July 3

July 3, 2008 by OrientSee.

Family news. The Osprey chicks seem fine although I could only count two today. Only one of the adults was around. The Mourning Dove is still sitting on the nest and I was marveling at her. She is in a low crotch of a fruit tree in a neighborhood filled with domestic cats who hunt in and at the edges of the marsh. She’s still safe and sound and that is a surprise.

The southeasterly wind has been fierce today. Most everything is hunkered down in the face of the blast. Even in the thickets, the only movement is down inside the thick vegetation out of the wind. There were three Snowy Egrets at Rosie’s Pond and further out in the flats one Great Egret. Over at the Overlook panne, a Snowy and some shorebirds were tucked up against the edge of the water waiting out the wind.

As I crossed over to the Boardwalk, five Glossy Ibis floated down into the Overlook panne. From a distance, the Ibis appear completely black but a closer observation shows a rich red.

These are gorgeous birds to watch and they are very social. Still on the path over to the Bordwalk, a few Saltmarsh Sparrows took their time and let me catch a photo. These small birds are so quick to move that is hard to catch sight of anything but a blur.

As you can see, this guy was on his way to another location and I was lucky to catch sight of him.

The park was quiet except for the roaring of the wind. I heard the distant lure of my A/C and so I came home lathered with bug spray and sweat but happy from another walk into Belle Isle Marsh.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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