Raising the Bar a Notch

                                                                Great Blue Heron

                                                                          Ditto

                                                          Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird

                                                  Great Blue Heron's Acrobatics in a Tree

                                                                           Hiding

                                                              Red-winged Blackbird

                                                                Great Egret in Flight

                                                                Male House Sparrow

                                                         
                                                                   "Silent Sentinel III"

                                        Juvenile Snowy Egret Hatched in Northern Reaches

                                                               Female House Sparrow

                                                                Red-winged Blackbird

62-79/light and variable winds/sunny/0730-1030

A productive day, with a number of Great Egrets on the lake.  The surprise was finding the young Snowy Egret, which gives us more than just Green Herons being raised on the lake.  There are still uses for the rookery, which now is just a resting area overnight.

Stillwater News Press Edition Life at Boomer Lake, Sunday September 28, 2014

http://www.stwnewspress.com/community/local_columnists/article_e6f3e59a-46c8-11e4-8b7a-472de3a141c5.html

Once Upon the Fall

                                                                 Brown Thrasher

                                                                  Great Egret
                                                                "Wings Wide"

                                                                       Great Egret

                                                                           Ditto

                                                                   Ready to Fly

                                                                       In Flight

                                                            Juvenile Common Grackle

                                                              Northern Mockingbird

                                                          Juvenile European Starling

                                                               Northern Mockingbird

15 mph winds/0730-1000 hrs./partly cloudy/63-76 degrees

There were a good twenty Great Egrets on the water with a handful of Great Blue Herons.  This is the time of year when the Egrets have always outnumbered the herons, which means that they won't be with us much longer.  The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers still remain with s, the young ones strengthening their wings for their southern voyages.  Some may stay as near as Texas, but others will go to Central and South America, where they will set up camp for our winter.  They won't even have a climate change, other than the fact that they will be in the tropics.

The persimmons are getting riper, and with first frost, they will be exquisite for cookies, chutney, persimmon butter, pudding, cake and pie.  We are fortunate that these can be obtained on the roadsides, along with pawpaws, and pecans.  During this time of year, we can live of the land to some degree.

The Beautiful Signature of Nature

                                                             Variegated Fritillary

                                                 Black Form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

                                                             Juvenile Snowy Egret

                                                              Red Eared Slider

                                                                  Checkered White

                                                                     Monarch

                                                              One of Two Coyotes

                                                 Great Egret(Left) and Great Blue Heron

                                                              Juvenile Snowy Egrets
                                                                  "I'm Not a Girl!"

                                                                    Snowy Egret

                                                                           Ditto

                                                            "Coming In For a Landing!"

                                                              Female Yellow Warbler

                                                            Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

                                                                  Northern Flicker

                                                                  Great Blue Heron
                                                                 "Silent Sentinel II"

                                                            Northern Cardinal Bathing

                                                            Red-bellied Woodpecker

                                                                    Baltimore Oriole

                                                         Great Egret "Silent Sentinel III"

The Snowy Egret is a handsome bird.  It was so sought after for its beautiful plumes in the 1920s and 1930s, it almost destroyed the bird as a species.  Fortunately, the Federal government took action and passed laws to protect our wonderful birds from harm.

09-21-14 Stillwater News Press Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

http://www.stwnewspress.com/community/local_columnists/article_4f5362a2-4131-11e4-92a7-57c4899b0391.html

Life at Boomer Lake with Deb, Sunday September 21, 2014

http://aviannovice.hubpages.com/hub/Life-at-Boomer-Lake-with-Deb-Sunday-September-21-2014

Life on the Arkansas River with Deb

http://aviannovice.hubpages.com/hub/Life-on-the-Arkansas-River-with-Deb

Meet the Red-capped Manakin and Observe His Mating Dance

Courtesy of Kim Bostwick, the Red-capped Manakin of Central America is one of the showiest birds in the world with his mating dance.  With its slide, did it give Michael Jackson the idea for the Moonwalk?  Also note the sound that it makes with its tail feathers at 80 hits a second.  This can only be captured with a camera producing 500 frames per second.  That is a very fast bird!  Due to high speed photography, enjoy this rarely seen dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI_quJRRGxk

A Wide Range of Offerings For All to Enjoy

                                                                    Cooper's Hawk

                                                                      Great Egret

                                                                European Starling

                                                                         Blue Jay

                                                                    Eastern Kingbird

                                                                          Ditto

                                                                           Blue Jay

                                         Very Thin Juvenile Blue Jay with Brown Thrasher

                                                                     Juvenile Blue Jay

                                                         Juvenile Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                                Great Egret in Flight

                                                   

                                                             Great Egret with Crawdad

                                                                        Close Up

                                                                       Great Egret

                                                                      Ditto, In Flight

                                                                              Ditto

                                                                        Great Egret

                                                                  Tufted Titmouse

                                                                  Carolina Chickadee

                                                                Male Northern Cardinal

                                                              Great Egret on 09-12-14

                                                             8 Cattle Egrets on 09-12-14

0730-1230/Mostly Cloudy/10-15 mph winds

It has been quite a while since I've been out, as you can see.  Fall Migration is underway and the
hawks are also visiting the lake during the mornings.  They should also be out later in the day, too.
Plenty of Yellow Warblers and the American Goldfinch are enjoying the fall offerings at the lake,
nyjer(thistle), as well as plenty of sunflower seeds and nectar, too.  There are young Red-bellied woodpeckers, which are preceded by their calls.  Get out and enjoy!