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Super Dad!

/ Rebecca / 16 Comments

Right outside our screened-in porch, a female cardinal laid three eggs in a nest that she built inside one of our potted plants. We had a perfect view of all the activity going on inside the nest. These photos cover several days and end with the day that the last one left the nest. The final two photos are of a dedicated male cardinal who took over after the eggs hatched and spent his week feeding the chicks and keeping the nest clean. His watchful eye was constantly on the hatchings, and he showed up immediately if anything got too close to the nest. He implemented diversion tactics to draw attention away from them and onto himself. After the last one left the nest, he encouraged the fledgling to fly, and coaxed it to safe places in the yard. His devotion to his little ones appeared unending.

“The greatest lessons I learned from my father didn’t come from lectures or discipline or even time spent together. What has stuck with me is his example. From watching, I chose whether to be or not to be like him.” ~Richelle E. Goodrich

Snakes

/ Rebecca / 14 Comments

We often see snakes tucked in amongst the vegetation while walking around the boardwalk at Reelfoot Lake. Occasionally, they will fall from trees or slither along the handrails. Many are water snakes which are nonvenomous, but there are also cottonmouths in the mix.

“The serpent subtlest beast of all the field.” ~John Milton

Cloud Scenes

/ Rebecca / 15 Comments

The sun provides the background, but the clouds paint the picture.

“Clouds are the sky’s imagination.” ~Terri Guillemets

“God’s cloud-scenes are for everybody everywhere. Some people can never afford to travel; the grandeur of the Alps, the loveliness of the lakes, are only imaginative dreams for them; and even those who visit such fair scenes merely get a hurried glimpse, and then they are back again amidst the turmoil of human life; but the sky is always overhead, and everywhere to be seen.” ~Alfred Rowland

Drawing Attention

/ Rebecca / 12 Comments

This female Red-winged Blackbird was obviously drawing attention to herself. Sitting near the top of a cypress tree, swaying in the wind, her conspicuous behavior included raising her tail feathers and rapidly fluttering her wings, which she repeated over and over. In the distance, a male could be heard calling. My first thought was that she was trying to attract or communicate with a mate, but another thought might be a response to a predator within her nesting territory.

 “I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.” ~Lewis Carroll

Finding Shelter

/ Rebecca / 23 Comments

It was a chilly, windy day out on the lake. This young Prothonotary Warbler found shelter among the water lilies, flittering from leaf to leaf and occasionally sitting peacefully and soaking up the warmth of the sun.

“We should all find a quiet place, a peaceful space, to bury the chaos and rest for a while.” ~Christy Ann Martine

Soaking Up the Sun

/ Rebecca / 11 Comments

While driving down the road at the refuge, we spotted this frog resting on a branch and soaking up the late afternoon sun.

“Get off the track of doubt and gloom, get on the sunshine track, there’s room.” ~ Unknown

Laying Eggs

/ Rebecca / 11 Comments

After Common Green Darner dragonflies mate, the male (with the blue abdomen) continues to grip the head of the female (with the reddish-brown abdomen), and together, they fly to a body of water with aquatic vegetation.  Here, the female bends her sharp ovipositor into the water and makes incisions into plant stems and leaves, where she carefully lays her eggs. After about a week, the eggs will hatch into nymphs. The vegetation will provide a place for the young to live and hunt as they mature.

“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it is thoroughly finished yields the true glory.” ~Francis Drake

Bird Watching

/ Rebecca / 7 Comments

Birds seen recently around the levee and lake.

“If you’re not a bird watcher you won’t be very excited, though gulls are graceful in flight and striking in appearance. If you’re a bird watcher this makes you weak in the knees.” ~Bryan Pfeiffer