Cardinals are eating all over

Many of the smaller backyard birds appear to have left for greener pastures or warmer weather, not that it's particularly cold here in South Florida.  We still have a few blue jays, cardinals and others around, just not as many as before.  The cardinals have been stopping in a lot of different places in the backyard to eat.  In a prior post I showed them harvesting the ripe millet seeds on the millet plants by the canal that grew up when the birds missed a few seeds and the rain washed them down the hill where they took root.  They also eat at both the feeders and on the ground in various spots.  Today a pair was snacking under the bougainvillea.  The male raised his bright red crest and it made for a nice picture.

Good seeds!

What can I say?  Nothing - I have my mouth full!

The big orange male iguana was in the backyard again today and so was a much smaller green one.  But this time he was not trying to chase her away so I think it must have been a female.  He seems to try to clear the backyard of all the other males.  Unlike me, he can tell a male from a female.

On the lookout to evict other males

The girls like this one can stay

The snowy egret was back across the canal yesterday, and is always a pretty sight.

 

Enjoying the delights of the shallows

A small tricolor heron also stopped across the canal and was very interested in the food possibilities there.  A grebe was in the canal near that side also.  That has always been a popular dining spot.

The palm warbler is definitely back and has been around every day; today she was back in one of her favorite spots, picking insects off the pool screen.  This is the smallest backyard bird we have.  And it only visits in fall and winter, hailing from Western Pennsylvania.  These guys move fast and flit their tails up and down constantly so it's hard to get a picture of them.  It's hard to see but she has a bright yellow spot under her rump.

Love these bugs!

The geese Tony and Cleo are here daily and yesterday they came so early, announcing their arrival with a bit of honking, that I would not get up and feed them.  They finally left and came back at a more civilized hour.  Tony has seemed a bit grumpy lately but come to think of it, he always looks grumpy.  It's actually Cleo who does all the honking whereas Tony merely makes loud huffing noises, but he's the one with the attitude.

Tony always looks angry

The pigeon came by this afternoon and got his own personal pile of seeds as there were no ducks around.  He was in his glory.

The mornings have been pretty busy in the Muscovy community with Blanco, Big Boy, Lazlo and several other males including the handsome one and the new one.  Cutie2, Cutie Tips and a few harem girls round out the female population.  The overall population has thinned since we went away even though they were being fed.  There is no more Red Eye, Sweetie, Chirpie, Blackie2 or even Black Foot.  Pretty Girl made an appearance one day last week and has not been seen since.   It seems like the old regulars have moved on and a new group are now the predominant visitors.  

Mom and the juveniles visited today and rested under my neighbor's bushes all morning.  The kids have feathered wings that are close to useful.  They don't look like a mess anymore and their heads are nicely feathered and the last of the baby fluff is gone from their bodies.  Once their feathers grow a little longer they will be off and flying.

Mom and the kids take a rest after eating

There are still lots of mottled ducks including the one with the necklace of white feathers and the mom who had the baby earlier this year.  They are the only two with distinctive white markings and the others all look the same to me.  Call duck Colson is still with them and is still chasing one big Muscovy male out of the backyard.

For the last few days I have seen a solid black cat prowling on the golf course in the tall grass.  I can only guess he is looking for rodents or an unwary bird.  I'm just as glad he doesn't come to this side of the canal.

As for the Muscovy eggs that I'm incubating because they were abandoned by mom Cutie2 after her nest was attacked by a predator, I candled them last night to see if they were progressing.  It now appears that three are alive.  I saw movement inside them.  Some of the others are clearly unfertilized and I still can't be sure about some of them but there were signs that they were fertilized but died at some point.  I might get rid of the unfertilized ones soon.  I will keep all the others because I'm not really sure what I'm doing and don't want to discard a living embryo.  They still have several weeks left to go.  At least I think so.