Inside Yesterday--Had To Get Out Today

The rain and gray clouds and cold were closing in inch by inch by inch. By noon time, it was out the door with the bumper shoot  in one hand and the camera bag and tote in the other. Just at Love Field, already, we have picked up an inch and a half of rain. The snow went north to soon.So, to be positive about the matter, we got liquid snow instead.

For a bit, I had the wipers on intermittent. The drizzle was just enough to have them on. When I got to the lake, it was clear that the water levels were even higher than they had been with the most recent flooding on the parking lots and roadway. The dock at one of the boat club marinas had been smashed and rearranged by logs floating down stream and striking the under carriage, raising sections out of the water. So with that siting, it was a full sweep of the lake to see what else might be amiss, all- the- while looking for the pairs of hawks that are getting ready to nest. Not one hawk did I see. Not one. This is the second day and it somewhat worries me. The weather can cause hawks to go elsewhere.

What I did discover was that the pelican's island was totally under water for the second time in less than two weeks and what was worse was the the logs that they like to nap upon and preen their feathers were totally gone. None!! Even the ones out father into the bay area were missing. I also noted that the number of pelicans were  much less than what normally hangs out there. There were only a dozen more on the lake drifting and none down by the dam when I was there. It was on the way home when I made a sweep over the  top of Flag Pole Hill and down to Goforth along White Rock Creek when I discovered about thirty pelicans on the creek bank between Northwest Highway and the cross road that runs east and west behind Flag Pole Hill. There were even many more Great White Egrets and a few more Great Blue Herons that I have never seen all together hanging out like today.

It will be interesting to see how the return goes when the lake levels drop a bit and the creeks flood stage currents lower and slow down . Will the group of pelicans stay there or return to  Sunset Bay? The Park Superintendent told me about a month ago in his office that he can't put logs back into the water. Environmental control factors, nor can he take them out unless they wash ashore like the ones did along the lake shore and the marina docks. I fully understand that process. And there is a lot of loss limbs and branches  on the ground where the disease and rot weakened the branches to where finally, the rain soaked wood's weight pulled them down. Big ones. There is a good semi load of wood on the ground now just along East Lawther from trees down and branches down. So the hope to have nature replace the logs for the pelican and cormorants has greatly diminished after the scouting mission today. 

At least the temperatures will be normal and even well above above average for the next ten days or so. I noted a 70 degree day just a few more days down the pike. Tomorrow will be seasonal but the mitigating factor to all of this is sunshine!! Sun, Glorious Sun!!.  Annie, yes, "the sun will come out tomorrow"!

See the log on the left. It runs to the right middle of the undercarriage. That's what lifted the dock up.

Slightly blurred. I'm not a memeber of the 600mm club.

The Sailing Club Has been Around and Around again. It's the anchor of the Marina.

Pair Are Preparing To Nest at White Rock

This is  Our White Rock Male

Another view of the White Rock Male. The female is up on the hill in a tree. 

Later, the pair flew off into the Big Thicket. The trees in the area between the owls tree and the Red Shoulder's nest of years past has suffered some major damage from storms, disease, old age and loose soil from all the rains. But, this pair seem to be okay with that and have been seen in almost the exact location the past three days.

In other bird news. The bald eagles in Northeast Florida were attack by a wild adult eagle. The famous pair of Romeo and Juliet  has caused a stir. Romeo has been on the nest for two days straight while Juliet, who suffered serious damage and injury left the nest. According to reports on the cam site, an unknown female took over the two eggs that are pipping. Romeo was reported to have fought off the attacker by himself. It's nature and things like that happen. It's upsetting but man cannot intervene.

Highly Unusual Day at the Lake

Like Santa in the Night Before Christmas I went straight to the nesting pair of red shoulders breaking with my normal cycle of covering the full 9 miles of shoreline. Pulling into the lot across the street for the area where the hawks usually hang out, there was a lady in full bike gear squatted down pouring water onto something. She spoke to a family of four as they walked past, turned around and came back. Obviously, something the size of a small dog was on the ground in distress. After watching her pour more water on this life form, it was time to get out of the car and go see what was happening as it was, for sure, cutting into my bird time schedule.

As it turns out, it is a small opossum on its side in what I judged to be pain. It would lift its head a little and look around and then put its head back on the ground. As the woman said,"you don't know what kind of injury is on the other side". My thought was immediately focused on what I was also seeing that they lady had not observed. One of the big red shoulders flew from tree to tree and was watching every move at the opossum location. I pointed out the hawk to the lady and said that it might have been knocked out of the tree and fell to the ground, or that the hawk had actually tried to lunch and was interrupted by humans or had made some move to free itself from the talons of the hawk.

The lady mentioned that her father had been a falconer and that she knew about hawks and that her husband was bringing a metal cage and that they were going to take the animal to a Rehab Center south of where we were at the lake. I said that I would move on to my next location  since she had help on the way and I left, knowing that the hawks were still in the area and that when I could come back later in the afternoon, they would most likely be in the area still.

At next stops turned up nothing and I made my way around to Sunset Bay when I saw shadows on the ground in the area of a nest that I knew of from last year.  I parked the car and stood at the edge of the parking lot looking and watching for the shadows to move overhead again. Then, I saw the other pair of red shoulders in the tree line. Now, I had my first images of the afternoon and they were pretty good for the distance. But, as I got closer, the images got better. Now, I know what a 600MM glass would do for that image, but, one, I don't have a 600MM, I could get one, but there are other issues that go with a 600 MM piece of glass that I happen to think keeps photographers from being good photographers because the glass does get the image that every one seeks but these guys tend to forget why you are a photographer in the first place---or, second, you let the success of a 600 glass overtake your head and you think you have mastered photography and start to get sloppy. So, I'm happy with a 150-200 glass and I keep trying to get better and better with each image.

Then, I made my way back to the original site when I first arrived at the lake and found the opossum delay keeping me from getting the shots that were there.It had only been about 10-minutes before I spotted the female sitting in her usual spot. Shockingly, I saw shadows on the ground moving in that direction and I looked up just in time to see the male come sweeping into the area where the female was sitting. And then, before I could get my camera off my neck and pointed, the male mated with the female. That pretty much cemented the fact that the pair were ready to start the nest site officially and the female will be laying eggs shortly. After shooting both the male and female before the male flew off to patrol his territory, I watched  the female for some time and she was content to sit where she had been sitting prior. I decided to walk around to the other side of the wooded area to another clearing to see if I could find the male or get a better shot of the female, as she had been facing in that direction anyway. To my surprise, I saw another photographer that I like and we were talking when he ask if I had seen the Bard owl. I said, "no, but I had heard it earlier." After taking a secretive location oath, I promised not to tell where the big owl was hanging out. Every one knows where the other big owl hangs out and they all look there. No one seems to be very informed on this one and I can understand why you don't share the wealth on things like this because the rush of traffic would drive the big owl away. I got the shots. They are pretty good.One is good in a bad kind of way in that the big eyes are so funny and the feather pattern is out of focus as the owl moved from a narrow branch to a more sturdy one. I got home late. Hungry, dinner was had on the go as I headed home.

Full wing span flying into trees

Red shoulders had just mated

Bard owl

Did You See That We May Be Living In A Hologram?

It has never been my intention to have a bird and weather report blog. Sometimes, things take a turn where they were not intended. Not as frequent as times in the past, I used to get in my car, head out down the street in one direction with no where in particular in mind. It was one of those car conversations that I have from time to time with the Head Navigator Upstairs. It was like my car knew where to go from then on. All I did was to hold on to the steering wheel and go with the flow. Some of my best images have come out of my camera with days like that. Although I don't have as many of them as I did years ago, I still have that conversation with the Navigator now and then, especially if I've had a dry run on material. So, maybe there is something to us being in a Hologram.

Today, was the first time this winter that I have had to use my sunglasses. The angle of the sun is coming into play once again as the sun angle becomes more high and more intense. I tried to drive without them but the Navigator basically was telling me today that I wasn't getting any help from upstairs  and I reached for the shades and put them on for the first time this year. I've had so much cabin fever this winter with the gloom and doom of low clouds and grey skies. These past five days of 70 plus and sunshine has been a welcome sight to me. Talk about feeling better. I fell energized again.  It actually hit 80 today and I was prepared for it when I left the house. In fact, for a brief time, the AC in the car was running and it rather felt good, too!

So, I started out today on high ground overlooking the lake and trying to get a fix on the pelicans and the any of the hawk families that live at the lake. As I made my rounds, there just was nothing happening. In fact, there wasn't any bird watchers and I only saw one photographer making his way around the dam and spillway area. So, back to square one, I made the run around the marinas and just parked and set listening to Saint Saens Organ Symphony No 3 on WRR.Then, out the corner of my eye, I see these two big birds sitting near the top of a large Cypress tree overlooking the lake. They were a pair of Red Shoulder hawks that I normally see a bit farther around the lake. As I got closer and the clicking of the shutter spooked the female, she flew off behind me into a thicket of big tulip and oaks. Then, the male followed. One thing about hawks, they fly a triangle to their nest site, never going directly. You just have to watch and wait for the second leg of the triangle to be complete. Bingo! there's the nest! And, the male. I'm not sure where the female had landed. The male was standing watch in all his glory. What a sight.

Just as I headed out for home, I got side tracked with the 20th Century Film crew and their encampment for  filming Queen of the South, season 2. They set up in a area that gave them more parking and more room for the big mess tent but I could have missed it had I not waited on the hawks to settle down again.

Pair of Red Shoulder Hawks

Near the nest site

Little song birds were having a practice

Only The Second Time On Antibiotics

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Well, I'm sicker than a old dog and that's two days in with the antibiotics which is only the second

Red Shoulder Hawk dead center

Same

Moved but still dead center

time that I have ever taken antibiotics. My thinking is that since I have not taken them on a regular or routine agenda they should attack this little bacteria like no one's business.

The weather here is totally miserable. Before I sat down to write this post, I heard this racket outside then a clap of thunder and then lightening and thunder again. I walked over to the window and at first sight all that I could see was clear sky, then I look out on the sidewalk and it is covered in hail (hence the racket). It's been a roller coaster of temperatures since Christmas. One day it's 40 then its 75 the next day. We have been getting these upper air disturbances every other day regularly. Oh, and then, there is the wind with 5-10 MPH today, 40 MPH gust the next. I cannot remember a winter like this in the past 15 years.

Looking at my shoot log, this crazy weather is beginning to show up there too, which shows up later in sales down the road not just a month but for as much as a quarter since buyers buy on a quarter cycle ahead of the season. The editorial  images are needed to augment those gaps but even that has been rather sporadic at best.  If it wasn't for the love of the photography in the first place it would be the time to be making some  decisions like: it's time to retire from retiring. Which I know I will not do until the lights go out.

I've been watching a couple of trees at White Rock where a pair of Red Shoulder Hawks claim as their hunting grounds. A couple of days ago when I was feeling pretty lousy, I spotted the male squirrel hunting. I stopped the car and shot from the car, which I seldom do, but I just didn't feel like getting out and chasing down a bird that can fly faster than I can walk and that's after I back-up and park. You will need to click on the image so that it opens up larger to get a better view, otherwise all you are going to see is trees and branches. But, it opens up pretty well when enlarged. I can't get better than 100 percent since I lost the use of my high power lens on the Nikon camera. Olympus keeps telling me that they are bringing to market a ring that will allow my Nikon lens to be used on the Olympus camera. That will give me an added 50mm of power to get that 150 to 200 coverage that I lost.

Red Shoulder

A beautiful bird of prey. The Red Shoulder is quickly becoming a bird that I like more than the larger hawks. These just have a regal flare about them. It's rather difficult to explain but they are just different  than the others some how.  The nest site was found. It is made from some very big sticks, too. Woven into the fork of one of the old trees at White Rock it could almost be a mini-eagle nest. Frankly, the nesting site was nearly missed. At first, it seemed the big Red Tail was using it but as it turned out from over an hour of observing, the red-shoulder took flight and sat down on the nest. Now, during the course of the breeding season, close attention will need to be paid. The excitement is already building.

Be sure to click on one of the images to enlarge the entire series for a better look-see.

Love Birds--Hawk Style

 Headed out about 11 after packing a lunch.  Meds were ready at the pharmacy. Needed to cap off the tank at the gas station and do a little fill-in grocery shopping. Heading for White Rock. Drove to Dreyfuss Club, parked and took my lunch to the picnic tables overlooking the lake.

Just as the last celery stick, red grapes and peanut butter was eaten, something caught my eye in the trees between the tables and The Bath House Cultural Center. Packing up my lunch utility materials and putting them in the trunk of the car, I got the camera out and headed toward the tree, thinking it was probably nothing more than a squirrel. About that time, a guy walking his dog called out to me and said,"that's a pretty big bird." I said to him that I was just checking it out because I didn't know if it was a bird or squirrel. He confirmed again that it was a bird. Just then, I spotted a second hawk in the big sycamore in the middle of a small thicket and said to the guy as the bird was flying toward the second bird. Then, he saw both birds,too.

Continuing to walk toward the thicket, I was shooting as I walked. I would stop and shoot, watch, walk a few steps. Stop.Shoot. It was an amazing site to see both of them setting side-by-side out on a branch at the top of the tree with one of the best views for hawk eye anywhere at White Rock. Plenty of over site of the territory. A meadow of prairie grasses for rodents. Water, fishing, insects.  Plenty of small birds. It is a perfect territory to nest and it looks like the two have been discussing where this years nest will be if they are nesting for the first time.  They might have a nest from last year. That is only a guess, however. I've seen a lot of single red shoulder hawks lately and the big red tail, but this is a first to see the two together as a pair. That was the shot of the day. With that, it was time to head out to the pharmacy and grocery.   As a sidebar of information, I paid $01.629 for gas at Kroger's. It really was a good day.

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Click on any image to enlarge all three.

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