Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Common Birds in Your Area This Time of Year

Welcome to Bird Weekly Week #54 – Common birds in your area seen this time of year. (7/9/21)

The feature image is a Black Skimmer taken last summer. I haven’t been to the beach this year since I can’t get my foot wet and can’t walk on it yet.

Many of these birds are here year-round, however, they were all taken between May and August. The Summer Tanager, American Redstart and Swallow-tailed Kite are summertime visitors.

---

Carolina Wrens

This brood of Carolina Wrens were tucked in cozily in their nest waiting for the parents to bring them more food. This nest was built in my daughter’s shed. They were close to fledging. Carolina Wrens can have 1-3 broods per year. The clutch size is 3-7 eggs that are incubated in 12-16 days. They are only in the nest for 10-16 days before they venture out on their own with parental guidance of course.

---

Brown Pelicans

Brown Pelicans are here year-round. As many of you know, this is my favorite bird. These adults were teaching the juvenile how to fish. This photo was taken this week. We drove out to Mayport after I got my stitches out, got take out from Safe Harbour (our favorite seafood restaurant) and drove down to the boat ramp. It was too hot and humid to sit outside, so we ate in the car as we watched the birds frolicked around. I took this from the comfort of the car. It was good to get out!

---

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

I found this adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron photo while going through my archives…again. I couldn’t find it last week, but it was taken this time of year several years ago. They are here year-round.

---

Laughing Gull

This Laughing Gull was many that I took last summer at Little Talbot Island. They can be seen here throughout the year, but are here by the tens of thousands during the summer months.

---

Summer Tanager

The Summer Tanager visits Jacksonville during the summer months only but can be seen year-round in Southern Florida. The female is yellowish with a pinkish or horn-colored bill. The male is a brilliant red and unfortunately, I do not have a photo of one. They like dense mature forests and are usually solitary in the upper levels. This one was in the upper canopy but we were on a hill so this bird wasn’t that far away because of the elevation.

---

American Redstart

American Redstarts are another summertime visitor. This is an immature male beginning to get his colors in. The yellows will eventually turn a brilliant orange. He will dance around showing those colors off to attract a female. They will use this same technique to startle their prey, usually insects out of foliage and broken tree limbs, which is the behavior on display here.

---

Limpkin

The Limpkin is a resident of Florida. This photo was taken during the summer out behind my best friend’s house. There were 6 of them that came out of the woods to find their favorite food, snails in the pond.

---

Swallow-tailed Kite

Swallow-tailed Kites are a predatory bird that hunts in Florida during the summer months. We do not feed the birds from May-September here because of the kites. The Mississippi Kite is another summertime predator but I don’t have a decent photo of one. Both of these species go in search of birds that are nesting or have fledglings. While they are graceful and beautiful in the air, the thought of offering up any bird on my feeder doesn’t set well with me. There is plenty of food during the hot summer months so there is no need to make it easy on the kites.

---

Next time…Week #55 – Bird Headshots! (7/16/21)

---