We’re getting a lot of rain here today, which is good. The river is so low it’s a pain in the ass to get the boat out of the lagoon. But the exposed banks seem to bring more feathered visitors, like this Roseate Spoonbill I saw just now: Over the weekend, we also had a …
Birdwatching
Saturday Afternoon Open Thread
I was going to go to a preserve this morning to look for Florida Scrub Jays, but it was intermittently rainy — sudden heavy, blinding downpours — and I didn’t feel like driving in that, so I stayed home and watched the waterbirds instead, including Roseate Spoonbills: Also, a public service announcement for y’all: Avoid …
Night of the Long, Scaly Tails
In my opinion, airboats are the most unlovable and obnoxious of vessels. They are fun to ride in and so much more fun to drive — probably the closest you can get to driving a pod-racer from the shitty Star Wars movies. But, like leaf blowers, they degrade the quality of life for people nearby …
Successors (Open Thread)
I think I’ve mentioned here before that we’ve been watching Limpkin parents raise a trio of chicks this spring. Here they are as fluffy little darlings in early April: The chick in the middle is having a tantrum and screeching its head off — note the outstretched wings. The chicks are highly competitive; for weeks, …
Fuzzy Chicks (Open Thread)
I have an embarrassing confession: after loudly flouncing to protest the Musk takeover, I went crawling back to Twitter. None of the alternatives worked for me, and MLB Opening Day was the final straw. (Guess whose team is currently the only undefeated club in Major League Baseball? That would be MY Tampa Bay Rays!) Anyhoo, …
Birdshot (Open Thread)
Marion Hammer, the ghoulish octogenarian who retired last year after four decades as the NRA’s chief lobbyist in Tallahassee, is known primarily for the work she did to make Florida more violent and less safe. But despite being a bird enthusiast, I didn’t know until I read a recent (paywalled) Orlando Sentinel column that Hammer …
Birb Bed and Breakfast Hopping Today
We got a bunch of snow so I fed the birds, cleaned out the bath and put some warm water in, and the house is a rocking: Ton of black birds and I could not make out if they were fat grackles or crows but I heard no crow sounds and they didn’t have that …