Great Blue Heron

                                                    Female Red-winged Blackbird

                                                                  Eastern Kingbird

                                                          Eastern Kingbird Pair

                                                                Taking Off

                                                               Wild Sunflower

                                                              Mallard Pose

                                                         Mallard and American Coot

                                                                 Mallard Pair

                                                     Dusk at Veteran's Memorial

82 degrees/light and variable wind/evening

Fall is beginning its descent upon Boomer Lake and cooler evenings will soon be upon us.  The silence was permeated by the call of the Eastern Kingbirds, who are here in full force.  A beautiful evening, thought provoking, and a much deserved respite from the earlier day.  My thoughts were not nearly as profound, but a sense of calm and solace was in the air...

                                                         Crape Myrtle, Pre-Dawn

                                                               Eastern Kingbird

                                                                  Great Egret

                                                                        Ditto

 
                                                                        Ditto

                                                          Great Egret In Flight

82 degrees/20 mph wind/mostly cloudy/

It had rained several times today, but luckily, I was able to get out and not worry about any precipitation.  The Eastern Kingbirds were all over, chasing each other, as well as what few Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are left.  It was a beautiful, careful and quiet day at the lake.

                                                                Brown Thrasher

                                                           Brown Thrasher in Flight

                                                                  Great Egrets

                                                                  Great Egret

               
                                                   Mallard Hen with Growing Ducklings

Early Morning/72 degrees/10 mph wind/clear skies

The beauty of morning with new light and so silent that the water can be heard rippling.  As the golden orb rises, the sounds of life beacon, entreat, and implore one another to get on with a new day.  These are pictures of those moments, captured by your resident photographer...

I will never forget you, no matter how much time passes, and I will smile at your approach for all the joy that we bring one another in this lifetime.

Great Egret

84 degrees/evening/15 mph wind/cloudy

Great Egret was very generous today with a photo shoot.  This gorgeous bird usually flees the area when anyone comes by.  After all, when we are all stars like this beautiful specimen, I think we could be entitled to a little privacy.

                                                  Canada Geese Feeding on Grass Seed

                                                 Unknown Variety Wild Mushroom

                                                             American Coot

                                                       Mallard Hen Shedding Water

                                                                   Great Egret

                                                         Mallard Portrait in Early Light

                                                            "Isn't She Lovely?"

                                                 My First Sign of Migratory Forster's Terns

 
                                                 One of Four Forster's Terns Seen Today

                                           
                                       
                                             Female Red-winged Blackbird Strikes a Pose

0800-1030 hrs./partly cloudy/15 mph wind/72-80 degrees

One of those rare mornings that I am able to get to the lake for perfect ambient light.  With the sightings of the American Coot and the Forster's Tern, there is obviously more southern movement of birds, indicating migration, but at a fairly early stage.  This appears to be two weeks early, so it makes me wonder if we could be in for an early winter.  Let's see how accurate the birds' biological clocks are this season.

                                                              Marsh Rabbit

                                                                   Leslie's Cicada

                                                   Male Cattle Egret in Breeding Plumage

                                                                        Ditto

   15 mph wind/partly cloudy/88 degrees/evening

It was quite a bit cooler than it has been, a thunderstorm occurred overnight.  It made very little difference to the water table, but it permitted a little relief to both humankind and avian friends.  This was the first time that I ever saw the Cattle Egret in breeding plumage, and I was duly impressed.  He was shaking his feathers on the final picture, and for some odd reason, I thought about Chubby Checker and "The Twist."  What do you think?    

Photos From the Latter Half of June 2013

                                                         Male Baltimore Oriole

                                                           Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                  Male Red-winged Blackbird in Flight

                                                         American Robin in Flight

                                                              Canada Goose "teen"

                                                  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Flight

                                                     Male Red-winged Blackbird

                                                                 Brown Thrasher

                                                              Common Buckeye

                                                          Great Blue Heron in Flight

                                                      Nestling Baltimore Oriole

                                                  Female Baltimore Oriole with Nestling

                                                        Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                                 Box Turtle

                                                         Purple Martins in Flight

                                                  Nestling Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                              Carolina Chickadee

                                                              Hackberry Emperor

                                                                  Ditto

                                                   Nestling Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Trio

                                                                Brown Thrasher

                                                          Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                     Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Pair

                                                    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Fledgling

                                                     
                                                         Immature House Finch

                                                     Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Fledgling

                                                                         Ditto

                                                                   Two Nestlings

                                                       Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Nestling

                                                     

                                                            Eastern Kingbird

                                                                    Ditto

                                                                       Ditto

                                                                         Ditto

                                                          Immature European Starling

                                                  Newly Hatched Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

                                                               Downy Woodpecker

                                                                        Ditto
                                       

                                                     Bell's Vireo with Food for Young

                                                                       Ditto

       
                                                    Newly Fledged Scissor-tailed Flycatcher


   June was a very busy month for youngsters, and there are still more that I have yet to show.  It will easily captivate you, so do keep me in mind for additional pictures of fledglings.  They have since moved on, but while they were here, it was both an educational and joyous season.