Oystercatchers 2018

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, lady hamilton, oystercatcher, photography, postaday, t2

In May 2017, I posted photos of an Oystercatcher named T2 because he was banded and the band showed T2. He had been a regular of the beaches at Long Beach Island, and last year he and his mate, Lady Hamilton, had their first brood on the beach at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park after many unsuccessful tries. It was major news for birdwatchers. This year T2 has not been seen and some said he may have died, reason unknown.

Yesterday, I went to Barnegat Lighthouse to see if I could photograph the many birds that usually live there. To my surprise, I saw a couple of Oystercatchers, but there was no T2.

Oystercatcher at Barnegat Light State Park.

The very handsome pair walked back and forth across the sand. After a while one of them prepared to lay down.

Oystercatcher preparing to lay down.

It looked like it was sitting down to incubate. There was a rope and a keep off sign, and I did not want to disturb them so this is as close as I could get with a telephoto lens.

Oystercatcher incubating. Note that their nest was very near the water line at high tide.

The other one stood nearby and took a nap.

Oystercatcher napping.

So T2 and his mate may be gone, but another pair of Oystercatchers have taken their place at Barnegat Lighthouse.

Update 31-Jul-2018: I’ve added two more photos of these Oystercatchers.

Oystercatchers.

Oystercatcher.

Little Blue Heron

Tags

little blue heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday

At the rookery next to the Welcome Center at Ocean City, NJ, I saw a Little Blue Heron and its juvenile child. Their colors confused me at first. Juveniles are white, while adults are deep blue and purple. The rookery also had white egrets, both Great Egret and Snowy Egret, which added to my confusion.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron.

The one way I could be sure was when parent and juvenile were together, as when the parent brought food home for the hungry juvenile.

Little Blue Heron, parent and child.

No more food. The parent tried to get away.

Juvenile lodged a protest:”You come back here. I’m not done eating yet!”

Parent flying away to get more food.

“I hope that won’t take too long. I’m starving!”

Milkweed and Cosmos

Tags

asclepias incarnata, asclepias tuberosa, cosmos, milkweed, photography, postaday

This year I tried to grow from seeds orange milkweed, also called butterfly weed (Asclepias Tuberosa). So far only two plants grew and they are displaying bright orange flowers.

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias Tuberosa).

These plants are not as tall as the pink or swamp milkweed planted three years ago and, in the summer, visited daily by Monarch butterflies.

Swamp Milkeed (Asclepias Incarnata).

I also planted Cosmos flowers from seeds. They are starting to bloom and here are some pictures of them.

Cosmos.

White Cosmos.

White Cosmos a day later.

Cosmos.

Lavender

Tags

bee, clouded yellow, lavender, photography, postaday, praying mantis, princeton lavender

Today I went to Princeton Lavender, a small farm near our house that grows lavender and sells it under various forms, including honey from bees that feed on the lavender flowers. If you want to go there, their address is: 3741 Lawrenceville Road, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Bee on lavender.

Several other kinds of insects were enjoying the lavender field.

Clouded Yellow butterfly on lavender.

Green Praying Mantis on lavender.

Brown Praying Mantis on lavender.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

carnegie center, lotus, photography, postaday, white lotus

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

Water on Lotus leaf.

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

Lotus Sunday

Tags

carnegie center, lotus, photography, postaday, white lotus

We are entering a week when it is going to rain every day. Yesterday morning, however, the sun was out and I arrived at the Lotus pond in time to see the first rays of sun fall on the flowers.

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

Water beads on Lotus leaf.

Docked ship.

Bird Flights

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Forster's Tern, glossy ibis, mocking bird, photography, postaday, snowy egret

Here are some photos of flying birds that I’ve taken over these past several weeks.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Mocking Bird.

Two Glossy Ibises.

Forster’s Tern.

Snowy Egret.

Rookery at Ocean City 4

Tags

bird paparazzi, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

In the first post for this series 11 days ago, I posted pictures of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron tending to her five eggs. Yesterday, I went back there and saw that the eggs have become young chicks covered with down, barely able to stand up. There were about twenty photographers gathered on the sidewalk above the nest, all vying to take pictures of the herons.

As I got there, the male heron had just landed with a twig in his beak. The female will take it and add it to the nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron arriving with twig.

Female taking twig from male.

Female adding twig to nest.

There were five eggs, but I only see three chicks. I wonder what happened.

Female and chicks.

Mother heron proceeded to feed the chicks.

Female feeding chicks.

Afterwards, she spread out her wings to shield her children from the hot sun. She kept her eyes closed, perhaps taking a well-deserved nap.

Female shielding chicks from sun.

Following are pictures of the Ocean City Welcome Center and the bird paparazzi.

Ocean City Welcome Center.

Bird paparazzi.

Monochrome Monday

Tags

lotus, monochrome monday, photography, postaday

Three Lotus leaves.

Lotus leaf.

Lotus leaf.

Lotus 2018

Tags

lotus, photography, postaday, white lotus

Here are some pictures of Lotus flowers taken yesterday at the pond near our house.

Sisyphus, in this case a bee holding up a Lotus flower.

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

White Lotus.

White Lotus framed by a nearby leaf.

White Lotus.

Dragonflies, Hummingbird Moth

Tags

blue darter, dragonfly, hummingbird moth, photography, postaday, red-tailed darter

I went to the Lotus pond again this year. It no longer has any pink or red Lotus, and now every flower is white. While taking pictures of the flowers, I noticed many dragonflies fluttering about and switched to photographing them.

As usual, there were many Blue Darters.

Blue Darter dragonfly.

Then a couple of dragonflies with a reddish orange tail flew by. I am going to call it a Red-tailed Darter, but if you know the correct name, be sure to let me know. It is about 30% larger than the Blue Darter, and I did not see them land on any plant or anything else.

Red-tailed Darter.

Then as I was taking a shot of a Lotus flower, a rare Hummingbird Moth flew toward it.

Hummingbird Moth.

Finally, a couple more shots of the dragonflies.

Blue Darter.

Red-tailed Darter.

Bee, Butterfly on Milkweed

Tags

asclepias tuberosa, bee, milkweed, monarch butterfly, photography, postaday

I have been planting milkweed (Asclepias Tuberosa) in our backyard for the past three years. It’s an easy plant, requiring virtually no care (note the weed in its name). A sunny afternoon found a bee and a Monarch butterfly on the milkweed.

Bee on milkweed.

Bee on milkweed.

Monarch laying eggs on milkweed.

Monarch, done laying eggs.

Rookery at Ocean City 3

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird, rookery

Black-crowned Night Herons are a major presence at  the rookery next to the Welcome Center at Ocean City, NJ. These birds hunt for their food starting at dusk, and their eyes are one of their most noticeable features.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Immature Black-crowned Night Heron.

Despite their size these Herons are easily intimidated by the Red-winged Blackbird, a fierce defender of its territory. I saw a Blackbird chase a Heron into a tree.

Red-winged Blackbird and Black-crowned Night Heron.

Pursued by the Blackbird, the Heron tried to hide among the branches. Unfortunately, too many leaves shielded the small Blackbird from the camera.

Black-crowned Night Heron very wary of Red-winged Blackbird.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Rookery at Ocean City 2

Tags

glossy ibis, little blue heron, ocean city, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday, in this series first post, I wrote that it was late in the season.This was because I saw many juvenile birds at the rookery, and only one nest with unhatched eggs.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

There were some juvenile Glossy Ibises, very hungry ones that did not give their parents any respite as they kept demanding for more food. They caused a lot of commotion from one end of the rookery to the other, juveniles chasing their parents to get food from their bills!

Juvenile Glossy Ibis.

Glossy Ibises, adult and juvenile.

I also saw the following juvenile, which I am guessing is a Little Blue Heron. If so, it would be a first sighting for me. If you know it is a different bird, please tell me.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron.

Rookery at Ocean City

Tags

ocean city, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

Ocean City, NJ is a resort town in South Jersey on an island which can be reached via a causeway. Driving on the causeway, before arriving in Ocean City, there is a turn-off for a Welcome Center. From a sidewalk right next to the center, every Spring and Summer it is quite easy to take pictures of Herons, Ibises, Egrets, and many other birds that fly in from the South to breed and raise their chicks. The sidewalk is almost as tall as the rookery trees, so one can look down on their nests and watch activities from breeding to incubating and finally fledging just before the birds migrate South. The birds seemed unperturbed by all the human lookers and photographers.

I missed going there last year, and this year I only managed to get to the rookery this past weekend. It is late in the season, but I still saw a Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest with unhatched eggs. The tired-looking mother had just stood up to scratch herself.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

After some more preening, she tidied up the nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Then she sat down and resumed incubating. The eggs should be hatching in a few more days.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postday, snowy egret

Snowy Egret.

Monday Monochrome – Daisy

Tags

daisy.monochrome, photography, postaday

Daisy – B&W

Daisy – Color version

Which version do you like better?