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.

Silent Sunday

Tags

american robin, colonial lake, mallard, mourning dove, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

Storm clouds.

Mourning Dove.

American Robin.

Mallards.

Mallards.

Mallards.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.

2018 Year of the Bird

Tags

bald eagle, barn swallow, barnegat lighthouse, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, Long-billed Dowitcher, mourning dove, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull, sanderling, year of the bird

2018 is the Year of the Bird, as declared by the National Audubon Society, National Geographic, BirdLife International, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I didn’t know about that until now, but here are seven photos I took recently of birds around New Jersey.

Two Barn Swallows in Newton, NJ.

Mourning Dove on beach at Barnegat Light.

Great Egret at Edwin B Forsythe NWR.

Sanderling at Barnegat Light.

Young Bald Eagle at Edwin B Forsythe NWR.

Long-billed Dowitcher at Edwin B Forsythe NWR.

Juvenile Ring-billed Gull at Barnegat Light.

Mourning Doves

Tags

mourning dove, photography, postaday

On a short trip to California, I came down with the flu last week and have not gone out to take any picture after coming home. Hopefully soon, as I am feeling better today. In the meantime, here are some pictures of Mourning Doves taken since 2017, including one taken at the beginning of this year.

Mourning Dove, 2018.

Mourning Doves, 2017.

Mourning Dove, 2017.

Some Regular Bird Visitors

Tags

blue jay, downy woddpecker ruby-throated hummingbird, mourning dove, photography, postaday, turtle dove

The following birds are regular visitors to our backyard, and here are some shots of them near the bird feeder.

This year a band of Blue Jays have come swarming in our neighborhood. You can tell when they come as all the smaller birds have to scatter out of their way. Fortunately, they don’t eat everything at once and they leave enough food for others.

Blue Jay.

Turtle (or Mourning) Doves are always there also, not as aggressive as Blue Jays, but persistent. They will perch on high branches and patiently wait their turn. The one below flew down to our deck to check out some scattered sunflower seeds.

Turtle or Mourning Dove.

The Downy Woodpeckers are also always there, no matter what season it is.

Downy Woodpecker.

A regular summer visitor is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, very small and very territorial. The following female will attack attack any other hummingbird that tries to use the special feeder I put out for hummingbirds. It even tried to shoo away bigger birds.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering over feeder.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird landing on feeder.

The male Ruby-throated Hummingbird either comes out in late evening, or when I am not home. So far I have seen him but it’s been too dark to photograph him.

Flowers, Rain, and a Dove

Tags

cosmos, desert rose, mourning dove, photography, postaday

I took the following two photos last year, forgot about them, and only today got the time to review and process them.

First a Mourning Dove seemed interested in the flowers of a Desert Rose kept in a planter.

Mourning Dove.

The same flowers after a rainy night.

Desert Rose after rain.

This last shot of a Cosmos is from this morning, when temperatures were still below 90 F(32 C).

Cosmos in morning sun.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Eye Spy

Tags

blue jay, brown pelican, cardinal, eyes spy, great blue heron, mourning dove, photography, postaday, red fox, tufted titmouse, weekly photo challenge

The link for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/eye-spy/

When I photograph birds and animals, I try to get a good eye expression, or at least get their eyes in clear focus. Here are my entries for the challenge, all from photos taken this year, some as recently as yesterday.

Great Blue Heron keeping an eye on a fish, which it caught just a few seconds later.

Blue Jay with a questioning look.

Female Cardinal modelling for photographer.

Brown Pelican.

Tufted Titmouse. These birds have some of the most photogenic eyes.

Juvenile Red Fox.

Bighorn Ram.

Mourning Dove.

Goldfinch in winter plumage.

Dove Landing on a Branch

Tags

mourning dove, photography, postaday

A family of mourning doves has been coming to our backyard, two parents and two children, assuming the larger ones are the parents and the smaller ones the kids. One of them landed on a magnolia branch, as captured in the following photos.

Mourning Dove landing 1

Mourning Dove landing 2

Mourning Dove landing 3

Mourning Dove landing 4

Mourning Dove after landing

This dove then proceeded to sit on that branch for at least half an hour, only moving its head once in a while.

 

Sunset Before Snow

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, mourning dove, photography, postaday, sunset

Yesterday, we drove on Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge as the sun was setting. The sunset was not terribly exciting, but as soon as the golden orb dipped below the horizon, the sky lit up in wonderful shades of vermillion, orange, yellow, and purple.

Sunset at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. If you look carefully, you’ll see some ducks still searching for dinner

Today, we woke up to a light snow falling gently over everything, including our deck. This mourning dove sat on a rail covered with snow for a long time, probably asking why I had not yet replenished the bird feeder.

Mourning Dove sitting stoically as snow fell on it

2014 Photos: Odds and Ends – 2

Tags

mourning dove, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird, skunk

Last September, flocks of red-winged blackbirds were swooping up and down around me at the Abbott Marshlands. A few landed close by and I took the following shot of a juvenile blackbird. Note the more mature bird with more brilliant coloring beyond it.

Juvenile red-winged blackbird

Many mourning doves live in our area, and here are two examples.

Mourning dove

Mourning dove gathering materials for nest

In early October, I was hiking at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge when a skunk crossed the road and scurried toward me, coming as close as 30 ft. Uh, oh! I stopped and squeezed a few shots, including the one below. Fortunately, the skunk went back into the bushes and did not spray anything. However, it was an omen. The following day, I was told that my job had been eliminated.

Skunk