Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly

I just posted a couple of pictures on www.riverwildlife.blogspot.com of dragonflies. We saw them in Silver Glen Springs.

While working on that blog entry, I saw a butterfly land on the bottlebrush bush. Grabbed my camera and headed out the door. It was gone…but I did see this small Dragonfly. I couldn’t find any info on it, so I have no name. It’s not much more than 1 1/2 inches long. It didn’t look like much. Just yellow wings but I took some pictures to see if I could get some clear close-ups.

I couldn’t believe what I got with my little Kodak EasyShare z712 IS digital camera. I did nothing to this picture other than put my name on it.

This next photo I cropped a bit to bring it in closer.

This is one of the first batches that I took and it had me hooked. The wings look like jewels or stained glass.

Naturally it wanted to sit on the top of the hibiscus bush and I had my arms stretched as far as I could. I was surprised there were any clear ones, what with my arms shaking and the bush weaving in the breeze. When Jim got home I showed him this series….he suggested using a small stepladder…DUHH…I should have thought of that. That’s how I was able to get closer on the first two images, and the one below.

I have varied backgrounds. The sky and when facing the other way, the trees.

I think I am thoroughly hooked on Dragonflies.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

There are a couple of Ruby Throated Hummingbirds that come to my feeder. A lot of their time is spent in the Bottlebrush bush, but they do show up for a sip a few times a day.

I snapped this last evening. The flash really reflects the iridescence of their feathers.

 

Dusk was just settling in. I’m surprised the flash didn’t scare it away. I don’t know if it’s a female or an adolescent.

But, this morning I was standing at the door trying to get a bit of video of the new squirrel toy my husband has been messing with. The  squirrel proof feeder is working so well, we now are trying to figure a way to feed them without letting them empty the feeders.

While standing there, at the ready, the Hummingbird flew in and I was able to get a little video of him.

So this will have to do until I can get better pictures.

Florida Manatee

I wasn’t able to get very good pictures..but we had a great time watching the Manatees.

We were cruising S on the St Johns River, FL. Near green marker 3, Jim spotted a Manatee. They don’t surface for very long..usually my camera is just getting into focus and they are gone.

We were in a wide part of the river so we shut down the engine and watched them. The slow current was pushing one way and the wind the other, so we remained in about the same spot.

We were quite a ways from them but they came up to the boat and looked us over. You can’t imagine how surprised we were.

Their nostrils are on the top of their face. It makes breathing easier and they have flaps that close while they are underwater.

These two stayed together the whole time. I am guessing it is a mother and youngster, though both seemed about the same size. They surfaced together, side by side, several times.

They never come completely out of the water like a dolphin.  You can see what appears to be a prop scar on the back of one.  We were not in a “slow speed Manatee Zone”,  and a couple of boats came speeding by. I tried to signal them to slow down but they ignored and continued on. Fortunately the Manatees were close to us.

They have big wide tails to propel them through the water.

The water of the St Johns River is like a dark tea. That’s why it is so hard to photograph them here. 

The day before I had to clear the prop of hydrilla, an invasive water plant. We had gone up the Salt River Run to Salt Springs. Once in there with clear water and hopefully no gators, (they are on the run  in) I was able to see where it was wrapped around the prop and on the rudder. It loaded up again on the run out so once in the middle of Lake George, I put on my snorkel and mask and with a dock line in hand, I dove under the boat, figuring I’d be able to see once I was under it…nope..nothing..my face was about a foot from the prop and rudder and I never saw it. Having done it earlier I was able to get it by feel. Kind of an eerie feeling…not being able to see what was in the water. We have seen gators crossing the lake. They are out there…

I posted these pictures on May 4, “09. The Manatee can weigh 1000 lbs. It’s very big. They come into Blue Springs during the winter for the warm water. It’s 72 degrees year round.

This is crystal clear water. They are all below the surface. They can be between 9 and 10 ft long when full grown. That’s a lot of Manatee. But they are very docile and slow moving. That’s why you see so many with prop scars. Because they move so slow it’s hard to get out of the way of fast moving boats.

Not very impressive photos…but the meeting was unforgettable. When they were done checking us out…The 3 of them gave great splashes with their tails and then we didn’t see them again until they were farther up river.  We have anchored near that island on almost every trip N…this was our first encounter…but we’ll be looking more closely next time.

Opossum

On my way into my sister’s place to photograph her Peacocks, I spotted this momma Opossum crossing the road with 6 little ones riding on her back.

I have one living in my backyard, someplace. I only see it once in awhile and never with little ones.

She was slow moving and stopped to watch me when I got out to take a picture. When she stopped, one of the little guys slide down for a quick meal. She’s having trouble trying to walk and drag him at the same time.

He’s decided he’d better get aboard or get left behind.

Once everyone was settled in, I stepped back and let her go on her way. She was headed towards a nice drainage ditch that would give her cover and access to water.

Opossums are marsupials. The only one in North America. When the babies are born, very tiny, they find their way to the pouch where they remain for 2 1/2 to 4 months, until weaned.

I read they eat cockroaches (we have huge ones in FL called Palmetto Bugs) that are found in the palms, roof rats? don’t know what they are, but my Mother always said there were fruit rats in the woods. I don’t remember seeing any, but one year I left some tangelos on the tree and when I got home a few weeks later…they were all eaten but the outside.

So…Opossums…you are welcome to stay at our place.  We’ll be watching for you.

Raccoons…..the twins

I think these must be litter mates…so we’ve dubbed them the “twins”. They are raiding the turkey feeder. These two usually come in early. Around 4pm. I think they are trying to avoid the larger ones.

We have a fairly large coon that has been coming for a couple of years. He’s easy to spot because of his crippled paw. He’s affectionately known as “Gimp”. We don’t supply them with all the food they want..they are kind of like the clean-up committee. If the turkeys don’t come in and the squirrels have not finished it up..they get a treat.

We had so many big trees go down during hurricanes Charlie, Francis and Jean, a few years ago, that there is lots of wildlife habitat.

Here’s one of the twins coming out the tree pile.

Look   at the faces..aren't they darling?                                     

The pictures above were taken in early April.     I took this a few days ago.      He came out to see the Peacock. He’s used to seeing wild turkey at the feeder, but that was the first Peacock.                          I don’t throw food out when they are there. I don’t want them to associate humans with food. I would love to have them as pets but I wouldn’t be doing them any favors. They run when I come to the door or open windows, or if the dog barks and we’ll keep it that way.              

Cardinal

It’s time to find a mate. I caught this pretty fellow plucking a worm or grub off the tree.

 

I’m so used to seeing them at the feeder, I almost didn’t get a picture of him with his prize.

I put up this “squirrel proof” feeder a few weeks ago. They love it…the squirrels must love it too…they keep trying to get at the feed but end up shooting right off. Remember the fun you used to have, sliding downhill on your bellies in the snow? Well…this one works like that..without the snow. Scroll down to past posts to see the short video.

It did take the Cardinals a few tries to figure it out. They have to fly up under the overhang, but it’s a nice dry place to sit and eat. The Titmice, a much smaller bird, had no trouble the first time. I had 8 blackbirds here this morning and none of them could figure it out. They finally left. I will be interested to see how they make out when the big flock shows up. They used to empty the feeder in a short time.

He’s still hunting for treats for his lady.

They stay here all year around, kind of  like good friends. They sure add a lot of color to the area.

Peacock …they free range at my sister’s place

My Sister has a very nice place at the end of the road with state land on 2 sides. She also likes to have her animals free range. She keeps a feeder full for the ducks, turkeys, chickens, guinea hens, and peacocks. Wild turkey, deer and wild hogs also roam in and out.

There are a couple of males, but this one has the biggest set of tail feathers. He was more than willing to strut his stuff…but dropped his tail feathers as soon as I tried to approach.

They roost in the trees. Sometimes they sit on the outbuildings. This is one of the other males. You can see he doesn’t have his full growth of tail feathers.

They eat a lot of insects, small frogs etc, spiders, even mice. So it’s good to have them around. They do like to eat flower parts also. Not too good for the garden.

They make great watch dogs. Their very loud cry sounds like someone yelling “heeeeeelp”, heeeeeelp. 

When he took the time to preen himself, I was able to snap several photos.

The colors he sports on his body are beautiful. There is such  a variety of feathers. Here’s a close up of his head. Don’t you just love the little feather top knot?

This Peahen didn’t want me to get too close to here 3 little ones, and I didn’t press the issue.

They are big birds. About the size of a turkey. I wish my camera could pick up the iridescent color of the feathers when the sun shines on them. They are absolutely dazzling.

I took those pictures last week. I have been hearing a Peacock call in the morning and was hoping that one day it would follow the wild turkeys in.

Last evening a pair strolled up the drive and all around our yard. I think they roosted nearby because I heard their call just before daylight when all the birds are starting to say hello. I made my morning rounds with a handful of corn tossed in the areas each of the rabbits like to feed in, and now I have to feed the squirrels a bit, since they can no longer raid the bird feeder. I love that new “squirrel proof” feeder.  I think it might be starling proof too. Had a big black bird here a few days ago and he couldn’t figure out how to get onto it. But I’ll need to see how a flock does when they arrive..so that’s a story for another day.

I sat down to enjoy my morning coffee and Peacocks showed up. I took this through the screen on the back porch. I didn’t want to discourage them. I’ll get better pictures if they continue to come back. They found the deck interesting and both came up and walked around on it.

This is the Peahen in the front yard. They didn’t seem interested in the corn I put out for the squirrels, and were down by the turkey feeder in the back yard ,but didn’t stop to eat. They may be looking for a place to nest. I hope they like the woods around us.