Brown Pelican photo shoot

Howdee all,

Here in Florida the Brown Pelicans know where to hang out…

Your local fish cleaning station…Waiting for some easy fish to come in…

If anyone knows my wardrobe color scheme~they know I wear mostly Brown and Beige..so ..these birds remind me of my wardrobe..:)

  I Love the brown and beige colors of these pelican against the blue water.Look at that blob of cute…I had a great time shooting away…

Juvenile dirty brown all over with white belly, pale line along middle of underwing. Bill gray-brown. Yearling similar, but more gray on back and with some white feathers on sides of head and neck. Bill becomes paler and may have some yellow or orange.

Adult…

Adult Breeding
Plumage is primarily gray and brown, marked with a blackish belly, yellowish head, and chestnut or cinnamon brown nape and hindneck (Terres 1980; Farrand 1983; Harrison 1996).

Adult Non-breeding
Plumage is similar but duller to that of the adult coloration during the summer season (Farrand 1983; Harrison 1996).  The nape and hindneck are mostly white with occasional tinges of yellow. via Smithsonian research at Fort Pierce website

 

Both Sexes have the same coloration at each phase.Striking…colors of the adult..While the Browns of the juvies blend into a warm softness..

What color scheme is more attractive to you?The more dramatic yellows, brown-black and gray with the pop of red around the eye?

Or the warm brown tones of the young Pelicans?Take a look at both color schemes together…

Adult and Juvenile

I like them both..but I favor the warm browns..

Oh…..Have you seen those feet?

Big and webbed they hold up this large critter…I know..what your thinking just about now..…

Allot of Pelican photos!…

ha…

If you know me I am not one to easily weed photos …

Although, I really did take out lots..

Really I did .:)Juvi and AdultThis one looks like a painting…

Ok..humor me…

Yes..Dawn, it looks just like a painting!

Alligator? Nope..just the end of this awesome bill…

While looking at all these Brown beauties…

I noticed this fellow…

and what caught my attention was its feet…Quite different than the Black beautiful feet above…these are worn and gray and very old looking…cuts in the side of the leg…

And it was banded…I tried to capture all of the number…it looks like

1118- I couldn’t make out the number to call or where it was from…

I have been spending the morning googling to find out where to report the tagged bird…anyone out there know who to call?

Ok..that’s enough of Pelicans for now, I need to go back and get some shots of the pouch…these fellas were relaxing so they weren't showing off that famous pouch..more to come next photo shoot.. :)

In the meantime…you MUST go check out my

Featured Bird Blogger of the Week

At Birdingblogs.com

You are going to love the photos!

~I fell in Love at the beach~

Howdee all,

Yes you heard me..I fell in Love yesterday…

It wasn’t the first time~and I am sure it wont be the last:)

Jeff and I went for a ride to see Hutchinson Island…

We stopped at Blind Creek Park~a 400 acre preserve in between the Indian river to the Ocean.

Ocean side~View looking north~

View looking south~Looking east~

~a very quiet beach and no high-risesLooking down ~

I see many shellsSome nice shells here~

Jeff and I collected a few~

And then…………..

I saw it…And~

I fell in Love~It seemed to be following me as I picked shells…

Wanting to be noticed?

Cute little seedy black eyes, pale blue back and fuzzy yellow legs~

I admired it for quite a while…

Isn't it adorable?

I didn’t know what kind of crab it was at the time…I walked on and left the crab as I picked up shells~

Then I saw a few Gulls with a crab….

OH NO

I chased the Gulls…

and it dropped what was left of the crab…

Two pieces…

My new love?

I ran down the beach to see if My Crab was still there…

And there is was…

still out in the open…

Jeff and I didn’t know how to protect it so we built a small shelter.

I began to worry about it…

a few gulls flew overhead…

they saw it…I saw some holes at the high tide mark  about twenty feet away….

I thought maybe it had come from one of these holes…So Jeff took a stick and the little crab grabbed onto it…he then put the crab at the edge of the hole..and it slid in sideways …fitting perfectly…

We left thinking my new Love was safe..

When I came home I googled and found out my Lovely crab is a Ghost Crab…

they live in holes at the high tide line…

I hope my little friend is ok…

I like to think it is..My new Love :)

Tuesday touching Turtles

Howdee all,

Florida Turtles..

Florida Cooter ~ Florida Red-bellied Turtle ~ Red-eared Slider ~ Florida Softshell

Turtle lounge chair for four..Looks like a few different types here..my guess is Florida Cooter and Florida Red-bellied TurtlesTurtle stackmost of these photos were taken at Green Cay wetlands….I couldn’t see much of a pattern on the back of the turtlesI think this must be some type of algae growth on the turtles..Check out those feet!Turtle approaching log..Does this look like turtle love?

Sweet…

Jeff and I are here at a funky RV park in Jensen Beach, Florida.

We are a two mile walk ~over the causeway bridge~ to the beach.

Its been in the high seventies and low eighties..Shorts weather.

Hope its warming up for all my friends and family in the north~sending you boxes of warmth..hope it gets to you soon~

Related articles

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Sunday Sunrise and Sunset..

Howdee all,

We said goodbye to John Prince Park….

Limpkin, Lake Worth Florida (sunrise)

We are now in Jensen Beach, Florida

Funky little RV park by the intercoastal....

See the peachy building in the distance?

(Sunset)

Nice little café on the water…bridge in the distance beyond.

Sunset Jensen Beach

We have some exploring to do…

Hope you are all Counting the birds..

They are counting on you!

Goodbye~ John Prince Park~

Howdee all,

We have been here in John Prince Park, Lake Worth, Florida for two weeks now…and its time to move on.

We tried to extend our time here, but, the park is full. I called many places to try and get reservations for this busy weekend…I was able to find availability a bit further north at Jensen Beach.

I wanted to share a few videos here taken while at John Prince.

Goodbye John Prince …I will miss my morning Limpkin Wake up call..yeah, believe it or not I looked forward to that

The video below is from my morning walk…There is a small craft airport nearby…so toward the end of the video..that is what you hear…otherwise it is very quiet..

This next video is sunrise over the lake behind our Homey…Stay with the video to see the Common Moorhen couple.

Take Care and see you all at our next Destination.

 

Jensen Beach…if you know the area and want to recommend things to see..just leave a comment below.

Thanks!

Oh..and hot of the presses..this one is not to be missed!

Featured Bird Blogger of the Week

An amazing 12 year old Bird Blogger..

Count some birds~it helps~its easy~win Prizes!

Howdee all,

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Friday, February 18, through Monday, February 21

Lets all do this..at least one day for 15 minutes……

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day. You can also submit more than one checklist per day if you count in other locations on that day.

2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time. You may find it helpful to print out your regional bird checklist to get an idea of the kinds of birds you're likely to see in your area in February. You could take note of the highest number of each species you see on this checklist.

3. When you're finished, enter your results through our web page. You'll see a button marked "Enter Your Checklists!" on the website home page beginning on the first day of the count. It will remain active until the deadline for data submission on March 1st.

You can count the birds in your own back yard, or wherever you are.

Watch the video below for the easy instructions.

Download this PDF file with instructions…

 Info below taken from the GBBC site..click on this link to go there

Your counts can help us answer many questions:

• How will this winter's snow and cold temperatures influence bird populations?

• Where are winter finches and other “irruptive” species that appear in large numbers during some years but not others?

• How will the timing of birds’ migrations compare with past years?

• How are bird diseases, such as West Nile virus, affecting birds in different regions?

• What kinds of differences in bird diversity are apparent in cities versus suburban, rural, and natural areas?

• Are any birds undergoing worrisome declines that point to the need for conservation attention?

• Scientists use the counts, along with observations from other citizen-science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and eBird, to give us an immense picture of our winter birds. Each year that these data are collected makes them more meaningful and allows scientists to investigate far-reaching questions.

And did you know that you can win prizes for helping?

check out the prizes..one of them is an Ipod touch with the Audubon bird app!

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• Birders prepare for count mindful of mass die-offs (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Great Backyard Bird Count 2011 (dendroica.blogspot.com)
• GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT this weekend (timesunion.com)
• "Backyard bird count tracks avian ups, downs" and related posts (weblogs.baltimoresun.com)
• Bird counts document change (sfgate.com)
• North American birders prepare for annual count (seattletimes.nwsource.com)