The Star of Bluebonnet Swamp

Since I had such good luck a few days ago finding Barbara the barred owl at Bluebonnet Swamp, I had to test my good fortune once again. I ran into my birding buddies there and together we waited by the same cypress tree as before. Over an hour later, Barbara made her mid-afternoon appearance to the same tree; however, she sat on a branch that was positioned much higher. This shoot was more challenging for many reasons, among them, harsh lighting and dangling tree limbs. Overall though, I am satisfied with this set.

The first thing Barbara did was hock up a large object that fell into the water.
Bertha, my bratty camera, failed to catch the object. :(

The next order of business was grooming. She groomed for a long time.

Being a new mother, she's probably behind on her mani/pedi.

We all held our breath as this snake swam right below her.
We could see Barbara tracking it with her eyes, but she didn't go for it.
Wouldn't that have been a sight?

Her meal of choice appears to be crawfish right now. She and I have something in common! :)

We think she was preparing this red bug (crawfish) for her babies.

As she delivered the meal a blue jay started dive bombing her. Once again, Bertha failed to capture a major element of the scene.

Because of the blue jay's torments she dropped the meal inside the hollow tree and waited.

After the blue jay gave up Barbara flew over to another cypress tree near her owlets.

Parenting in nature is fascinating. One of my birding buddies said that Barry was a slacker father and that Barbara could do better. It's true I haven't seen him around much, but maybe he's out on the perimeter, keeping the bad guys away. In any case, Barbara seems perfectly capable of handling her motherly duties. At one point there were eight of us gawking at her in the tree and she never said boo...or hoot, I guess is more accurate. :) She's the calmest, coolest mom ever.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Guess where I'll be? :) Since I probably won't post again until Monday, I wish for everyone a blessed Easter!

Please visit other blogs linking to

LINK

After twilight

Meet our little nocturnal friend of the last two weeks. He appears on our patio every evening sometime after dark. It drives our dogs around the bend, but so far Mr. Toad has been spared any pawing or biting or scary barking. Now if sniffing and dog breath caused death, he'd be long gone.

Thanks to my friends at Project Noah, they've identified this as a Southern Toad. It sleeps all day in its ground burrow, emerging after twilight to eat insects. This indiscriminate toad will ingest any live insect that will fit in its mouth. Oh, how I hope he can put a dent in the roach population! Mr. Toad also likes to soak in a bowl of water, so as soon as I hit the Publish button I'm off to provide this cutie a little bathtub. :)

Linking up with A Rural Journal: Your Sunday Best #20. (Sorry, I used two photos instead of one.)