Cygnets for Mother’s Day

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Dedicated to my mom, who is my best friend and confidante.  Happy Mother’s Day!!

As regular readers of my blog know, I’ve been stopping by Lake Morton periodically to monitor the nesting of the resident Mute Swans.  My friend Kim at the lake knows how much I love to photograph the cygnets (baby swans), so she promised to let me know when they started to hatch.  One morning I decided to sleep in (very unusual for a nature photographer in the spring!)  When I rolled out of bed at 8am, I had this email waiting for me…

Baby!!   Where you park!  Sunday morn 6:30!

Rich said I had a very determined look on my face.  By 8:15, I was pulling out of the driveway! :)  I had no idea that I was in store for one of the most exciting days of photography in my life…

Cute Cygnets

Cute Cygnets

When I got to Lake Morton, Kim and her friends Linda and Rob were at a nest tucked into a group of tall grasses.  A newborn cygnet would occasionally peek out at us.  Mom continued to incubate her remaining eggs.  The grassy nest was cool and the cygnet was adorable, but it wasn’t all that great for photographs.  Then Linda and Rob decided to check out the other nest that had hatched that morning.  Jackpot!  It was a beautiful nest out in the open, and three tiny cygnets were sleeping under Mom.

Family Portrait

Family Portrait

According to my friends, two of the cygnets at this nest had hatched this morning. One was still all wet from being in his egg. Mom pretty much kept her babies underneath her, only occasionally standing up. I’m not sure if she wanted to give them some air or stretch her legs – probably both! When she did stand up, she gave us a wonderful opportunity to see one of the fluffy cygnets sleeping next to his newborn brother, next to the pieces of his eggshell.

Newborn Brothers

Newborn Brothers

Mute Swans build their big nests of reeds and grasses.  They lay between four and eight eggs.  The parents take turn incubating the eggs for 35 to 38 days.  That’s a long time to sit still!  The swans are known to be aggressive, but the birds at Lake Morton have become very used to people.   Some of my friends are at the lake every evening to say hello to the birds and feed them. It’s obvious that the birds know my friends, and the swans weren’t bothered by us.  I was also glad that the City of Lakeland roped off the nests this year, to keep kids and dogs at a distance.  Papa Swan certainly told any passing dogs to stay away!

Yawn

Yawn

My favorite shots were of the cygnets as they cuddled under Mom’s wing.  I quickly learned to recognize which swans were on eggs and which had cygnets – the ones on eggs kept their wings tucked up tight, and the ones with cygnets fluffed their wings out a bit for the babies to sleep underneath.  The next image shows the back of Mom with her wings fluffed out.  Look closely under the left wing and you’ll see a sleeping cygnet.  Then look at the next image, which zooms in on the babies and reveals a sweet surprise…a second baby is cuddled under there!

Under Mom's Wing

Under Mom’s Wing

All Tucked In

All Tucked In

I put an extension tube on my Beast lens, which let me focus full-frame on the babies. I started to make some really nice images of the cygnets as they stuck their heads out, interacted with Mom, and even wobbled out to the edge of the nest before collapsing for a nap.  My friends got worried about the “wobbly one,” who slept soundly by himself while his brothers continued cuddling under Mom.  But he was fine – he was probably the oldest, and he didn’t need Mom’s warmth as much as his younger siblings did.

Cygnet

Cygnet

It was great meeting other swans fans, like Barb and Gil.  Lots of passersby also stopped to look, and the kids especially loved seeing the baby swans.  The sun was high in the sky, but I hardly noticed, as the shade from the tree overhead kept my light even. This next image was one of my favorites from the day, showing a cygnet sticking his head up over Mom’s feathers. Her lacy white feathers remind me of puffy clouds and comfort, just what a little baby feels when cuddled up close to mom.

Featherbed

Featherbed

Some moments were just plain funny, like when this baby seemed to discover his foot. It’s big! And it has little nails on it! Wait until he discovers the water and realizes he was born knowing how to swim – those big feet will certainly help!

Wow- I have a big foot!

Wow- I have a big foot!

As the smallest cygnet dried off, he wiggled his way out from underneath Mom. Then he started to pose with his brother. I hoped they would do a nose-to-nose moment for my camera, but they didn’t. They did give me a cute shot as they both shook their heads while preening.  Then they started to fall asleep — hey, it’s exhausting to be born!  You have to poke your way through that egg and squeeze and poke yourself through the hole until you find a whole big world out there!  The babies huddle together for body warmth, and their nap pose was just adorable…

Sleepyheads

Sleepyheads

Perhaps some of the best moments of the day were when Mom and Baby had nose-to-nose moments, like the one below.  For such a big bird, the swan mother is very gentle.  It was a privilege to be there to witness these tiny miracles!

Sweet Nuzzle

Sweet Nuzzle

Finally just before sunset I had to tear myself away and drive home.  My very patient and understanding husband knew I’d been at the lake all day – and shall I emphasize the words all day!?!?  He thought I was crazy.  Then I showed him a few of my pictures.  He thought they were cute, but he still thinks I’m crazy!  But Kim and Barb and Linda and Rob know better.  We had a wonderful day, one I won’t ever forget.  I hope your Mother’s Day is just as great!

Mom and Baby Wobbly

Mom and Baby Wobbly

 

Clouds at Blue Cypress Lake

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Last Sunday I met friends Debbie, Tom, and Michael at Blue Cypress Lake for a fun-filled boat ride of dramatic sunrises and flying Ospreys.  Well, that’s what it was supposed to be, and what it  was in March 2012, May 2012, and March 2013.  So I happily jumped out of bed at 4am and drove for an hour and a half to the middle of nowhere in the pitch black of pre-dawn.  As the first light began to appear in the skies, it showed me clouds – lots and lots of thick clouds.  It made me glad I stuck a garbage bag in my vest in case I needed to protect my gear from rain.  We set off in our boat, determined to have a good time despite the weather…

The Lone Cypress

The Lone Cypress

The above was our sunrise tree from our last trip.  It looked a little different with ominous rainclouds behind it!  Because the light levels were so low and the Ospreys weren’t flying much, I spent more time with my wide-angle lens taking pictures of the lake landscapes.  This was one of my favorites.  Even on a nasty morning, Blue Cypress Lake is gorgeous.

Fishy Weather

Fishy Weather

When there’s no light for good flight shots, switch to silhouette shots!  We laughed as this Osprey combined trips, bringing in a fish for breakfast and a little extra nesting material all at once.  I think it was about this time that Michael remarked, “I am so ashamed.  I have to delete these images from my camera – I don’t even want my computer to see how bad they are!”

Feeding the Chicks

Feeding the Chicks

The lake was eerily quiet.  The young Osprey were flat down in their nests in their “danger” positions. I don’t think it was because of us – we were keeping the boat away from the tree roots after a warning from Mrs. Middleton because somebody had damaged one of their boats.  I wonder if the recent storms played havoc with our poor Ospreys.  In this particular nest, the adult had a fish, so the babies were hungry and not quite as worried about staying hunched down.  They played tug-of-war with the fish bites.  It was cute.

Bringing in Breakfast

Bringing in Breakfast

The only Osprey in the air seemed to be the breakfast-bringers.  It was strange not to see the skies filled with birds, even as the light levels improved.  For the image above, I hated the color version – the sky was washed out, the bird’s head blended into his wing, and the brightest object was the red fish guts…not exactly what your eye should be attracted to!  I was pleasantly surprised when I played with Nik Silver Efex and converted the image to black and white.  Now your eye is drawn to the bird’s face and not the gore… (You’re welcome, Mum-mum!)

Mom and Baby

Mom and Baby

We almost missed the chick in the above nest completely.  He stayed hunched down.  Look at the middle of Mom’s wing and you can see his head peeking up.

The Clouds Finally Passed

The Clouds Finally Passed

Towards the end of the morning, the storm clouds finally passed, and we got a few rays of sunshine.  It’s too bad that the whispy clouds that remained weren’t our sunrise clouds, or we would have gotten some amazing sunrise images!  Just a few hours make a big difference in weather for nature photography.  Even as the light levels improved, the Osprey weren’t all that cooperative.  It was still a fun morning with friends, though.  We laughed a lot, and I can’t wait to go back next year.

Whiskey Loopy Turns Two!

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It’s hard to believe, but our “kitten” Whiskey turned two today!  Happy birthday, Whiskey Loopy!  You’ve come a long way since we first adopted you…

This is a recent snapshot of the birthday cat in one of his favorite poses – sitting at the window!  Our neighbors remark that they always look for the cats sitting in our windows.  Whiskey Loopy is especially fond of the frogs that jump up on his windows.  They make such good splat! noises.  They also sit patiently while young cats paw at them, pounce at them, and squeak at them. :)

Whiskey and Frog

Whiskey and Frog

Our neighbors were on vacation last week, and we took care of their birds for them.  In return, Carla brought over yummy cupcakes and a wonderful new toy for the cats.  Whiskey says that her gifts must be for his birthday!  He tried to eat a cupcake (just what an over-active young boy needs, more sugar!) and then he and Squirt had a great time with the toy.  According to the box it promotes “independence.”  Rich put two balls and two cat treats into the holes, and both boys were all over that box, playing with the balls and fishing for the treats.  Thank you, Carla, Peter, and Aaron!  Our cats don’t know how lucky they are (or how spoiled!)

Two Lifers on a Drizzly Circle B Bar Reserve Morning

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Last Saturday morning I visited the Circle B Bar Reserve with the hope of seeing my first Bobolink.  Bobolinks are migratory birds that pass through Circle B during early May.  My dad has seen them several times, but I never have – I’ve missed them every year!  I knew Saturday morning would be cloudy, but when I arrived out on the Wading Bird Trail, “cloudy” was an understatement.  The air was thick with humidity and there was a slight drizzle.  But I found my Bobolinks!  There was a flock of about 100 of them across the water, north of the Marsh Rabbit Run intersection.  They weren’t close enough to photograph well, so I took a video instead.  Turn up the volume so that you can hear their song, which reminds me a lot of the Red-Winged Blackbirds.

I headed farther up the Wading Bird Way trail, hoping that I might run into more Bobolinks, closer to the trail.  When I saw the lone whistling duck fly over the trail, I almost didn’t photograph him, because Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks are so common at the Circle B Bar Reserve, and lighting conditions were far from ideal.  But there have been multiple reports of Fulvous Whistling Ducks recently, and something told me that I might be seeing one of them.  I couldn’t confirm the ID until I saw it on my computer – lifer #2 for the gray drizzly morning!  Not bad!

Fulvous Whistling Duck

Fulvous Whistling Duck

Another bird who was very friendly that morning was the Eastern Towhee.  You can always hear them along the Windmill Whisper side of the trail, and there’s a tree along the start of the Eagle Roost trail where I can fairly predictively find Eastern Towhees.  But they don’t usually hop out right in front of me!  I guess in the low light they didn’t expect me to be standing there.

Eastern Towhee

Eastern Towhee

I headed next to the Alligator Alley trail, where a Red-Shouldered Hawk nest has been charming visitors for the past several weeks.  I’ve photographed that nest in previous years, and it’s such fun to watch as the adult brings in lizards and snakes for the little ones to devour.  The baby hawks sit in their nests calling, sounding just like adult hawks.

The nest is high in a tree across the canal from the trail. Most people walk right by it unless they notice the gaggle of photographers underneath.  On this particular morning, it was fun to run into several kids who had seen the pictures on Facebook and were determined to find the babies.  This was my favorite still shot from the morning.  I stacked both my teleconverters onto the Beast in order to get a full-frame image of the baby standing in the front of the nest.

Baby Red-Shouldered Hawk

Baby Red-Shouldered Hawk

As I left I checked on my Red-Bellied Woodpeckers.  They’ve been working on a cavity for at least two months now.  I think they are finally finished digging and onto the next part of the nesting process – Mom seems to be sitting on eggs!  I didn’t hear the calls of little ones from within the cavity.  I love springtime at the Circle B Bar Reserve!!

Red-Bellied Woodpecker Nest

Red-Bellied Woodpecker Nest

Sunshine After Rain

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It rained all week last week.  We need the rain, but we need it a little bit at a time.  Not three inches a day for five days in a row!  On Friday afternoon, I was so sick of staying inside.  We had a break in the showers, so I headed out to see if I could find a nice sunset vista.  When I left the house, I saw a rainbow in the distance and thought I’d be able to include it in the composition.  Alas, after I got out of the neighborhood and away from all the houses, the rainbow was gone.  But the sun did break through the clouds to throw its rays of light onto the land…

__201305033_copyrightJessYarnell

Sunset Through the Clouds

My neighbor Peter loves to grow cacti in his yard.  He picks them up from all over the place, including dumpsters, and sticks them into the ground.  A few months later he has a healthy blooming cactus plant!  I’d better keep him away from this location, where the cacti grow freely in the open grassy areas.  I saw this plant swaying in the wind with its pretty yellow flowers.  I’ve dressed it up a little using Topaz and Fractalius filters.

Cactus

Cactus

I didn’t see any Common Nighthawks on this visit.  Sometimes during the day I see American Kestrels, but I don’t tend to see those when I go in the evenings.  This Burrowing Owl stood tall as the grasses behind him were tossed by the wind.  I bet I wasn’t the only one who was glad that the sunshine had finally come out after rain!

Burrowing Owl

Burrowing Owl

 

Cygnet Watch at Lake Morton

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On my way back from Fort De Soto last Saturday, I stopped at Lake Morton to see if there were any cygnets (baby swans).  I’ve been keeping an eye on the nests there for the past few weeks, as it is getting to be that time of year when tiny gray fuzzballs appear under the mother swans.  It was mid-day when I got there, and the light was really harsh, but the Beast and I took a walk around the light and still found plenty to photograph.  There weren’t any baby swans yet, but I did see some other cute babies…

Growing Up

Growing Up

The two little yellow ducklings are still at Lake Morton and they are doing well.  They’ve gotten so much bigger than when I saw them last, and that was just two weeks ago.  It’s so sweet to watch them stick together.  Pretty soon we won’t be able to distinguish them from all the other “stooges” (my name for the white ducks that come begging for food!)

Black-Necked Swans

Black-Necked Swans

The Black-Necked Swans were out on the lake together.  I loved how they swan together, and their necks would cross in a heart shape sometimes.  I was hand-holding the Beast and not quite fast enough to capture it.  Maybe next time!

Baby Limpkin

Baby Limpkin

The baby Limpkins are doing well.  I saw at least five of them as they took refuge from the sun under a clump of bushes.  I’m pretty sure the large family I saw last time is actually two families, since some of the babies have hit the “teenager” stage, and others are still in the fuzzy baby stage, like the one above.  Mom was taking two of the babies for a walk, and they started to play wing-flap with each other.  Look at those developing feathers!

Mallard Babies Under Mom

Mallard Babies Under Mom

I saw my friend Kim and she pointed out this Mallard with her big brood of babies.  I’ve never seen the babies all grouped under Mama Mallard like this!  I guess I’m usually at Lake Morton early in the morning, when Mom lets the babies run free.  During the heat of the mid-day, they seek shade under their mom.

Mallard Baby Crowd

Mallard Baby Crowd

Mom got up and revealed her little ones to us.  There were nine little babies snuggled up under her!  When she stood up, they were happy to run along the shore and eat at the grass.  Pretty soon, though, they seemed to want to get back under her.  The Florida sun is hot on little ducklings!

Pleasant Morning at Fort De Soto

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For the past three weekends in a row, I’ve planned a visit to Fort De Soto.  I even planned to go and stay overnight so that I’d have more time with golden light.  Then there were thunderstorms.  And rain.  And clouds.  Two weekends in a row!  So this past weekend I finally made it there.

When you drive into Fort De Soto and come to the flagpole, you have to make an important decision.  Going left takes you to the East Beach, where you can view the sunrise as the sun peeks up over the Sunshine Skyway bridge.  Or you can go right, which takes you to North Beach, one of the best places I know for nature photography.  I’d been opting for pre-dawn bird portraits on North Beach as I made the long drive from Orlando, but as the first glimmers of daylight showed me some gorgeous clouds, I opted to turn left and shoot the sunrise.  I’m so glad I did.  I think this is my first Fort De Soto sunrise with any sort of clouds in the sky!

Fort De Soto Sunrise

Fort De Soto Sunrise

Fort De Soto in April can be spectacular during migration.  For the millions of neotropical songbirds that cross the Gulf of Mexico in one long night of migration, Fort De Soto is the first land they see in many hours.  It has fresh water and blooming mulberry bushes to refuel the exhausted birds.  Last year I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of a fallout, when birds literally “fell out” of the skies from exhaustion after a cold front impeded their migration.  This year I didn’t have such luck, but I did have a great time on North Beach with the shorebirds.

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover

I started at the North Beach lagoon, where I thought it was going to be low tide with plenty of birds feeding on the beach.  Except it was high tide and there were very few birds! :(  I found a couple of lone Semipalmated Plovers in bright breeding colors feeding in the sand.  My new groundpod came in handy as I laid down to photograph them at eye level.  The black patches on their faces and black ring around their necks are so striking at this time of year.  But the sun wasn’t out yet at this location, so I headed down the beach to see what else I could find…

American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatcher

There are a couple of breeding pairs of American Oystercatchers at North Beach, and often you find them together.  So I was surprised to find this American Oystercatcher resting by himself on the beach.  He barely opened an eye as I positioned the camera and took his picture.  I liked how the sand in the foreground blurs the image a little, making him look like he’s in a cloud.  He posed for a while, then hopped away.  That’s when I noticed that he had a bit of wire or something tied around one leg.  Poor bird – as soon as I realized he was injured, I left him alone.  :(

Laughing Gull Pair

Laughing Gull Pair

It’s always fun to capture the gulls and terns mating at this time of year.  All the terns were in the bird sanctuary on this morning, and there were very few gulls out and about.  I found this pair on top of a tree trunk, and they showed off nicely for me.  I’m still not used to the North Beach changes since last summer’s tropical storms so dramatically re-shaped the beach.  These trees had to be cut down after the storms, and only the stumps remain.  The gulls didn’t seem to mind.

Black-Bellied Plover

Black-Bellied Plover

For the past few years I’ve been on a quest to find and photograph a Black-Bellied Plover in full breeding colors.  I’ve gotten some that had very dark tummies, but I’ve yet to capture one at the peak of breeding colors.  They finish molting each year at the beginning of May, then fly off to Alaska to have their babies.  I’m in awe as I think of how many miles these birds fly in a few short months.  On this visit, the Black-Bellied Plovers had started their molt, but none were very black yet.  This one entertained me taking a bath in a tidal pool near my camera.

Reddish Egret (White Morph)

Reddish Egret (White Morph)

Just as I was getting ready to pack up my Beast and head to the Mulberry trees, this Reddish Egret White Morph flew up.  I’ve had relatively few opportunities to photograph this unusual white version of our friend “Big Red.”  He didn’t pose long, as he had fish to catch and birds to see…he gave me a few “drunken sailor” moves as he headed up the beach, then I caught him take off to fly away.  I loved the trail of water that followed him!

At the Mulberry trees I found a couple of migrants, including Indigo Bunting, Cape May Warbler, Prairie Warbler, late Palm and Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and a cooperative Black-and-white Warbler.  The Black-Whiskered Vireo was still there, but he flew away as soon as I walked up!  The area was crowded with an Audubon field trip, and I didn’t stay all that long.  I guess last year’s fallout spoiled me! :)