Right Time, Right Place

I heard quite a bit of chattering as I walked around the back pond area, but I didn't give it much thought.  I saw a bluebird bringing nesting materials to the purple martin house.

I walked over to look at the "bog" section which during dry season isn't boggy at all.  As I glanced up, I saw a Blue, B-52 bomber headed straight for me.

I stared at the bluebird and reminded him that I was pretty far away from the nesting box and to chill out.  I looked up at the pine tree and saw an interesting coloring on the pine cone so decided to take a photo.  Just then Mr. B-52 flew at me again.

$*(#&)% WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM??? I exclaimed.  As I turned, not 3 feet in front of me was a new fledgling, standing quite still.  Ahhh, dad was on the ball.  And I guess mom was too.  Already building for brood three when brood two is JUST out of the nest.

FLEDGE DAY!  So often missed as the babies quickly leave for parts unknown.

Somewhat later in the day I saw not one, but TWO hawks positioned around in the trees, waiting, waiting, waiting.  They didn't catch anything on MY watch.

Baby Sings the Blues

There was a bluebird convention at the nest box the other day. Birdies had hatched as I saw mom and dad dutifully bringing live insects to their babies. I was walking by and two birds took flight. Since I assumed that it was mom and pop, I neared the box to take a quick peek at how many babies there were while the adults were away. All of a sudden, MOM came flying out the hole. I was a bit perplexed. I was sure that I had seen two birds take flight just moments before.

The next day brought me my clue. There were 3 birds on the top of the box and a beak sticking out of the box. That's four birds and the newly hatched eggs are too little to be counted as "birds". I got the field glasses and noticed them fly away, yet not far. I saw pop with an insect quickly return and then I noticed the weak flight of a second one stumble up top the box. Through the field glasses I got a good look at a somewhat pitiful sight. There was a baby from the first 2013 brood begging dad for a bite. Pop stuck his beak inside the box to feed the newborns and quickly shooed away big sister.

I felt a little sorry for her, but you have to make it on your own in life, as dad was clearly trying to point out.

Apartment living wasn't for these birds!

Hip Hip horray.  The bluebirds decided that apartment living really wasn't for them and have built their latest nest back in the nesting box I monitor in my yard.  As of yesterday there were four eggs and one happy garden mistress.  I've already started the daily photo documentation of this second brood of 2013.  Stay tuned!

Those Dastardly Bluebirds

This year the bluebirds have taken the wind out of my sails by nesting in the purple martin house.  Oh, I'm thrilled that they are nesting, but I have a perfectly nice blue bird nesting box that they have used since 2007.  The nest box is about 6 foot off the ground and has a swingdown door for easy access.  I always enjoyed taking a daily peak at the progress and seeing close up the miracle that are bluebirds.  This year…20 feet up, high in the sky.  I am blaming the mockingbirds for being mean to them and causing the move. 

 

Still, I am enjoying seeing the flurry of activity many times each day as mom and pop feed the new babies.  I'm just frustrated that I don't know how many.  I suspect a LOT because they fly back and forth non-stop all day long.  In with the food, out with the fecal sacs. 

 

So, from my ground perch I dream about the growth of downy feathers and hungry open mouths and think that with my field glasses and zoom camera I merely have a different view than past years.
 

Mountains in Florida?

I was stunned to see a snow covered mountain out east the other day.  Surrounded by clear blue skies, it rose high above.  This is Florida, of course, so a snow covered mountain is unlikely, but I was mesmerized by the beauty of a single cloud mass billowing.  So much so that I took the photograph with the intention of sending it to our local news station which asks for our weather shots.

 

As luck would have it, my photo was centerstage on the 5pm news.  Beauty!  and I didn't have to shovel.

Freshwater seafood?

It's always an interesting time when I take the trash out to the curb (like we have a curb HA!). Today I discovered three new-to-me species of plants in the area close to the culvert where I leave the trashbin for pickup. One species, a lobelia is endemic to FL and one species, a clover, is introduced. The other native is a carnivorous bladderwort.

As I perused the dry culvert, I noticed that something had been chowing down. There were remnants of snail shells smashed and then there was the evidence shown in the photo. Mud bugs! I wonder who came to the "sidewalk" cafe to eat. Mind you, the mudbugs (crayfish) can regenerate claws, but I think that whoever stopped for lunch ate the whole thing and just tossed these claws to the side.

And here I didn't leave out any butter sauce.

Birds: and what a week it was

What a bird week. Oh, the usual: bluebirds, the phoebe, cardinals, blue jays, warblers, mockingbirds, mourning doves, red-bellied woodpeckers, vultures and my daily visitor, the red shouldered hawk. 

I was greeted by a few treats though.  The swallow swarm was back, bigger and better than ever and they added to their antics and my joy by swooping down to drink from the pond a hundred at a time "on the wing", causing only a slight ripple in top of the water.

Then, there was a robin, a soaring eagle, a common dove (not so common around here) and likely the best of all:  6 soaring wood storks (picture shown, which you can see enlarged by clicking on it),   There may have been more up there, but 6 was all that fit into the photo frame ;)

On Saturday, I met a new "life lister": Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus).  I glanced out the window and saw red in the oak.  Not exactly unusual, the cardinals often hang out in there, but this was close to the trunk.  As I studied it, I thought it was a Downy Woodpecker, a species I was blessed with in huge numbers while living in New York, but that I have yet to add to my Florida life list. I crept outside and got out my field glasses for a closer look.  WOW, kinda big!  As I angled the camera to try and catch a photo (s)he took off up into one of the tall pines. 

I studied it through the field glasses some more and made unsuccessful attempts to get a photo.  I realized it was indeed too large to be the diminutive downy so I headed inside to grab my field guide.  After thumbing through, I decided that Hairy Woodpecker seemed a good match and then I headed in to the computer to confirm.  YEP!  CHECK!