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Posts tagged ‘birds’

Sep 21

46 Comments

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence,
pocket full of rye,
four and twenty blackbirds
baked in a pie.
 When the pie was opened,
the birds began to sing:
isn’t that a dainty dish
to set before the King?

The King is in his counting-house
counting out his money;
the Queen is in the parlor
eating bread and honey;
the Maid is in the garden
hanging up the clothes,
 when down swoops a Blackbird
and snaps off her nose!

Cover illustration for Randolph Caldecott’s Sing a Song for Sixpence (1880)

There are many interpretations to this curious nursery rhyme, dating to the 18th century. It’s been traced to the 16th-century practice of placing live songbirds in a pie (who wouldn’t want live animals flying out of their prepared food?), to various historical events and folklorish symbols, and even to a coded message used to recruit crew members for pirate ships. Lord Byron, James Joyce, Virgina Woolf, Agatha Christie, George Orwell, and Roald Dahl all referenced the ditty, and it’s appeared in songs by The Beatles, The Monkees, Radiohead, Tom Waits, and others. Obviously this mysterious little rhyme continues to captivate our popular consciousness.

As we approach the equinox, I’m anxious to spy our returning colonies of Red-winged blackbirds — the males, glossy black with their brilliant scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches, puffing up or hiding (depending on their level of confidence), and belting out their conk-la-ree songs. And the more subdued females, with their brown colorations and clever camouflaging — so much shyer than their male counterparts.

Ever regal: Male Red-winged blackbird in the Florida wetlands

Watching over his brood… But I see YOU!

Puffin’ and hollerin’ away

And the GIRLS…

Always the shy ones: Female Red-winged blackbird in the Florida wetlands

Flittering among the reeds

Lovely girl against the shallow waters

Sep 19

29 Comments

Peek-a-Boo

During a recent dusk trip to the wetlands, a Great egret preened…extensively…in a rookery, in preparation of the night. And human males complain of women’s bedtime preparations.

Preening Great egret in the Florida wetlands: Where are you…

Peek-a-boo!

 

 

Sep 12

37 Comments

The Little Least Terns

There are birds a-plenty in the South Florida swamps and wetlands, and they’re not always the towering waders. Least Terns are the smallest of the American terns, native to North America and northern South America. They’re migratory birds, and live in such habitats as sea coasts, bays, lagoons, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and rivers.

{As always, please click on any image for expansion!}

Least Tern in the Florida Wetlands: I may be small, but I can holler with the rest of ’em

These birds are colony nesters, breeding between April and August. Like many other birds, they usually return to the same breeding site year after year. Least Terns are ground nesters, and situate their nests on the open ground, usually at higher elevations and away from the water’s edge. In flight, they hover and dive into the water for small fish and aquatic crustaceans, occasionally skimming the water’s surface for insects. They fly with fast, herky-jerky wingbeats in their signature hunchback display. Males and females of the species look alike: They have a forked tail, with pointed and narrow wings. Their bills are yellow in the summer, which turn black in the winter.

Yes, I see you

Special spiky tail

When I see them in our wetlands, it’s nesting time — so they’re often together, as nesting pairs.

I don’t like that tall thing near us; You can stay there on the edge of non-safety while I sit and glare

Sep 7

64 Comments

Mr. Personality

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way. —John Muir

I adore the Tricolored (or Louisiana) Herons: They’re colorful and spirited characters of our wetlands and swamps. This fellow landed beside me on a recent walk, and proceeded to hack up a recent meal — something had obviously gotten stuck in that long, elegant throat of his. All was well eventually, but not after a 20-minute show.

{As always, please click on the image for expansion!}

Tricolored (Louisiana) Heron, Florida Wetlands: I am so lovely and elegant, yes?

Excusey, I seem to have something in my throat….

Haaaaaaaaaaack!

Shake it off! Shake it off!

Aug 31

62 Comments

The Last Rays of the Sun

A Great Egret meticulously preens its most lovely breeding plumage (captured from the early Spring), the gossamer feathers lit in the setting sun over our protected wetlands.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

May your weekends be just as luminous and carefree as this lovely creation!

A Great Egret preens its breeding plumage in the Florida Wetlands

Great Egret shaking that lovely breeding plumage in the Florida Wetlands

Great Egret in breeding plumage overlooking the Florida Wetlands

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