Cold Saturday on The Wacissa

Winter is a good time to see holes which might be big enough for ivory bills to nest in. This hole is big enough. These holes are often near feeding sources such as the red berries that the birds like so much which ripen in December. I look for them and plant myself underneath them and take photos. The berries aren't quite ripe enough yet but the birds are checking them out. Robins seem to be the only ones that eat them slightly unripe! I saw lots of woodpeckers today but they are skittish and it was very cold and the wind was blowing on the Wacissa which make s photography challening. The Wacissa had ivory bill sightings as late as the 60's and is considered a prime spot for the possibility of a sighting. I'm still looking but with the watching over my folks need now, my trips are somewhat shorter. I may be going out again later this week but dad fell today (12/28-09) so we will see. The pileated woodpeckers like berries and they are easier to see along the river's edge where the trees hang over the water.
The ibises flock on the river in winter. Northern flicker

Piney Z at Dusk Part III

I was so excited to have a clear afternoon to vist Piney Z Lake after all our rainy days.

Dusk on Piney Z Lake is a wonderous time for watching birds coming in to roost. It has been raining a great deal and the lakes are very full of water. The lake is also full of cormorants, eagles, osprey,woodstorks, ibises, great egrets and anhingas. I was in hog heaven!

I also saw five eagles including three juveniles but they fly so fast and the wind was blowing and the water was rough...I found it difficult to get a good image this afternoon.

Their were many osprew out today at dusk.

Somehow I always see an interesting plane when I am out on the water.

There is a woodstork rookery at the other end of Lake Lafayette. The woodstorks are now back to take advantage of their nesting habitat.

I am fascinated with the woodstork. I love to watch them take off and to hear the wooshing flap of their wings. It is spooky when it happens behind you. They can fly extraordinarily high and they look like sleek jets to me when they are taking off from a perch over the lake.

Piney Z Lake at Dusk:Part II

I was eager to get to Piney Z lake today at dusk which means I can't have dinner with mom and dad so I begged off to go kayaking. I am beginning to figure out how to use light and to set my camera so I can get the lighting I want. But it has taken me a long time without any lessons...

I thought that egrets would be flocking on the lake on Saturday and when I arrived I was delighted to find this was the case. At dusk... egrets, woodstorks, cormorants, anhingas, and ibises fly in to roost.

A fisherman enjoys the last of the day.

I think the aerodynamics of the woodstork make for dramatic shots. they look so primitive yet modern and sleek when they take off and fly. The flapping of their wings is unique.

The foliage on PineyZ is turning now.

Goodbye to this little gem of a lake just a hop, skip, and jump from my home.

Thanksgiving day on a spring fed river

I've taken this shot before but it is such a pretty part of the river right now that I took another one.

This egret snagged a delicious Thanksgiving treat. There are a great number of birds on the river now including many great egrets, cormorants, redshouldered hawks, turkeys, warblers, kingfishers, yellowlegs, and of course pileated woodpeckers. I spotted two turkeys gobbling near Blue Spring...thankful to have outfoxed the hunters...I also ran into Shug Parnell again with his pretty dog. He had been to Perry to get his turkey breast and to visit his friend and an ex-wife in facilities there. He told me that some hunters were now getting turkeys and carving the breast out and throwing away the rest of the bird: too lazy to use it all up. He agreed with his cousin Mallory Horne or "Horne" as he calls him, that if you hunt turkeys you should use the entire bird and do the plucking and dressing yourself. Shug is about eighty six years old.

One of these days I am going to figure out how to upload my photos in the order in which they are shot...I've been so busy with my obligations I have spent too little time on the river. I expect to get out again very soon.

Veteran's Day Salute to my Dad

Butterflies and Bees