Sunday, April 13, 2014

Nassau Bay Park


An unpleasant pattern of beautiful days during the week and rain on the weekends has developed this year.  Waiting for perfect conditions to birdwatch is an exercise in futility.  Might as well grab my camera and see what I can find.  I visited three local parks and added three species to my list for 2014.  Nassau Bay Park was the first.


A pair of Mallards enjoyed a mud puddle created by the rain.  Can you believe this is the first time I've seen Mallards this year?



A red-eared slider climbed up the branch to catch what rays of sunshine he could between downpours.



The squirrel ran away with his nut(?) and pretended to bury it several times.  He'd look up to see if I was still watching, find another spot to dig, and repeat.


The domesticated geese are actually quite lovely - when they're not chasing me and pecking if I don't give them food.  I love that touch of orange around her eye.  Reminds me of bright sunny days.

The water just beads up on her feathers and rolls off her back.  I wish more than water would roll off of mine...  



I had to look at this one twice.  I had no doubt that it was a Ring-billed Gull when I photographed it, but when I uploaded the photo it didn't look quite right.  I've finally decided it's a 1st winter gull.

The rain was really coming down when I took this one.  I retreated to the car and headed for the next park.

I'm linking up with Saturday's Critters.  Take photos of your pets, farm animals, neighbor's cat,  or backyard birds and join the party.

UTC083
Date of Visit:  April 6, 2014
Time of day:  Early afternoon
Temp:  72F
Conditions: Rain
Species Identified (15):  Rock Pigeon, Mallard, Great-tailed Grackle, American Coot, Northern Mockingbird, Great Egret, Tri-colored Heron, European Starling, Neotropic Cormorant, Northern Shoveler, Laughing Gull, American Crow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Sparrow, Ring-billed Gull

22 comments:

  1. Jen, nice blog you have. You obviously live near some amazing birding areas! Thanks for visiting.

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  2. a wonderful collection of critters!! i read your "story line" at the top of your blog, you are very ambitious. it will be time well spent!!

    thanks for your comment on my blog today!!

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  3. Love the gull image!! And the squirrel along with your narrative about it 'pretending' to hide the nut "cracked me up".

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  4. Wow ~ despite the weather you did wonderfully ~ love mallards~ great action (quiet) shot and the squirrel is sweet ~ great birds too ~ xoxo

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

    ps. I am not a 'bird watcher' but can relate to your frustration of 'rain' ~ not great photo taking time ~

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  5. the Mallards always make for a good pic; interesting, the Slider ...

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  6. Until recently same pattern here, of fine weekdays and rain at the weekends!

    Love your captures, especially of the squirrel and mallards.

    Hope you have a good week ahead weatherwise!

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  7. Beautiful compositions with exquisite colors! nice photos!

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  8. Looks like the day turned out well despite the rain. I love that turtle shot and the gull.
    I just noticed today the squirrels buried their stolen hickory nuts in my flower bed and have been retrieving them this week. The tree is only a couple of feet from the beds. Silly squirrels.

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  9. HI Despite rain you managed to get a good selection of critters shots.

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  10. great shots! loved the red-eared slider! really awesome! :)

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  11. Great park with so many critters.

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  12. Love the turtles! We don't see them so much here in Germany, but I miss them!

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  13. Hi Jen!! Thank you for stopping by! Always great to meet new people!!
    Nice shots!! Love the red ear slidder!! I'm amazed that he climbed that branch sticking out of the water. My sister was highly allergic, so I ended up with Myrtle and Ed for my pets. Bought them as the size of a quarter, at Woolworths back in the 60s. They grew up to be about this size and then I let them go into the St. Johns River in Fla. I had them in a big plastic pool in the end and fed the minnows and grasshoppers. So hopefully they made it ok!! (down memory lane here!!)

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  14. Sweet, sweet images!! The red-eared slider climbing up the log is really special. I like how you made field notes at the end of the post. That's a great idea!!! I may "borrow" that. :)

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  15. Sounds like your weather is not much better than ours at the moment Jen.Like you say, no good sitting around especially when you get pictures like those. The Red-eared Slider picture is tremendous, so is the name.

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  16. Beautiful shots. I really love the shot of the turtle.

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  17. nice critters catch for the day. :) Love the beautiful turtle.

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  18. I don't think I paid much attention to the less distinct female mallards; now I will! The feather pattern is beautiful.

    Great close-ups on all.

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  19. Sounds like normal weather to me! Just put on a coat!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  20. Fantastic captures even on a rainy day of these birds/critters.

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  21. Bummer about the weekend rain -- when we lived in Oregon (and before we retired) it seemed like that always happened. Of course now every day can be a weekend day (but you have to be old and retired). You got wonderful pictures -- actually I wouldn't have known it was a rainy day if you hadn't said.

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  22. nice set of critters.

    You asked about DOLE plantation. I visited it in august last year and it was open then.

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