Birds of St. Croix

i was going to write a piece about the similarities we have with mammals, fish, insects and birds that work together for the benefit of the community. Things like cooperative breeding which is a form of communal nesting, flocking and schooling to deter predators or corral prey, penguins staying warm by bunching together, the collective consciousness of bees, ants, and monarch butterflies...and what about how certain organisms can stay in touch with others of their own kind across distances, time and even generations(monarchs).

There was a great piece on PBS called the “Gathering Swarms” that you can view on line at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-gathering-swarms/full-episode/8840/#disqus_thread

i highly recommend watching it if you enjoy learning about nature and how it does work together.

i think everyone reading this blog knows that i push the idea that we are all in this living on earth thing more as a communal effort than an individual one. i was going to compare and contrast us with those things i mentioned above but this week has been so great bird wise that i'm posting photos instead.

Hope you enjoy as much as i did some of the birds i photographed on the island recently.

The Snowy Egrets above were in their breeding plumage and really going to town with the displays at Lowry Hill Pond South. i had been driving past and saw this flash of white in the corner of my eye and had to back up to see what was going on there. i

ended up going back to this pond four times because they were so spectacular.

This handsome guy...a Yellow- crowned Night Heron has been hanging out at Cane Bay Beach for a few weeks now. i have loads of photos of him eating, loafing and hunting but this one really shows how regal and beautiful he is.

Another flash of white whooshing past my deck one day led me to finally get a pic you can see of this Leucistic Pearly-eyed Thrasher. He's not an albino because he does have a bit of color on his head.

There was a large flock of White-winged Doves flying around the North shore but this was the only decent pic i was able to get of one of them.

This Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was hanging out on the Osprey's perch the other day.

But this Osprey i spotted over by the Granard South Pond.

This Spotted Sandpiper was hanging out at Altona Lagoon.

Snowy Egret and Common Gallinule

Common Gallinule

Pied-billed Grebe and young with Moorhen in back

Pied-billed Grebe

Green Heron

Great Egret

Green Heron

The Grebes, Green Heron, Gallinule and Great Egret were all at the Buccaneer which is a great place to bird because there are so many ponds all over the golf course.