Hi folks, I just woke up. Exhausting day yesterday. They said the Pelican isn't banded or marked in any way but they are asking around to see if it escaped from...something? It's only about two hours south of me. It does make one wonder how it ended up on our side of Florida?

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary posted a good Folklore Friday today about Swallowtail Kites (and Kites in general). Enjoy!

Folklore Friday: Beautiful Swallow-Tailed Kites, make their way back to Florida around Valentine's Day each year from South America. In Egyptian mythology, Isis, was Goddess of the moon, love, magic, fertility and healing, After the death of her husband, Osiris, she took on the role as Goddess of the dead and of funeral rites. She was said to take the form of a Kite or Kestrel, which she considered a sacred bird. Kites were connected with funeral customs. Tales are told of a woman called “The Kite” who was the Pharaoh’s chief female funeral attendant. She was supposed to remove poisons from the deceased, magically purifying him. She was also believed to have powers of resurrection. In Egyptian art, when Isis and sister Nephthys are not portrayed as women, they are shown in full bird-form or sometimes as woman-headed kites. Some art depicts them sitting or hovering by the bier of Osiris, prior to his burial. As birds, Isis and Nephthys mourn Osiris, making shrill bird cries to express sorrow. Isis and Nephthys were shown with wings attached to their arms.

When traveling in Florida you may have noticed that the Swallow-Tailed Kite is pictured on the Great Florida Birding Trail signs. Florida has more Kites than the rest of the nation, so it was a perfect fit. While we’re talking about kites....The earliest written account of kite flying was about 200 B.C. when the Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city he was attacking to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past the defenses. Knowing this distance his troops reached the inside of the city, surprised their enemy, and were victorious. If you decide to “go fly a kite,” you may be interested to know that April is National Kite Month. ‪#‎CorkscrewSwamp‬ ‪#‎FolkloreFriday‬

So I'm kind of in a mood lately. I did some gardening and pulling things out of the ground and yelling at stuff helped. I also took a walk around my yard, and the neighbors' to see what was going on. I guess it pays to look up, because I saw some new birds (for me).

Well, at first I was looking down because there were all these birds on the ground in my neighbor's yard. They looked like Palm Warblers, or some kind of Warbler. But as the song goes, one of them was not like the rest. And it became really obvious when I got too close and they took flight. One of them was blue! And I think that's because it's an Eastern Bluebird. Check it out.



For the record, this is one of the birds the Bluebird was hanging out with. Not sure why it would hang with a flock of other birds, but who am I to judge?



I heard a lot of pecking going on so I looked around and saw this thing. Now, my book says the difference between a Hairy and a Downy Woodpecker is bill size. I think this is Hairy Woodpecker because the bill looks longer to me. Also, I think it's a female because I didn't see a bit of red on it. My pictures may not be good, but I had my contacts in and I could see the thing. Also, they move around a lot! I was like, "Stay in one spot, darn it!"




And I also saw several Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. Here's one.

Melanie, you did good, the Hairy Woodpecker is much larger than the Downy, and the Eastern Bluebird is beautiful.

Wonderful, Melanie! The Eastern Bluebird is a new one to me - truly beautiful. Great that you got so many photos - must have been a busy day!

Melanie,..well captured images of that Bluebird,..its also new to me!,..cute yellow bird that looks similar to our "Yellow Hammer" though ours would probably not be in the US,..love those Woodpecker shots and you got them from all angles

Blue Tits in the garden today.


Great Tits.


European Robin,..spotted while along the river today.


Terns in the football field.


Magpie,..still building a huge nest across from the front of my house.


Wood Pigeon.

Thanks guys! The Bluebird definitely stuck out among all the Warblers. I'm glad I had a pretty good bird day because I didn't see a single butterfly. It was cool this morning, and even though I was out there until noon, I guess it didn't warm up enough for their liking. Saw a couple of bees, though. We're supposed to get up in the 80's this week so that should help.

I'm loving all the photos & links you guys! I got behind again. One reason, but only one of them, is because the dh & I have been cleaning out "stuff". Called a charity to come pick up some furniture & lots of smaller things. We've more clearing out to do but we've made some real progress. Taking a break this evening to catch up a teensy bit.

Melanie, I think those warblers were pine warblers. They tend to be more brightly yellow on the undersides than the palm warblers and remember that the palm warbler flicks it's tail up & down incessantly.

Lin, I hope you & your hubs are well by now. Don't forget your flu shots next year. My dh & I always get ours in October. Our anniversary is in October & we joke that we give each other a flu shot for an anniversary gift each year. It does make it easy for us to remember though. When we remember our anniversary, the first thing that pops into our mind is it's time to get our flu shots.

Up to today there was only one Magpie building the nest,..today a second Magpie has arrived to help with the construction.




Swan.

Aww, such nice shots and the swan is beautiful. Glad your magpie has a friend - it takes two to tango, right?

That's cool Philip, you will be able to watch them hopefully raise their babies.

Magpie pair!
Swans are so pretty. Elegant.

Got lost again! Love all the photos!

In the last week I have seen wild turkeys, common grackles are showing up & Barn Swallows. Will be time to get the hummingbird feeders out very soon!

Lots of great photos, Philip! Love the swan!

Thank you Folks looking out for bird life is new to me,.. now i find myself constantly looking up into trees where as before it was looking down on garden plants

Yay!!!

That reminds me, I forgot to tell you guys that Dad and my brother both saw a hummingbird. I'll have to keep my eye out for it.

Speaking of vultures (Melanie's article on another thread), there must have been something dead in the woods because a dozen or so of them flew into the trees when we came around the corner...

It was interesting because they all kept their wings open the entire time we were there! I couldn't get a picture of all of them because the sun was shining right where they were lined up.

Turkey vulture ~

I was on my way to Starbucks this morning and saw a dead bird on the side of the road. Turned out to be a Muscovy Duck so I didn't feel too bad. While I was in the drive-thru, there were crows and some other brown birds picking at some food on the ground. I looked through my book and the closest looking bird was the Cowbird but let me know what you think.



Meanwhile, there were some Gulls on the roof. They looked like the Laughing Gull in my book because they had the all black head and the gray sides. Open the pictures to see the birds on the edges of the pics.

Nice shots, Melanie. Your brown bird on the ground isn't a cowbird, I don't think. Mine that I have seen have a very distinct "hood" of a different color on their heads, and shorter necks.

The gulls on the roof might also be terns, depends upon the size - terns are smaller than gulls but that's the only difference I can think of. The black headed gulls and black headed terns look very similar.