Green Heron 2020 Adults and Juvenile

070820                                                  Green Heron Juvenile

070920                                                 Green Heron Subadult

                                                             Green Heron Adult

                                                               Green Heron Juvenile

071220                                                  Eastern Phoebe Juvenile


On April 8, two Green Heron juveniles were observed at the colony on Heron Cove.  The nest was in their normal central tree, but to combat the excessive heat, the young were moved lower by the adults and subadult near the water to achieve maximum cooling properties.  There is also a second nest in the right hand tree, with the same safety elements in mind.

Today we found an Eastern Phoebe family with three juveniles and one adult.  This was one of the young charges, but they were hard to keep effectively corralled.

There's plenty more where that came from!

Days of Their Lives

                                                                  Great Blue Heron

                                                                     Snowy Egret

                                                         Double-crested Cormorants

                                                                Spotted Orbweaver

                                               2nd Summer Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                                            Ditto

                                                                     Great Egret

                                                                 Clay-colored Sparrow

                                                                     Bewick's Wren

                                                                     Carolina Wren

                                                               Juvenile Eastern Phoebe

 

Red-spotted Purple

These are shots over the past several weeks, as there hasn't been a lot of migratory

movement.  Weather has a way of being a deterrent, but one also must be in the right

place at the right time.  It cooled down for a little while, long enough for a few more

ducks to come through the area, and temperatures are finally quite seasonable and 

pleasant.  May those people that had to endure Hurricane Matthew be all right and may

you recover from that ordeal as soon as possible.

As a general synopsis, our young Yellow-crowned Night-Heron stayed with us at

Heron Cove for the better part of September, and chose the best willow to rest in

during the day, the same one that the strongest Green Heron chicks were hatched in.

Both Boomer Lake and Boomer Creek hosted more different species of herons than

normally this year, including a strong possibility of the Little Blue Heron, as well.

Larger than normal woodpecker numbers stayed at the creek, and many of them

were hatched here, including one female adult red-shafted Northern Flicker as a parent.

  It is not known if there are any red-shafted offspring as a result of this uncommon union.

There were also good numbers of the Red-bellied Woodpecker young, and a few Red-

headed Woodpecker juveniles.  No Pileated Woodpecker young were observed.

The Clay-colored Sparrow spent about a week with us on Boomer Lake and there were at 

least two of them in our midst.  Good numbers of the Carolina Wren were seen over the

season, and Bewick's Wren is once again in our midst.

Sadly, butterfly numbers were down by half, but on the positive note, this was the first

year that I have noticed the Red-spotted Purple in the five years that I have been in 

Stillwater, and I only observed it on the Kameoka Trail at Boomer Creek.

Ambient water temperatures have risen two degrees F in the time that I have been in the

area.  If this continues to increase, birds and other animals are expected to remove 

themselves in a northeastern pattern.

  

Immature Green Herons Take Notice of the Lay of the Land

                                               
                                  http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/htmwav/h6010so.mp3
                                                              Male Painted Bunting

                                                             Juvenile Eastern Phoebe

                                                         Juvenile Green Herons

                                                            Juvenile Green Heron

                                                               Great Blue Heron
                                                             "Back in the Saddle"

                                                         Juvenile Green Heron


0700-0955/79-88 degrees/cloudy to partly cloudy/light and variable winds

In no uncertain terms, the young Green Herons were going further from the nesting area,
and the eldest was practicing fishing techniques, to some degree.  There is a possibility that
there could be two clutches instead of one.  It would be nice to turn this area into a colony,
which will take a few years, but I believe the site is a good one.  It will take years to establish
this as such, so we will wait to see how this plays out.

A male Painted Bunting has been out and about for a couple of days now, belting out his song
and bringing my attention right to him at the top of this tree.  He remained for a short time, then
went off to seek other venues.

Our Eastern Phoebes are still in residence, and there are six juvenile American Robins to two
parents, which is welcomed in the vicinity that they were in.  Also noticed was at least one
Western Kingbird.  A few young Northern Mockingbirds were raised here, and I have noticed a couple of Brown Thrashers over the past couple of days, too.  Riparian forest is healthy for a number of species, and this is as upcoming area for the city to cultivate.

Spectacular Scenes of the Secret South

                                                                   Bell's Vireo

                                              Brown dragonfly -  Pantala hymenaea                     

                                                                 Great-tailed Grackle

                                                            Immature American Robin

                                                                        Ditto

                                                        American Robin with Youngster

                                                            Immature American Robin

                                                             Juvenile Eastern Phoebe

                                                       Recently Fledged Eastern Phoebe

                                                               Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

                                                                          Ditto

                                                               Female House Sparrow

                                                              Blue-gray Gnatcatcher


0635-0905/79-85 degrees/partly cloudy/20 mph wind gusts

A day of grand sights with plenty of surprises.  It appears that I had stumbled upon a secret
treasure trove, and had I been able to stay, chances were that more would have been uncovered.
It was almost like an archaeological dig, where one's heart is pounding at the thought of new
and uncharted territory, but that could come soon enough.  Today, I give to you a priceless
package of precious proportions.

Immature Youngsters Almost Ready for Fall Migration

                                                                      Viceroy

                                                              Male Northern Cardinal

                                                             Juvenile Brown Thrasher

                                                        Female Red-winged Blackbird

                                                            Immature Northern Mockingbird

                                                             Immature Eastern Phoebe

                                                             Immature Eastern Phoebe

                                                        Female Red-winged Blackbird


0645-0915/76-82 degrees/sunny/20 mph wind gusts

There is a strong crop of young birds all over the lake, who will be easily ready for fall migration.  Time is still on our side to admire their progress.  This has been a fabulous year for most of them.
For the ones that didn't make it, it was not their fault, but due to natural selection.  The parents
have done a wonderful job so far, and some of them will have second and third clutches this
season.