After quite a trek, I am glad to say we have successfully made it back home from our Florida field trip. We ended up having to come home two days early due to the weather situation in the Midwest. Looking at the forecast, we noticed a big snow event that was planned for last Friday night thru Sunday morning and then another round coming in on the following Monday/Tuesday. Driving the RV through that is not enjoyable, especially when pulling another vehicle. As mentioned in the last post, we decided to try to get back between the white goal posts and opted to hard press it so we could get back by Sunday night. Big thanks to Linda who drove the entire way while I tried to navigate through the weather cells and hordes of holiday travelers. I would be feeling pretty great if I wasn’t staring down a new crown scheduled for tomorrow – damn I hate dental procedures ugh.
Anyway, we are home and we are officially in the last month of the year. In honor of the well-celebrated birthday towards the end of this month, we’ve declared it Baby Month where we are going to try and feature as many wildlife offspring we can find in our queues. To start us off we are going with a double feature.
Hit the jump to enjoy more shots of wild “babies”.
First we are going back to Dauphin Island along the coast of Alabama. We were there to catch the migration back in April 2023 – actually, guessing that goes without saying as I have found there is very little birding there outside of migration – seems to become quite a dead-zone for some reason until the birds start making their migration back across the Gulf. We began the day at Shell Mounds, an incredible place to start your birding if you have not been to the island before. Before leaving the area, I highly recommend going across the street (diagonally) from the official entrance where the sign is. There is another straight path through a denser grove of trees that tends to serve up the more secretive birds.
Be warned, this is not the best conditions for photography – limited light and thick vegetation, welcome to grain and frustration ha. On this particular day, Linda and Ron were with me as we were on the hunt for a Hooded Warbler. This was a perfect location for these particular Warblers as they prefer hunting the brush and understory. If you manage to get a clear line of sight on a Hooded you are having a really good day.
Assuming you already figured out our featured “baby” here is NOT a Hooded Warbler – in fact, not even close. This dude or dudette is closer to three times the size of an adult Hooded, already with a set of claws that could probably wrap around one of their throats. This is actually a member of the Mimidae family known as the Brown Thrasher.
We were walking along the trail when we noticed this fledgling sitting on a small branch somewhat in the open. At first I was thrown as to what it was, but then noticed the fine wisps of feathers and that feeling the bill is way too big for its body – more of a visual perspective as the pale “lips” seem to extend to the back of the eye which is a general clue to me that this one was still developing. As chicks mature, the feathering tends to fill that area below the eye which has an effect of pushing the bill forward. Of course, there is another good clue to the fledgling and that is the nonstop pointing at the open bill while repeatedly proclaiming “Mommy, put something right in there now!“.
We proceeded to take a large number of shots as I had never encountered a baby Brown Thrasher before, much less one so accommodating. After a few minutes I got the feeling we might be stressing this little tyke a bit much and more likely causing extreme concern for the parent. Took our closing shots, gave our thanks for its accommodations and said our goodbyes. About 20 steps later I looked back and sure enough, Mom had flown in to comfort and nourish its new ball of feathers. As a last look, take a gander at those claws again – well equipped with the tools, now just needs the tutelage to put it to good use
As mentioned, we are sparing no expense for you today and breaking with tradition to bring you a second “baby” sighting. Every time I come upon a new brood of Ducks I can’t help but think one thing “How the hell does any of these cuties survive to adulthood“. Admittedly, a bit morbid, but these Mottled Duck offspring face a double dose of danger – the standard one from above the water and the other from the perils of the deep.
This family was shot while visiting Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville, Florida. Yes, THAT Sweetwater from a previous post that is absolutely filled with dangerous reptiles. Note, this reminded me of the feeling I got taking pictures of baby Limpkins down the road at Paynes Prairie (link here). Felt like there was a good chance there was going to be one of these shots with a giant dark ‘V’ with teeth in it ready to chomp.
Fortunately, no such thing occurred …well, at least the entire 40 minutes I spent watching and shooting these adorable handfuls. Mom was ever watchful and clearly an old hat at this whole rearing thingy. Or possibly absolutely overconfident..eh, let’s stay positive.
I did note that Mom let the ducklings lead through the more obscured areas of the waterways, but when they made it to open waters she took the lead. Absolutely no idea if that was intentional or not, just something noted along the way.
She did have one big advantage, instead of just two eyes watching the waterline there were 18 of them with nearly every angle covered. Throughout the day I took note of every Hawk I came upon and secretly hoped they focused more on those “Gator Bait” Moorhens and Coots rather than those vulnerable adorables. Okay, you got me… I took a side which I’ve repeatedly said I try not to do…but look at them sigh.
Hope you enjoyed this kick-off to Baby Month. Take care and best wishes to our editor at our western headquarters – she is undergoing ankle surgery soon – trust me, I feel for her!
Life Intrigued 