If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 626

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oriole Blackbird

 

This is an unused color photo postcard distributed by Florida Natural Color, Inc. of Miami, Florida.  FNC5468 appears at the bottom of the center line on the reverse side of the card.  There is an information blurb at the upper left corner on the reverse:  “The ‘Oriole Blackbird’ with its bright yellow breast and black back is one of the most colorful of the many tropical birds that can be seen in beautiful Sunken Gardens, situated in the heart of St. Petersburg, Florida.”

 

The oriole blackbird is about 12 inches or 30 cm long.  Both male and female birds are similar in appearance with the head, neck, shoulders and underparts a bright yellow.  The back, wings, rump and tail are black apart from stripe of yellow from the lower wing-coverts.  The eyes are brown with a black eye ring.  The beak and feet are blackish.  This bird can make several different scratchy calls and one screech that is said to resemble the sound made by a rusty hinge.  It has an extensive range, anywhere from places in South America to Mexico and the Sunken Gardens of western Florida.

 

This bird is usually seen in pairs or small groups rather than mixed species flocks.  It likes to perch in small trees or on the top of bushes.  It is a ground feeder preferring earthworms, caterpillars and winged insects, as well as frogs and fruit. 

 

The Sunken Gardens in Florida cover 4 acres or 1.6 hectares and are well established botantial gardens located in Historic Old St. Petersburg.  Founded in 1903 by George Turner, a plumber and avid gardener, they are a popular tourist attraction.  Part of the original purchase was a shallow lake 10 feet or 3 meters below sea level which Turner drained to form the “sunken garden.”  Citrus fruits, papayas along with other exotic plants were cultivated.  Turner opened a nursery and began selling fruit, vegetables and other plants.  Visitors paid a nickel to stroll through the gardens until 1935 when he fenced the garden and started charging a 24-cent admission fee.  After Turner died in 1961 his sons took over the gardens and still later the ownership passed to three grandsons.  The gardens were sold in 1999 for more than $2.26 million.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriole_blackbird

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunken_Gardens_(Florida)

 

Winter afternoon with the ducks

Ducks just off the east point of Union Bay

Saturday I noticed a post in one of the local neighborhood blogs concerning the sightings of a rare Tudu Eurasian tufted duck in the water near the wetlands by the Urban Horticultural Center at Union Bay. The duck was seen on Friday and then again on Saturday when the notice appeared in the Wedgewood blog. For a picture of the Tudu, please see http://www.wedgwoodview.com/

I texted Mrs. Gimlet since we had about an hour before sunset and Union Bay is close. We decided to go. The duck was supposed to be swimming off the east point of the Montlake fill (Union Bay) so it would be easy to park at the Urban Horticultural Center and walk a little way to the lake. The blog said all we would have to do once there was to find the group of birders and blend in. We tried. There were a few people clustered along the shoreline with binoculars, tripods and cameras but the duck was either gone for the day or out so far in the lake we couldn’t get a look at him. We had neglected to bring binoculars (silly us) and even Mrs. G’s fancy telephoto lens was not quite big enough to zoom in on the “barge” of ducks out in the lake. I'm not sure "barge" is the correct term but that is what it looked like. It was a pretty good test for my new little digital camera. Sadly it does not have the zoom lens capacity that my big, heavy old EOS Canon film camera does but it does take good photos. I did over hear someone mention that the duck had been away from the main group but even so it would have been very difficult to pick him out.

To make matters worse a clueless Kayaker paddled by sending the ducks and coots quacking, hooting and flying then resettling even further out in the bay. We stayed until the sun started setting and then left intending to come back with binoculars in the next day or two if the weather held. But today is Monday and we haven’t gone back yet.

In addition to the normal group of Mallards and coots there were Widgeons, Golden eyes, Mergansers, and a few geese. The sign at the beginning of the trail said a swan had been sighted earlier. We will walk down there again even if there is no hope of seeing the elusive Tudu since it is quite a pretty place and a very nice walk on a sunny day.

“Barge” of ducks and coots moving further out into the bay.

The Mountain is out!

Part of the wetlands trail

We heard lots of Red-wing blackbirds but didn’t see any. There were crows but we didn’t see many of those either just the few in the sky of this picture. Right around sunset the crows often fly to a common roosting area. It is quite the experience to see them, hundreds it seems, flying together and making such a racket.

Robin taking a rest on the porch

I had to come home to see a bird close up enough to get a picture with my new camera. Just a robin but made me feel that winter may be turning a corner toward Spring.