Nothing to do but sleep

An icy day on the sound.  Small pools of moving water are filled with ducks and geese, and most are sleeping.  These swans are having a nap right on the ice.

An unusual situation

Our osprey pair successfully raised three young this season, a first for them.  We have watched them come along; being fed and growing in a fever pitch, covered in the rain and sun by the adults, trying out the wings and flying to our boathouse on those first flights.  They are trying out their water skills, plopping down in the drink and pulling themselves out and shaking off the excess.  Three young birds provide plenty to watch.
By this time in the progression, Mama osprey is bringing fish and feeding just a bit.  Papa has all but disappeared.  The young are big enough to eat a fish on their own.
The unusual situation?  Yesterday a fourth young osprey appeared on the nest.  Was it lost, abandoned, lonely?  In any case it was fairly well accepted by the younger crew.  Mama had a problem when she came around with a fish.  She screamed and screamed ... like something wasn't right.  But the fourth did not leave.
This morning the fourth was gone but by  five p.m. today it was back.  We watched as Mama delivered a fish like nothing was wrong.  Here she is coming in and the four young waiting.
The fish was given to one who soon lost it, too young to handle one so large and still kicking.  The crew was suddenly depressed and Mama flew off to fish again.
Then we got to see one of the young fly off the nest into the water and pull up a pumpkinseed ... what a   sight!  It got to eat that little fish in peace on its own away from the others.
But the fourth osprey, what a puzzle.

A winter day on the Sound

It was icy on the edges of the Sound this morning.  The chorus from the night had moved on, perhaps to feed in the wheat fields or perhaps pushed out by a hunter's boat moving through.

An mid afternoon scout found a blue heron fishing along the icy edge.

Later the skies changed and the cold moved in.  Wildfowl of all sorts started congregating along the
shoreline.  What pure pleasure to watch swans and ducks come in from all direction and settle down in the
waters.

The snow started falling and visibility was low, but I stayed out to see what would come.
I spotted a flock of ducks in the foggy, snowy horizon.  Even more Swans followed!  A perfect bird watching day on the Sound.

 

Le Pelican

Pelicans are such a marvel.  I looked back at some shots I took recently in Florida and found one to show.  Pelicans are found along the coastline here as well.  Being on the Sound, we rarely see a Pelican flying about though they are just a few miles away generally.
I love this pose, it has a very coy look about it.

Bluebills in the fog

The weather has been very mixed of late.  Cold and then warm, and plenty of fog at times.  Some recent mornings the fog was layed in thick, the ducks were staying put but the hunters had moved in anyway.
Must be a interesting trek through that early morning fog in those duck boats ...
Once the fog broke a bit, the bluebills that I could see lifted.  I love the song of the bluebills when they are together and at peace.  It has me wishing for icy weather so I can sit on the pier again and hear them sing without the push of shot on their wings.

Sleeping Ruddy

Ruddy ducks are typically the first I see in the cold weather on the open Sound.  They are so fun to watch:   they charge, chatter (a mewing sound to me), dive for food and sleep. Here is one in a watchful sleep posture. Beautiful golds against the blue water. 

The Nuthatch

I love the 'neep, neep ,neep' sounds of the Nuthatch.  Unusual, the wood is full of the nuthatch this year.  The call replaces the frogs and the cicadas; you can step outside and hear them in stereo plus!
They have found my black oil sunflower seeds and don't just eat.  They steal them away to secret places to be found later when it's cold perhaps. My sago palm will be a splendor of yellow flowers if the seeds are not retrieved from it's tight spaces!
Busy all day long, capturing seeds and plying the trees for bugs hidden in crevices.
The beak is made for digging, just the slightest little upturn. 
Here are a few pics of a nuthatch on a hackberry tree in the garden.  The bandit stripe across the eyes is so apropos for my little thief.