Egret visits the backyard along with the gallinule babies

Today a great egret ventured over to our side of the canal from his usual spot across the way and perched on a dock post to have a look around.  He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out so maybe he was just yawning!  He has some of the wispy feathers in back that made egrets almost reach extinction.  Their feathers were used in women's hats in the early 1900s, and millions of egrets and herons were killed for their feathers. 

I forget what I wanted to say.

 

The baby gallinules were on our side of the canal again looking as ugly-cute as ever with their bald heads, googly eyes and little featherless stubs for wings.

In the underbrush with mom.

Two little cuties showing off their baby style.

 

A four-spot pennant dragonfly was out and about along the edge of the canal, stopping on different twigs to rest and check out some of the flowers. This is the most common type of dragonfly that we see.

Checking out a promising twig

The milkweed plant in the enclosure still has monarch eggs on it.  Some were laid right up in the flowers, which is nice because the caterpillars love the flowers best and often migrate there after they hatch for some sweet tender food.  Later they settle for the leaves once the flowers are gone.

Tiny monarch egg is right by the milkweed buds.  That will be a very happy caterpillar!

Some of the numerous coconuts floating in the canal occasionally get stuck in one spot for a while and start to sprout.  Later they float off when the wind shifts and often find a nice spot to start to grow into a little tree.  The one shown here was in the alcove for a while and has started the process.

Something major is starting!

The trees that were removed across the canal included the one with the dead limbs that the osprey used to perch on.  I guess we won't be seeing any more of the ospreys or hawks that used to stop there.  The land was supposed to be reserved as a park but ended up being sold to a developer, so we will probably see townhouses instead of ospreys.  Bad substitution.

Finally, the cat on the patio is loving his nice blanket of flowers, as you can see from his smile!

I love petunias!