המועדפים של jonwbecker

OBSERVATION IS FOR THE PREY FROG.

October 28, 2022. Paddling from Suwannee Canal Recreation area, south down the pink canoe trail through Chesser Prairie and Grand Prairie to Monkey Lake and Buzzards Roost Lake and back.

• Location: N30.73538° W82.15448°
• Partly sunny with a high near 80.
• Sunrise 7:41 AM; Sunset 6:44 PM
• Daylight hours: 11 hours, 2 minutes (-1m 42s)

See and learn more about the incredible Okefenokee at www.okefenokee.photography

On a morning walk behind the animal control shelter, I spotted a writhing black ball and a wing in a tree. Holding up my binoculars, I couldn’t believe my eyes. About 30 feet up in the air, a Ratsnake was dangling from a limb and struggling to swallow a Northern Mockingbird. I ran back to my office for my camera. Returning in about 5 minutes, it was still going at it. I watched for about 20 minutes until they fell into the undergrowth and I couldn’t see it anymore. I was able to capture some video as well and posted it on my nature photo blog. http://williamwisephoto.com/photographyblog/ratsnake-devours-mockingbird

My friend was walking and came upon this 4 ft Black Rat Snake coiled around a juvenile Broad-Wing Hawk. The Hawk was unconscious. He and his wife picked up the duo with a towel and untangled the snake. The snake had a small wound near the tail so he surmised that the hawk likely attacked the snake, but bit the wrong end. Big mistake! Rat Snakes are constrictors. The snake slithered away seemingly unaffected. The hawk took approx 20 minutes to recuperate and fly away. Happy ending for the snake - lesson learned we hope for the hawk.
The hawk had a purple band on its leg, but we don't know who tagged it.
A separate observation has been logged for the hawk.

A Black Rat Snake just being a “Chicken Snake”. Near Lake Ellis on East Mountain (the same East Mountain made famous by Carl Kauffeld in "Denizens of Dutchess" in his book Snakes and Snake Hunting, 1957).

Removed from the front grill of a vehicle after being struck by a car. Photographed before releasing to a wildlife rehabilitator the next morning. See the photo journal at http://williamwisephoto.com/photographyblog/eastern-screech-owl.

Above, with Blacksaddle Toby, Canthigaster valentini, below. This is an opportunity to compare the two, which many people mix up.

Note the different fin shapes: the filefish has long dorsal and anal fins that attach half the length of the body, while the toby has tiny fan-shaped fins. The texture of the spotted pattern is different as well.

Egretta novaehollandiae - White faced heron.

I was lucky enough to have this fellow fly over my head and land in a tree, then having got my attention, fly to a pond and begin wading about. Most of the surface was dull at this hour, but there was a sweet spot, so I waited as he did his rounds skulking through the murk and waited for him to pass through the pools of color from the (just turning) autumnal foliage.