Jefferson Island: The End

Well, not 'the end' forever. Certainly I'll be back to Jefferson Island at some point in the near future. Right now it is just too hot and humid to survive the sub-tropical elements. These are some stragglers from my June 7th outing. Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Cattle egret

Roseate spoonbill and female anhinga

Breeding Louisiana heron (aka tri-colored heron)

Roseate spoonbill

Breeding Louisiana heron

Cattle egret

Nesting (L-R): cattle egret, white ibis, roseate spoonbill with chicks

View of nesting area, called Rip's Rookery

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Jefferson Island: The Spoonbill Babies

Standing at the forest's edge with the western sun setting behind me, I was thrilled to see the roseate spoonbill chicks being cared for by their doting parents. It is truly a marvel.

Ah, relief at last.

So nice that the parents take turns.

Enjoy your weekend! As usual I will take weekends off to play, shoot, and bird. See you on Monday!

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Jefferson Island: The Great Egrets

Getting towards the end of what I plan to post of my SUPER FUN day at Jefferson Island's rookery. These are the great egrets, sometimes by themselves and sometimes hunting with others. They seem to be very social and graceful birds.

Great egret reaching over a white ibis

A cattle egret walking over the turtles, following a great egret

Old fence at the perimeter of Lake Martin, not far from Jefferson Island

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Jefferson Island: The Flying Spoonbills

Capturing birds in flight is not my strong suit, but I had plenty of practice this day. One thing I knew was to set my 100-400mm lens on Shooting Mode 2 (panning) and make sure Image Stabilization was enabled. Unfortunately, the IS button broke off last year and I can't seem to part with the lens to get it repaired. I had hoped it was still in the "on" position. Based on these photos it appears to be engaged, at least to a degree.

Although this one and the next are rather soft, I liked the wing spread.

Going on an impromptu fishing trip with my dad today and tomorrow. Will catch back up with everyone on Thursday!

Jefferson Island: The Cattle Egrets

Nest building appears to be an intimate exchange between these birds. The male makes a huge production with his offering as the female accepts the stick from him. I was simply in awe. Later I spotted a mating pair, which will need to be in a separate, rated X post. :)

The onlookers appear relieved that the exchange is over. Tee hee.

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Jefferson Island: The Ibises

When Double D and I explored Jefferson Island nearly two weekends ago we were treated to a very active colony of ibises, spoonbills, and egrets. That day I took 706 photos--way out of the norm for me. During the hour-and-a-half drive back home I managed to delete 90 images that were obviously poor quality. Over the last days I've whittled it down to less than 300. Still, more deletion is necessary. I don't need 100 different photos of the spoonbill babies. Or do I?

I wasn't sure how I was going to show you my afternoon there, so I have decided to pick a handful or so of each bird species, and do it that way. These are the white ibises. The light and shadows were a challenge, but I'm overall happy with the set. Hope you enjoy!

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Mossy

Noticed this "fence" as we were leaving Jefferson Island. I'm calling it a fence because it has posts and a wire strung between them. Not sure if the moss ended up there naturally or someone thought to put it there. Both images were snapped with the iPhone.

Here are some other shots with moss in them.

Breeding great egret, Lake Martin, 3/22/14

Rose-breasted grosbeak, my backyard, 4/26/14 (moss on far right)

Barbara the barred owl, Bluebonnet Swamp, 3/16/14 (moss also on right side)

Back in February I told you about the barred owl pair, Barbara & Barry, who made a nest close to the boardwalk at Bluebonnet Swamp. The chicks were scheduled to appear the second week in April. Weeks went by without any sightings of the parents, much less the owlets. Finally, Barbara appeared a couple weeks ago preening on a boardwalk railing; another day she was spotted bathing in dirt. Some days later, Barry made his presence known. The chicks were never seen, so we don't know if the harsh winter did them in, or if a predator got them. We were so disappointed. But at least the parents are okay and we know they will try again next year.

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