed in the final image watching the interloper flee.
A Snowy Egret flies low over the Salt Pond to move a short distance to what seemed to be a more desirable foraging location.
After I missed several days walking the Ferrari Pond Trail, upon my return, I noticed that the Salt Pond, which was almost completely devoid of birds a week or so ago, is filled with Egrets, Stilts, and American Avocets. At least three American Avocets are back, slightly less colorful than earlier in the season after losing some of their breeding plumage color but back to foraging in the shallow waters of the Salt Pond. The Avocet caught something and this is the first time I’ve actually captured something it caught in its bill. I have no idea what it is but I’m sure it was a tasty breakfast morsel.