Birthday Paddle

The month of May is crazy for the Dixon household. Double D's birthday falls during the first week of May; mine is the next week; and Mother's Day comes somewhere before, after, or ON my birthday. While Double D wanted to kick up his heels in The Quarter for his big day, I was perfectly content to paddle on Lake Martin for my birthday. The highlights for me were the Black-crowned Night Heron and Barn Swallows.

Before kayaking, however, I had to have some nutrition! My grandparents' used to love Pat's Fisherman's Wharf in Henderson, LA. Thankfully, it was on the way to the lake. I had not been there since I was a child, and I'm happy to report that it hasn't changed a bit. The food was as wonderful as I remembered. We got there way past lunch time, so that's why there aren't a lot of people. Just the way I like it.

You can see from my expanding mid-section that I ate every single bite of my shrimp platter.
I was then presented with this delicious, SINFUL slice of doberge cake and serenaded by our waitress.
We pronounce the cake DOUGH-bahj. Some say DOUGH-bearj.
Here is a more thorough history and a recipe of the famous cake.

I made fast friends with Emilean, our waitress. We Facebooked each other right then and there!
She made my day extra special. Not only did she give me extra shrimp AND a piece of cake,
she shared a personal experience that helped me tremendously concerning panic attacks.
It was one of those God-things, y'all.

Now, on to the show!

Water Hyacinth

Double D paving the way.

I learned that when gators are resting with their mouths open, they are cooling off since they
don't have sweat glands. Whew, good to know!

Black-crowned Night Heron

DD was after the Prothonotary Warbler and the Northern Parula

Prothonotary Warbler

So, that was my big day!

Thank you, Anni for hosting

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Lake Martin Beauties

One beautiful Sunday in Breaux Bridge, LA last month. Are we almost halfway through the year already?!

Sunlit Primrose

I've never seen an alligator with his eye closed. Really love the pattern on the lid.

Carolina Wren eyeing me suspiciously.

Prothonotary Warbler

PW singing his heart out.

A Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mothers--even the ones with furry, four-legged children. God bless you each and every one!

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Afternoon at the Swamp

Just some things I observed on a quick afternoon walk on May 13th.

Sparkly dragonfly

House finch right before take-off

It's been a banner year for the Eastern lubbers...or a bad year depending on one's perspective.

Prothonotary warbler with a spider lunch for the chicks.

A pair of broad-headed skinks, male (red head) and female (brown)

Swarms of bugs on the main path. Close mouth, eyes, and nose. Don't breathe if at all possible.

Wildflower

Wildflowers

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Double D has offered to drive me Jefferson Island to observe the spoonbills and egrets. There should be little babies by now. Stay tuned and thank you so much for your visits!

Edit: This post was selected by Hilary at The Smitten Image in her Phine Photography section. Hilary is a wonderful and generous blogger. Please visit her site if you have time. You won't regret it!

Prothonotary Parents

After visiting Jefferson Island last Saturday we made time to go kayaking at Lake Martin. There was still enough light to bird when we were finished paddling. Upon entering the boardwalk a young woman was standing on the middle slat of the boardwalk fence, leaning against a tree for support, pointing her camera down toward the water. Four prothonotary warbler chicks were sitting in a rotted cypress tree that was jutting about 3' out of the water. The parents were returning to the nest every few minutes with caterpillars and all sorts of insects. It was really neat to watch.

Here you can see a hungry baby in the lower left of the frame. Baby bokeh!

Look how wide the babies' mouths get! Dang, that's a hungry young'un.

I think this might be Dad since he is a brighter yellow

This is probably Mom with her darker yellow feathers. She and her mate never stopped feeding.

Dad again! I was impressed with their devotion to their chicks. Oh how I wish the light had been better that day!

I included this photo because I learned how to use the Radial Filter in Lightroom 5.
There is a great tutorial here if you have LR5. Basically you select an area in the image
that you want lightened or darkened for subject enhancement. It's really an easy process!

Cheers to the weekend! I hope it's as beautiful in your area as it is here. We found out where the yellow-breasted chats are, so Double D and I plan to scope out the area on Saturday.

Goldie

Sorry if you are sick of seeing the prothonotary warbler, but it's a bird that was on my wish list for over a year. This is the female, Goldie, after she'd been shown the same house (nesting station) twice by her mate. She decided she'd had enough of house hunting for the afternoon and took a break by getting a bite to eat and tending to her personal needs. Perhaps preparing for a clutch? We hope!

Antenna of crane fly protruding from her beak.

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Prothonotary Pursuit

More images of the prothonotary warbler (edit: male has wrist bands and is bright yellow; the female is not banded and is slightly darker):

Eating a crane fly

As Anni mentioned in the comments section of the last post, the name "prothonotary" refers to clerks of the Catholic church whose robes were bright yellow. Prothonotaries are one of only two warbler species that nest in cavities (the other is Lucy's warbler). Nesting boxes are also utilized, which is what they are currently using at Bluebonnet Swamp. The prothonotary lives in swampy areas and bottomland forests. Their diet consists mostly of insects such as crane flies, moths, beetles and spiders. They may also supplement with seeds, berries or nectar. The male selects a nesting site and entices the female by laying moss in the cavity or box. If she accepts the site, she continues to line the nest with other soft plant material. The male protects her while she finishes nest building and laying eggs. During breeding season, both males and females are extremely territorial and can become snappy.

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Geodad

A few days ago I went to Bluebonnet Swamp to check out the owl/owlet situation. No sightings of the chicks or their parents, but I was blessed enough to witness a male prothonotary warbler enticing a female into a nesting station. There are nineteen of these stations in the swamp, three of them very close to the barred owls' nesting site.

This little chap is named Geodad--so named because he is one of four prothonotary warblers that were netted and banded last year with geo-locator software to track their migratory patterns . Out of the four original experiments, Geodad was the only one to return to the swamp after 300+ days. He was recaptured and the software removed for analyzing. We are all excitedly awaiting the results of his adventure. Here is the Facebook page to the Louisiana Bird Observatory who led the experiment if you're interested.

Sorry for the deluge of photos; I don't normally post this many, but I couldn't leave some of these on the cutting room floor. :) Nesting Station 11 (below) is the closest one to the barred owls' nest. If these two love birds choose this nest we will be doubly blessed!

Geodad scouting the location.

Okay, it's pre-fab but seems solidly constructed. Lovely interior. I think she'll like it!

Darling!!!! I've found our new abode! The view is fantastic!

Waiting....

Come in, my love! It's perfect for us!!

Well....I'm not sure about this one Geo.

It could be a little more plush on the inside. Try again!!

Geodad returns later.
What's wrong with it? I think it's beautiful.

Location location location!! You're hard to please, woman!

Oh, all right. I'll give it another chance.

Let me just grab a quick bath!

Hold your horses! Give me a chance to dry off. I don't want to get the new floors wet.

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