In a recent thread, the topic of bird fly-bys came up, and I mentioned that we have a splendid view of a bird commute from approximately mid-January through March each year. During that time, flocks of White Ibises fly west along the river just after sunrise and east around sunset — thousands daily. We call …
Birdwatching
The Tale of the Gagging Gull
Did I ever tell y’all about the time a seagull ruined a romantic picnic I staged on the shore of the Charles River in Boston? The dude I was trying to impress was my last boyfriend before I came back home to Florida and met my husband, to whom I’ve been married for almost 27 …
Keep on rollin’
We went for a boat ride Friday just before a cold front arrived: We hadn’t taken the jon boat out for a while because the water level in the river has been uncommonly low, about as low as I can remember. Old timers have seen worse; they recall a drought so severe that cattle from …
Squishable Wednesday Morning Open Thread
This isn’t a respite thread, but here’s some soothing content anyway: a Roseate Spoonbill and pair of Sandhill Cranes who recently visited our lagoon. I see spoonbills in that spot quite frequently (it’s a crawdad buffet), and I see cranes flying overhead or in fields a lot. But I’ve only seen cranes in river vegetation …
Squishable Wednesday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (162)
Sunday Afternoon Open Thread
I don’t think I’ve shared my crappy photo of Black Skimmers from my recent trip to the Florida Panhandle springs and beaches (aka, Flamingo Quest): Their upper mandible is much shorter than the lower one — perfect for scooping and a cool look too. Also, this “seedy underbelly of the avian world” is funny: Open …
Pretty in Pink (Open Thread)
I found flamingos! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good photo of them though — they were too far away. These spoonbills (and their pretty egret friend) were closer! There was still a ton of hurricane damage in the Big Bend area. (Frosty, if you see this, Cedar Key Tiki Bar is open! Battered but unbowed!) …
Squishable Morning Thread
As mentioned on the overnight thread, I’m off on a bird-spotting adventure today — heading up to the Big Bend and Panhandle areas of Florida in hopes of seeing (from a respectful distance) some of the flamingos that Hurricane Idalia distributed around the Gulf Coast. An eBirder spotted a flamboyance off Cedar Key earlier this …