Fall must be near

The mornings have gotten cooler and the humidity is much lower, but those aren't the main indicators of the approach of fall. Nope it's the critters.The sulfur and gulf fritillary butter flies begin streaming through the area heading south.

Then the humming birds start swarming around the feeders and flowers. This is the one that claims my side porch.

And last but not least, the eagles have begun returning to reclaim their nests. This is the downtown Apalach eagle that returned last week.

This a pretty nice time of the year around here.

Eagle attack!

I'm fortunate to have two great horned owl nests to monitor and photograph. When I checked on one this morning, I saw a large bird sitting next to the nest. My first thought was "the chick/chicks have pushed the adult out of the nest". But as I got closer, I could tell that it wasn't an owl. It was a juvenile bald eagle and there wasn't an adult owl in sight.

The eagle sat starring at the nest for about 30 minutes before leaving and the entire time the owlet did not move(see light colored lump in the nest in the picture above). Once the eagle flew on the owlet's head popped up and he started looking about.

That was early this morning. I've checked on the nest 2 more times, but I've yet to see an adult owl. I'm afraid the eagle may have attacked the owl on the nest, but I guess I'll have to wait awhile to know.

While I was working on this update a neighbor called to tell me there were 5 or 6 large birds screaming and fighting between his house and the bay. I hurried over and parked a couple of hundred yards back in the woods. I could hear eagles fighting but, unfortunately the trees were too thick to get a picture of the 4 juvenile eagles trying to take a fish away from a 5th bird. The one with the fish was shielding it from the marauders with its wings and screaming it's head off!

Eventually the attackers saw me and headed out over the bay, while the 5th eagle took his fish deeper into the woods.

We have a bumper crop of eagles this year and like most youngsters these are into everything in sight.

First flight

Went by the nest in yesterdays post, that the fledgling was getting the encouragement from the adult.

Above the nest the young eagle was still getting some encouragement!

Flying at last

Of the 4 eagle nests the I've been watching, 2 have flying fledglings and 2 do not. One non-flying fledgling has been working hard at strengthening their wings, under Mom's watchful eye, as these pictures show.

While the other fledgling requires a little inspiration from Mom.

What is it ?

Today was one of those days that make you wonder why you get up early even when you don't have to.......dark, fogy and chilly (this damn global warming is about to kill me!). Anyway I went over to check on the fledgling eagle, which with the weather as it was, was staying low in the nest.

I went to the Pig (Piggly Wiggly grocery store for the non-Apalachaites)and decided to swing by the Mill Pond and Scipio Creek to see if any critters were out and about. As I neared Scipio, I saw a good sized, white bird with it's head in the water. Neat...a white ibis

.......until his bill came out of the water. White Ibis have red bills, this was fresh on my mind because of the ibis I had photographed yesterday and this one was black. A wood stork, certainly not a common bird around Apalachicola. Actually they have been on the endangered list since 1984,although they are prospering in South America.

They have two modes of feeding;one consists of holding their open bill in the water and snapping it shut, trapping it's prey.

The other method is used where vegetation is more prevalent; consists of holding their bill open and using a shaking foot to chase food out of the weeds, as these pictures illustrate.

This stork appears to be a juvenile bird and was still later on in the day. Maybe It'll still be around tomorrow.

Finally some sunshine

The fledgling eagle(s) has been staying low in the nest, with this week's rain and cool weather. I've see a wing or two flopping around inside the nest, but nothing to photograph. When I arrived today one of the adults was in the nest with the little guy, but left after a little while. Ten minuets later the fledgling's head popped up, but he was still on the wrong side of the nest.

One of the adults returned to the nest, but it appeared that it was not in the mood for company.

After a little verbal abuse, she gave me the "eye" and I left.

They grow up fast

I've been watching and photographing the nest for several weeks. Today was the first time I've seen the chicks active. When I first arrived both eagles were watching the neat, and it wasn't long before I saw a wing come out of the nest. In the above photo the female is watching as the chick looks out of the nest...maybe for the first time.

After I looked at him and he looked at me, Mama started chirping so I knew it was time to go. He'll start testing his wings in the next few days and that will make for some good shots.

Spare Time

People always ask what I do when I'm not fishing or showing real estate...well I'm probably wandering around outside with my camera. I'm fortunate to live in one the most beautiful areas of the country and since I haven't fished much this year, here are a few of my photo subjects.

OK, now you know what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks. but we still have a few fish around as this lady from yesterday shows!