Northern Cardinal
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A top favorite of mine, the Northern Cardinal. This one landed off to my left while I was photographing all those egrets at the refuge last week.
Cardinals are my favorite color, and they are a spiritual comfort to me. (post) It was a special moment! ❤️
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Northern Cardinal (male)
“Cardinals appear when angels are near.”
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Five On The Wing – #5
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Here’s another set of five photos to my series of five bird species in flight.
To keep with five photos, there’s actually a bonus of two additional species, we’ve got a flock theme here!
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Roseate Spoonbills
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Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal
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Least Sandpipers (short-billed) and Stilt Sandpipers (long-billed)
(Thank you, HJ, for help with these IDs!)
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White Ibis in fog
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American White Pelicans
“The Square Squadron” 🙂
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Female Pileated Woodpecker
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I pulled up to this beautiful gal in my birding mobile (golf cart) while cruising around Everglades City. I had seen a male here at this pole before. They’ve both been busy excavating a new nest hole.
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Pileated Woodpecker (female)
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The male Pileated Woodpecker is the first to begin excavating a nest cavity and does most of the work, but the female will help as it nears completion.
Their entrance hole is oblong rather than round like most other woodpecker holes, and they don’t line their nests with any material except for leftover wood chips.
The nest construction usually takes 3-6 weeks, and nests are rarely reused in later years. Cavity depth can range from 10-24 inches.
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Pileated Woodpecker (female)
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Hmmmm….she looks up. Maybe her neighbor is saying something?
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Pileated Woodpecker (female)
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This pole is also someone else’s home.
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Osprey nest using recycled satellite dish on same pole
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I wonder if the Osprey are tired of the pound, pound, pound of the woodpecker’s beak. 😉
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American White Pelicans
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Not only having at least 15 bird species in one wetland area at the same time, it was awesome to have one of them in numbers to be the American White Pelican.
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The American White Pelican is the second largest North American bird (after the California Condor).
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American White Pelicans with Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets in the mix
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American White Pelicans foraging
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American White Pelicans with a Great Egret and Snowy Egret
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The American White Pelican’s wingspan is an impressive 95″-120″ (8′-10′ or 241cm-305cm) wide.
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American White Pelican
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American White Pelicans
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Certainly the king of the birds here, as the other birds made sure to get out of those big pelicans’ way!
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More Great Egret Territorial Tension
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Sharing a second post on the Great Egrets and their territorial tensions that continued where hundreds were packed in and trying to forage. It was a challenge because you had to be on the action before it happened, as it was over within seconds!
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Great Egrets trying to get along in tight quarters
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I lucked out on another series of Great Egrets defending their space, or more eloquently described in a few comments from yesterday’s post, performing ballet dancing. 😊
I’ll let these two tell their six-photo story as the tension begins between them as the American White Pelicans squeeze off space while passing by.
Also note a third Great Egret (bottom right corner of first photo only) is starting something with another one out of sight.
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(Birds in above photo – Great Egrets, American White Pelicans, Wood Stork, Snowy Egret)
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Right Egret’s “My Turf” Stance
(and the winner of that bit of space)
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That last shot makes me giggle! 😅
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All Those Egrets, Lots of Tension
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Those three mornings with the awesome variety and vast number of birds meant there was less foraging and general territory ‘space’ for each.
This caused some tension and many skirmishes, especially between the Great Egrets. Beaks up in the air, chests out, wing spread warnings to “get out of my space!”
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Great Egrets trying to protect their space of feeding
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Here’s a skirmish between two just as the sun was beginning to light up the fog as it lifted, reflecting on the water.
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Great Egret skirmish, full scene
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I decided to crop the above photo and three additional to this series for what I thought was a better composition to share the action.
Note the Great Egret on the right who watches the scene too, backing up a bit to not get involved. Smart egret!
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Great Egret skirmish
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Great Egret
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Great Egret
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Great Egret skirmish ending with one leaving for another spot
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Variety of Florida Birds In Single Scenes
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Here’s more of the big scenes during my recent morning visit to the Marsh Trail at 10,000 Islands NWR. I had returned after the previous morning’s spectacular find with hundreds of birds at the start of a foggy morning (that post here).
On this second morning, what fog there had already lifted high into the sky. The sun was burning it off, getting some light onto the scene here and there. The sight was amazing, there were even more birds!
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At least 12 bird species in the above photos: American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, and Double-crested Cormorant.
Three mornings and one evening in a row of lots of birds at this location. Having not seen a scene like this before, I was indeed on Cloud 9. I took a total of just under 2,000 photos. I’m weeding through them to rid as many as I can and also find the very best of my close-ups to share with you. 🙂
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Pretty In Pink Valentine’s Day
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Roseate Spoonbill
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Roseate Spoonbill
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Roseate Spoonbill
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Roseate Spoonbill
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(all photos taken 2/14/21 at 10,000 Islands NWR)
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Birds on a Foggy Morning
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The fog was beginning to burn off this morning as I headed down the trail to reach the wetlands.
One of my first peaks through a window in the trees….
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Oh my! This was looking to be promising morning, as I continued along.
I stopped at another opening through the trees….
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A few more wide angle shots…..
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Birds in the above photos include Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, Common Gallinules, and Double-crested Cormorants.
Not shown but in the immediate surroundings of the above photos I also photographed Glossy Ibis, Brown Pelicans, Green Herons, Anhingas, Blue-winged Teal, and a few small shorebirds (maybe sandpipers or willets).
Some close-up favorites to come!
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Gray Catbird
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I know many of you are missing one of your summer’s interesting songs of the Gray Catbird. I can happily report many are here in Florida enjoying their winter vacation.
I can hear them just about everywhere I wander, following their ‘mew’ calls, then spotting them doing short flights in shrubs, thickets and vegetation, always hiding behind branches and leaves. They are so secretive!
Finally one gave me a chance out in the open. I took it!
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Gray Catbird
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Bay Photos by Donna 