Month: March 2023

As I watched the Northern Lights dance across the sky near Fairbanks, Alaska a couple of nights ago, I was grateful that it was 58 degrees warmer than when I last stood at this spot about fifteen months ago with the temperature hovering at negative 39 degrees. Of course the other night’s 19 degrees was not particularly warm, but when you’re watching a magical light show that ebbs and flows across the heavens in a colorful display of awesome beauty, you don’t think about the temperature outside, just the wondrous phenomenon before your eyes. We were treated to several hours of displays that constantly changed, dimming momentarily then reappearing brightly in colorful waves. The Northern Lights, what splendor to behold.

A Great Egret sports full breeding plumage, the plumes on its back extending beyond its tail and its lores have turned bright green at Audubon’s Venice Rookery in Florida in February. Great Egrets were building nests there along with lots of other species, including Great Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, and Anhingas. These birds look so elegant, with the curve of their necks and their plumes wafting in the breeze

After dashing back and forth through the surf in search of a tasty morsel, this little Sanderling took a moment to shake off the water drops, becoming a floof in so doing. Its ruffled feathers brought to my mind a charming Audubon Society article that describes the shape-shifting nature of birds, including the ability to floof. It ends with these words: “We can cage them for a time, but in the end, it’s always better to see them fly.” Or, in this case, to see them floof.

The Royal Terns were swooping over our heads, watching the water for something to dive in for. They often flew so close that it felt like we could reach out and touch them. This bird has an inquisitive look as if wondering why I was looking up instead of into the water where all the action was.

I love to watch Great Egrets in flight. They have such an elegant appearance and their slow wingbeats make them fun to photograph. I took this shot from the Fishing Bridge outside St. Petersburg, FL on the first afternoon of our adventure in Florida a couple of weeks ago.

Willets, one of the largest common shorebirds, are easy to spot feeding along the edge of the water. This Willet ventured into the water and braved the surf that washed around its feet at Fort De Soto in Florida a couple of weeks ago.

Sanderlings are determined little shorebirds. They move constantly and erratically, searching for their next meal and stopping only when they sense something to eat is nearby. They change directions in a nanosecond. They showed off their determination in their search for food by plunging their heads into the surf as it roiled around them, shoving their beaks into the sand beneath the water to find food. It was rare that they emerged from the water without some sort of tiny seafood delicacy in their beaks.