Cee’s Photo Challenge – Flower of the Day

Tags

cee's flower of the day challenge, magnolia grandiflora, postaday, southern magnolia

This morning I walked out to our backyard and saw the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia Grandiflora) covered with beautiful blooms. The rising sunrays were showing the flowers at their best, and these are my entries to Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge.

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia Grandiflora).

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia Grandiflora).

Lens-Artists Challenge #205 – The Eyes Have it

Tags

bluejay, Eastern Blue Bird, Eastern Bluebird, Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, great egret, postaday, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

This post is my response to Tina’s challenge at Lens-Artists Challenge #205 – The Eyes Have it. I almost never photograph humans, so my entries will consist of pictures of birds that I encounter in a rookery, a wildlife refuge, or in our backyard.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron shielding her eggs from the hot sun. You can see part on an eye behind her right wing.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron just waking up grumpy.

White Ibis after returning from a fishing trip.

Bluejay drinking from the birdbath in our backyard.

White Ibis preening.

Eastern Bluebird on top of Southern Magnolia tree.

Eastern Bluebird staring at photographer.

Great Egret landing on a branch.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeder.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeder.

Silent Sunday

Tags

postaday, red-winged blackbird, silent sunday

Red-winged Blackbird.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center

Tags

great egret, Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday

Yesterday the rookery next to the New Jersey Ocean City Welcome Center was teeming with egrets, herons, ibises, and many other smaller birds. The Great Egrets breeding season was at its peak as you can see from the following images.

Great Egret pair and newly hatched chicks.

Great Egret with chick and a still unhatched egg.

Great Egret bringing an eel to the nest.

The parent egret will eat the eel then regurgitate it into the bottom of the nest. Then the young chicks will be able to eat it.

Great Egret with three chicks. Not all of the young chicks may survive due to competition among them, unless the parents can provide plenty of food.

Bluebirds – New Brood?

Tags

brood, Eastern Bluebird, fledgling, postaday

Two days ago, in the morning I saw both Bluebird parents catching insects and bringing them to their babies.

Bluebird parents on top of birdhouse.

Bluebird female feeding the young ones.

Bluebird male calling out to female.

Male Bluebird bringing food toward the birdhouse.

I thought it was about time for the young birds to fledge and leave their nest. Then, in the afternoon, our backyard was suddenly very quiet. No more Bluebirds flying around or calling each other. Very cautiously, I opened the door of the birdhouse. No bird was inside. The young ones had all fledged, and I missed seeing them leave their nest.

Then this morning, the male Bluebird was back flying around and attacking his image on our patio door. I went out and saw him perched on the birdhouse. Then the female Bluebird reappeared, and the pair kept taking turns diving toward the grass to catch insects. Life was back to normal.

Bluebirds may have from one to three broods. It looks like this Bluebird couple will start a second brood in the same birdhouse. I’ll keep watching them and try to photograph the second brood as they fledge.

Silent Sunday

Tags

daylily, postaday, silent sunday

Daylily.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

coreopsis, moonbeam, nasturtium, postaday, stella de oro daylily

Nasturtium.

Stella De Oro Daylily.

Stella De Oro Daylily.

Double Knockout Rose.

Coreopsis Moonbeam.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Eastern Bluebird, house finch, northern cardinal, postaday, silent sunday, southern magnolia

Male Northern Cardinal.

Male House Finch.

Male House Finch.

Female House Finch.

Male Eastern Bluebird.

Southern Magnolia.

Southern Magnolia a day later.

Female Eastern Bluebird.

Bleeding Hearts.

A Day in the Life of Our Bluebirds

Tags

Eastern Bluebird, fecal sac, postaday

Every day the pair of Eastern Bluebirds living in our backyard have to find food for their babies, which could be fledging in a week or so. Fortunately, our neighborhood has many spots, including lawns, an empty lot and a wooded area, where they can easily find food. The female is the one that works the hardest, with the male relishing his role as her protector against other birds and even a photographer!

Male Bluebird arriving with butterfly (or moth) as food.

Female Bluebird with a worm.

Female Bluebird bringing spider for food.

Female Bluebird flying out of nest.

Sometimes they take a break and watch their nest from the top of our birdfeeder hanging pole.

Eastern Bluebird couple watching their birdhouse.

One essential function of both parents is to keep the nest clean by taking out the fecal sacs they pull out of their young ones several times a day.

Male Bluebird with a spider.

Male Blurbird feeding their babies.

Male Bluebird going inside nest.

Male Bluebird flying out holding a fecal sac. He will drop it somewhere far away from the nest.

The female also does that type of diaper duty. In fact, she carries out more fecal sacs than he does! On the other hand, he spends a lot of time keeping other birds clear of their birdhouse. Yesterday I watched as he repeatedly attacked the Bluebird he saw in the driver side mirror of a car parked on our driveway. At times, the noise that he made pecking at his image in the mirror sounded like a mini machine gun. This morning we put a bag over the mirror to put a stop to that.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

Eastern Bluebird, postaday

Female Bluebird.

Female Bluebird.

Female Bluebird.

Male Bluebird.

Male Bluebird.

Avian Snuggle

Tags

avian snuggle, house finch, postaday, snuggle

House Finches are the most numerous birds at our birdfeeder. Yesterday I saw a couple snuggling among the crape myrtle branches.

House Finches snuggling.

Bluebird Invasion

Tags

Eastern Bluebird, house wren, postaday

After I posted my 2022 photos of Eastern Bluebirds, I heard many loud bird cries in our backyard. I went out to see what the hubbub was about.

We now have two couples of Bluebirds, four adult Bluebirds in total, and four baby Bluebirds! The newcomers were flying all over, looking for a birdhouse they could occupy. The original Bluebirds of course felt threatened since they had four newly hatched babies in their nest. They chased away the new pair, and those two birds have been knocking on our bay window which faces the backyard.

I cannot positively distinguish the newcomers from the old-timers, but I think the following shots show the new Bluebirds.

Eastern Bluebirds on TV antenna.

Newly arrived male Eastern Bluebird.

Newly arrived female Eastern Bluebird.

The original Bluebird couple had built a nest inside a birdhouse that used to be occupied by House Wrens. However, the Bluebirds did not use it and took over another nest we can see from our kitchen window. The House Wrens went to settle in another birdhouse in front of our house.

I opened the unused birdhouse in the backyard and threw out the nest that the original Bluebirds had built but did not use. After that I saw the new Bluebird pair visit the empty birdhouse several times. I hope they will settle in it and stop knocking on our windows.

TF130-06-22

Tylko fotografia

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Bluebirds – 2022

Tags

Eastern Bluebird, postaday

This is the fourth year that Eastern Bluebirds have come back to nest at the birdhouse I put up for them in the back of our house. Today I saw the Bluebird parents fly in and out to bring food to a brood of four baby Bluebirds.

Male Bluebird on top of birdhouse.

Female Bluebird looking for her babies inside birdhouse.

The parents were very efficient, bringing back newly captured insects and worms every five minutes.

Female Bluebird flying toward birdhouse entrance.

Male Bluebird perched on top of birdfeeder for birds that prefer sunflower seeds.

Male Bluebird observing photographer.

Male Bluebird with a spider.

Hot Colors

Tags

northern cardinal, postaday

As I start writing this, outside temperature is 88°F (31°C) and tomorrow promises to be even hotter. Looking out I saw a couple of Northern Cardinals arrive on our deck intent on checking out the birdfeeder.

Male Northern Cardinal.

Male Northern Cardinal: “Nothing on this glass table except empty shells!”

Male Northern Cardinal ready to jump on birdfeeder.

Male Northern Cardinal puffing up, maybe because of the heat?

Male Northern Cardinal looking 50% bigger.

Male Northern Cardinal about to fly up.

Meanwhile, the female was waiting for her turn in the shadow of the magnolia branches.

Female Northern Cardinal.

Female Northern Cardinal, so pretty.

In Remembrance

T. W. Dittmer

The Wall

I can still see their faces, late at night, all alone with my dreams.

I can still hear their laughter. I can still hear their screams.

Didn’t they do right by you?

Didn’t they do all they could do?

Tell me, didn’t they? Didn’t they do right by you?

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Spring Flowers in Full Bloom

Tags

alba bleeding heart, bleeding hearts, clematis, miss saigon, peony, postaday

There are still four weeks left of spring and some flowers are reaching their peak blooms. I took the following photos of their beautiful shapes and colors over the past three mornings.

Siberian Irises.

Alba (White) Bleeding Hearts.

Red Peony bud.

White Peony.

Red Peony with white Peonies in background.

Red Peony.

Red Peony.

White Peony.

Siberian Irises. The pale blue ones are named Miss Saigon.

Clematis.

Vertical and Delivered

Tags

downy woodpecker, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, house finch, osprey, postaday, white-breasted nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatches are again coming to our birdfeeder, feeding themselves at their preferred angle, i.e. vertically and upside down. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to swallow those sunflower kernels, but they do.

Most birds eat like the female Downy Woodpecker and House Finch shown below.

Female Downy Woodpecker and House Finch at birdfeeder.

White-Breasted Nuthatch going toward the sunflower seeds.

White-Breasted Nuthatch got a sunflower seed.

White-Breasted Nuthatch: “It’s easy, just like this!”

White-Breasted Nuthatch on top of birdfeeder.

Other birds have their breakfast delivered.

Osprey male fly in fish to female Osprey.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday, sandpiper

Mute Swans, Sandpiper.

Monday Monochrome

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday

Mute Swan.

(Not So) Silent Sunday

Tags

canada goose, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, house finch, postaday, red-winged blackbird, terrapin, white campion

Ten-Hut!

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Terrapins.

White Campions.

White Campion.

Male House Finch.

Female House Finch.

Osprey Breakfast

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, osprey, postaday

Following are images of an Osprey couple sharing a fish around 8:24 AM yesterday. I saw the male Osprey fly in with a fish, but by the time I was ready to take pictures, he was already standing on a side of the nest where the female was incubating.

Male Osprey with fish, female incubating in nest.

Usually, he would have eaten the head of the fish, leaving the rest to her.

Male Osprey bringing fish breakfast to female.

Note headless fish in male’s talon.

She started eating. As usual, female Osprey was larger than the male.

She decided to take the fish with her to eat somewhere else.

After a brief flight, she landed not far from nest, scattering nearby birds.

Male Osprey took over incubating duties.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

clivia, postaday, wordless wednesday

Clivia.

Clivia.

Monochrome Monday

Tags

postaday, white dogwood

White Dogwood.

Weekend Variety

Tags

bald eagle, Black-crowned Night Heron, canada goose, Forster's Tern, great egret, postaday, purple martin, snowy egret, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

I have been saving photos of birds over the past several weeks, waiting for an opportunity to post them. Here are most of them, in no particular order.

Black-crowned Night Heron in deep sleep.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron slowly waking up.

Bald Eagle shielding Eaglet from a strong wind. Ten days ago there were two Eaglets in the nest, but only one is visible now.

Canada Geese goose-stepping practice.

Great Egret landing.

White Ibis landing with twigs to build its nest.

Forster’s Tern looking for fish.

Purple Martin.

Snowy Egret.

Ucrania 2022 y Guernica 1937

maria bilbao

A lo largo de los días no puedo abstraerme de las imágenes y noticias sobre la invasión de Ucrania. Es imposible no dejar de pensar en la vida tan dolorosa, inhumana, de sus habitantes que malviven en las ciudades destruidas, condenados a bajar al subsuelo de la tierra y vivir en corredores infrahumanos con el sonido de fondo de las alarmas, y las bombas cayendo sin cesar. Tantas personas inocentes que han perdido la vida serán recordadas como víctimas del genocidio perpetrado por Putin y su ejército en los comienzos del siglo XXI.

Leo una entrevista al psiquiatra Luis Rojas Marcos en La Voz de Galicia del 26 de abril. Luis Rojas Marcos vivió en primera línea el atentado del 11-S cuando dirigía el Sistema de Hospitales de la ciudad de New York. Al preguntarle sobre Putin, dice: “Yo no puedo comentar la salud mental de Putin porque no lo…

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Wordless Wednesday

Tags

clouds, gosling, Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday

Clouds.

Gosling: “Beautiful clouds!”

Rain and Flowers

Tags

azalea, dogwood, hino crimson azalea, Judy Zuk Magnolia, magnolia, postaday, white dogwood

It rained all day yesterday. I thought I heard rainfall also during the night. It continued this morning and did not stop until mid morning. I went out to see what survived or was ruined, and was pleasantly surprised as all the flowers came through and actually seemed to thrive.

Judy Zuk Magnolia.

Judy Zuk Magnolia.

Azalea.

Hino Crimson Azalea.

White Dogwood.

White Dogwood.

Another white flower: Viburnum.

A New Gull, and the Usual Birds

Tags

canada goose, glossy ibis, great blue heron, hatchling, lesser yellow legs, postaday, red-winged blackbird, willet

The Black-headed Gull comes from Europe and, about fifty years ago, has begun appearing in North America in small numbers. I saw a group of about a dozen of them on Wildlife Drive for the first time last week. They did not seem too shy, like most gulls, and I was able to come close to them.

Black-headed Gull.

Other birds that I photographed are well known to most of us.

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Great Blue Heron with a shrimp appetizer.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Willet contemplating take off.

Glossy Ibis.

Canada Goose hatchling.

Bald Eagle Nest

Tags

bald eagle, eaglet, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

Last week, I went to the site of a Bald Eagle nest at the refuge. It was high on a pine tree, but a Bald Eagle mother and Eaglets were visible from the road.

Bald Eagle nest.

There were two Eaglets, but only one was visible in this photo. It was asking when lunch would be ready.

“We have to wait for Daddy to come back from fishing,” said the Bald Eagle mother.

Mid Spring Flowers

Tags

bleeding heart, judy zuk, magnolia, postaday, susan magnolia

A cold beginning for Spring 2022 has decimated our early magnolias and Asian pear flowers. Today, at the end of April, temperatures climbed above 50°F (10°C) but a strong wind makes it feel much colder. The “Judy Zuk” Magnolia tree that I planted five years ago is bearing vibrant yellow flowers. Judy Zuk was the president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from 1990 to 2005, and this magnolia is a hybrid developed there.

“Judy Zug” Magnolia.

“Judy Zug” Magnolia.

Another late bloomer that has escaped frost is the Susan Magnolia, a smaller tree than the Soulangeana Magnolia (Saucer Magnolia). We have two trees of the Soulangeana but both lost all of their flowers this year. Fortunately, we have three Susan Magnolias.

Susan Magnolia.

Last but not least are the dependable Bleeding Hearts which have started to come up.

Bleeding Heart.

Monochrome Monday +

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, snowy egret

Three Snowy Egrets.

Three Snowy Egrets.

Spring Colors

Tags

american robin, colonial lake, crabapple, european starling, postaday

The Crabapple is a most colorful spring blooming tree. There was one near the entrance of our public library and it easily drew everyone’s attention.

Crabapple spring blooms.

Crabapple spring blooms.

At nearby Colonial Lake ducks and birds were also welcoming the sun and a much needed increase in temperature.

Mallard couple, with she probably the result of a domestic duck and a wild Mallard.

American Robins were everywhere. I followed one as it walked on the shore of Colonial Lake.

American Robin at Colonial Lake.

American Robin looking for worm.

American Robin.

At one point there was a face off with an European Starling.

European Starling.

Although bigger than the Robin, the Starling flew away.

Double-Crested Cormorants

Tags

colonial lake, double-crested cormorant, postaday

In my previous post about a Cormorant, I should have mentioned that it was a Double-Crested Cormorant, the most common type found in North America. It sports a double crest of feathers on its head during breeding season. However, when it plunges into the water to look for fish, the double crest is flattened on its head and cannot be seen then.

A few days ago, I saw a couple of Cormorants sunning themselves in the middle of Colonial Lake, one with a visible double crest.

Double-crested Cormorants. The one on the left has a visible double crest on its head.

A closer look at a Double-crested Cormorant.

The crest color is white for Double-crested Cormorants in Alaska, but is black in other regions.

Cormorant

Tags

cormorant, double-crested cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

This time of the year, birds are very busy building their nests. A male Cormorant at the refuge emerged from the water with a stick.

Cormorant just found a stick in the water.

Cormorant getting ready to take stick back to the nest.

Cormorant taking off.

Cormorant flying back to nest.

In nest building, the male Cormorant only gathers building materials. The female Cormorant is the one that arranges such materials into a nest.

Purple Martins

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, purple martin

The EBF refuge’s Visitor Center puts up Purple Martin houses every spring. Those birds take them over and create a busy intersection as they fly into and out of their chosen condo. A photographer only has to stand below and aim a camera up to photograph the birds. However, they fly very fast and one has to be quick on the shutter!

Purple Martins in front of their condos.

Male Purple Martin checking out humans.

Male and female Purple Martins having a conversation.

Female and male Purple Martins in front of their condo.

Late Spring

Tags

eastern mud turtle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mourning dove, osprey, postaday

Late Spring sounds like the name of a movie by Yasujirō Ozu, but it is very real for us this year. Almost a month after it was supposed to start, this year’s spring has been dragged kicking and screaming to make its entry, and it exacted extensive revenge on all sorts of plants and flowers. Our magnolia trees which normally bloom with thousands of vibrant flowers have had most of their buds killed by frost. I can count less than a dozen yellow flowers on our Butterfly Magnolia. It usually has several hundreds in April.

Butterfly Magnolia flower. The other flower in the background was killed by a late frost.

And here’s a view taken last week of the refuge.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, April 2022.

The Ospreys have arrived and became occupants of six platform nests along Wildlife Drive. Yesterday, I saw a male Osprey dining on the head of a fish.

Male Osprey eating head of a fish.

Meanwhile his mate seemed to be still sleeping.

Female Osprey in platform nest.

Further down the road, the Osprey couple that lost a fish to another Osprey a few days ago were waking up. He, on the right, did not appear to be in any hurry to go catch a fish.

Osprey couple on nest.

Rather than wait for them, I drove on to go see the night herons in Ocean City. On the way out, a very small turtle crossed my path.

Eastern Mud Turtle.

Finally a beautiful dove was standing by the side of the road.

Mourning Dove.

Mourning Dove.

Ospreys, Fish Crow

Tags

Fish Crow, osprey, postaday

As I arrived at my favorite Osprey nest site, I saw and heard the female Osprey whistling. Usually, a female Osprey whistles to clamor for food when she sees her mate come back with a fish that he has caught. Then as he lands somewhere within sight of the nest, he proceeds to eat the head of the fish and only brings what remains to her.

Female Osprey calling out loudly.

This time, the female was whistling loudly, almost belligerently. Then I saw not one but two male Ospreys fighting.

Male Ospreys fighting.

Male Osprey chasing away intruder.

Unfortunately, the one that fled had a fish in its talons. In the following photo, the fish is missing its head which was very likely eaten by the other male Osprey.

Osprey flying away with fish without head.

The Osprey that had its fish stolen flew after the thief. After a while I could not see either of them any longer. Meanwhile, at the nest, the female Osprey was facing a Fish Crow which came by to see whether it could steal anything from the nest.

Fish Crow approaching Osprey nest.

Fish Crow landing on nest.

Fish Crow flying away.

Fish Crow perched on nearby tree branch, waiting for an opportunity.

Female Osprey waiting for mate to return.

I also waited for the male Osprey to fly back to the nest with a new catch. But I had to leave after almost half an hour of waiting without seeing him. The female Osprey did not whistle once during that time.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday

Mute Swan.

Mute Swans.

Mute Swans.

Mute Swans.

Village Teacher, Absorbing Historical Fiction

T. W. Dittmer

I recently read “Village Teacher” by Nguyễn Trọng Hiền. I was fascinated by this book and decided to share my review.

Yes, I admit, my time in Vietnam has stayed with me and I’m drawn to stories of that country, but I liked this book so much that I couldn’t stay quiet about it. My review on Goodreads follows.

Village Teacher by neihtn (Nguyễn Trọng Hiền)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To me, this story was engrossing. I’ve become a slow, undisciplined reader, but this tale carried me along throughout the entire book.

The story takes place during the early years of the French colonization of Vietnam. It is the story of the schoolteacher in a village in northern Vietnam who participates in the royal examinations in the imperial city of Hue. During his time there, he meets a woman of Vietnamese/French descent and the two are strongly attracted…

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