Life in our Backyard

 

Mourning Dove

Blue Jay

Blue Jay calls

Male Northern Cardinal

Immature Brown-headed Cowbird

Immature Cooper's Hawk

More deck shots

Male Downy Woodpecker: the smallest woodpecker in the U.S. 

Next door

Fish Crow investigating a plastic bag for food scraps

Immature Cooper's Hawk in the oak above our deck

Male Northern Cardinal eating safflower seeds

Boats, boats and more boats

Female Anhinga drying her wings and warming up

Bird Island: 4-7-21

Black-crowned Night-Heron 

Mother Nature's clean up crew- Turkey Vulture

Double-crested Cormorant

with nesting material

Great Blue Heron coming into the island

Foraging with a young-of-the-year Roseate Spoonbill

(Note the spoonbill feeds by touch and the Great Blue feeds by sight)

Black-bellied Plovers at Ft Desoto County Park: 4-14-21

 Beautiful plumage on a juvenile

Shows the characteristic black "armpit" in flight

Adult male in breeding finery

Breeding males are a dazzling mix of black and white: checkered upperwings, a black face and belly, a white crown, nape, and undertail, and dark legs and bill. Adult females in breeding plumage are similar but with less contrast. Nonbreeding adults are pale gray above and grayish or whitish below. Juveniles are but more scaly-looking on the back. All plumages show black “armpits” in flight.

Alaska: 9-20

Sandhill Cranes

Brown Bear

Canada Jay (Formerly Gray Jay)

Adult Bald Eagle

Eagle nest

Bellflower

 

Osprey fly-over at Ft Desoto County Park: 4-14-21