Osprey onlooker

Every morning as I walk the beach I see what I have come to call my osprey. I saw her alone for many months, then she appeared with her brood of 3 young... I'm guessing this only because they were smaller and seemed to watch everything she did. It is fascinating watching them scan the sea for food (they only eat fresh-caught fish.) One twitch of a tail feather or a gentle lift of a wing tip and they soar off in another direction, head always scanning right and left. Then a swift dive towards the water usually to come away with a fish firmly in their talons. I was left to wonder where they flew to with their catch. 

It is very difficult capturing them with my camera they fly so high and so swiftly. I did catch a photo of one far overhead but was thrilled today when my friend Ed sent me the photo of the osprey who had perched in his pine tree for several hours to eat its fish. As the osprey flies, that pine tree is very close to the area of the beach where I always see my osprey pals. Um-m-m wonder if it is in fact my osprey? 

A paintbox of colors

The colors in this sunrise were amazing. Too bad the camera isn't as discerning as the naked eye because I was stunned by the variety of shades from purples, to pinks, to oranges, blues, greens, yellows, etc. 

I was even more stunned while taking this photo it started raining on me. Not 10 feet away, but right where I was standing with my camera! Again, like Florida, it was gone almost before I got wet.

Who is that kid?

Neighborhood kids often take a shortcut across my yard, which is no problem. One afternoon, out of the corner of my eye I see this strange looking kid walking across my driveway. He was short, very skinny, dressed in a white hoodie and his knees bent backward when he walked. Huh? In the blink of my mind I realized it was a great egret. By the time I grabbed my camera he was down the street by my neighbor's house and I didn't want to get too close and scare him away. This funny looking kid stood about 3 feet tall and I got a huge smile watching him walk calmly through the neighborhood.

Fire in the sky

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight..." certainly proved to be true following this fiery sunset. I rarely get to see the full scope of our sunsets, but visiting friends who live on the river (actually the Intracoastal Waterway) provided me with this glorious sight. As is usual in Florida there is rainfall visible in the center of the clouds, highlighted by the setting sun. Wow!

Big Bird

I went kayaking recently with some friends and we spotted a great blue heron perched in a tree. They can stand 4 feet tall, and I'm sure this one was every bit of that. When he flew away we all ducked then felt silly about doing so!

Big ol' tree

Ever since I was a kid my Dad and I would come visit this big old tree, he and my grandfather used to come here too. Reportedly this 400+ year old oak has survived hurricanes, fires and various other detrimental parts of nature and man. Part of what has always amazed me is the limbs that have been so large as droop to the ground, then grow branches that are larger than most trees. This photo doesn't do it justice. It took six of my adult family members linking hands to fully circle its trunk. Part of old Florida I would hate to see disappear.

Fascinating clouds

For some reason I am intrigued by clouds and cloud formations. This was taken early one morning from the mainland looking East across the Intracoastal Waterway. I loved the way the sky was reflected in the glassy smooth water. 

The gazebo on the right is a wonderful place to have a picnic lunch though gulls often think they deserve a free handout. They usually get it too!

Monster in the sand

You never know what you will find on the beach... needless to say I was delighted at the monster in the sand I found early one morning. Someone, or several someones, apparently spent a great deal of time the previous day defining this big guy who was about 20 to 25 feet long nose to tail. It made me smile, which is always a great way to start the day!

Least Tern Photos

Oops... having trouble today with uploading photos to this blog. I'll try again to share with you two photos of the Least Terns.

Least Tern

In the spring I had noticed a very small, and very cute little tern-like bird, actually it was a whole colony of these cute little birds, all congregating in one area of the beach. They were only about 8 inches beak to tail and very slender. Most striking to me besides their matching yellowish-orange colored beaks and legs, was the little black cap they wore which covered the tops of their head and nape of their neck but also connected with the black eye patches leaving a very distinctive white triangle on their white foreheads and faces. I'd never seen anything like them and was anxious to get home to my computer and my birding book to find out what they were.

What I discovered was an endangered species called the Least Tern, the smallest of the tern family. They were endangered for a couple of reasons. One is that they make their nests right on the sand, and their tiny eggs are in a very hazardous position when human population walks the beaches or during high tides. Also, horrifying as it seems nowadays, these darling little birds with their cute faces were once prized for being on display on ladies' hats. Back in the late 1800s and again in the 1930s it was fashionable to wear stuffed birds on your hat. I'm certainly glad it's a fashion that hasn't repeated itself. However, that fashion statement decimated the Least Tern population.

I had a difficult time taking pictures of these little guys because they were very shy (though quite raucous) and would take flight when I got close. I enjoyed watching them dive for tiny fish, protect their eggs and finally help their hatchlings. After about 8 weeks they were gone but hopefully they will return to this corner of the coast again next year. I only have two photos to share with you, but Cornell University's website at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Least_Tern.html is a good place to start if you want more information.