Translate

Sunday, August 23, 2015

It May Be Cloudy, But It Is a Day of Joyful Tidings


                                                          Green Heron Chicks, Clutch 2


                                                Green Heron Chicks, Clutch 2, Position 2


                                                 Green Heron Chicks, Clutch 2, Position 3


                                                                 Mississippi Kite


                                                                    Great Egret


                                                                  Great Blue Heron


                                                               Downy Woodpecker


                                                                 Great Blue Heron
                                                              "Pleased to Meet You"


0720-0950/70-72 degrees F/mostly cloudy/15-20 mph wind gusts

An apology is necessary, as these shots were obtained on a very dark day and this was the
best that I could muster.  It felt like it was going to rain, but this was a day that I was going
to take my chances.  Yesterday, I just took my binoculars, and I missed a fabulous photo op
of an Great Crested Flycatcher.  Ah, there will be other days.

You won't be kept in the dark any longer, for as you can see, we have another clutch of
young Green Herons.  I am assuming now that the first batch was from two year's previous
young ones, and the latest are from last year's young.  I was surprised to see them, thinking
that it was possible that the first group went elsewhere  However, it is very late in the season,
and last year's Green Herons are now definitely old enough to sire these youths.

Since they are so late, they most likely will go as far as southern Texas and spend the winter
there, or perhaps amble just south of the border.  In any event, it is a joy to see this second
clutch and if we're lucky, maybe we'll have a colony of them.  All we can do is be hopeful.

Eight Mississippi Kites were next to the lake this morning, hawking insects and hobnobbing
with the European Starlings.  They provided a plethora of acrobatics for morning viewing, and
gave good chances for photos.

One Yellow Warbler was still in the area, but I'm sure that his mate wasn't far.  A juvenile
Cooper's Hawk was on the ground on the northern jetty, but I was unable to get a clear shot.

Tomorrow is another day.    

No comments:

Post a Comment