Tuesday, August 19: Pelican Pond

[mistressofmuses]

We went on just a short walk last Tuesday. We were going to go to a movie, so wanted just something easy and quick to get out for a little bit. So, Pelican Pond it was. No pelicans, though.


Over on the left, a couple ducks, then a couple large turtles, and so many cormorants! Especially love the one with wings spread.


We did see the first monarch we've seen this year!

Just four more pictures:

Another shot of the monarch!


The cormorants when we first walked by.


When we came back after turning around, there were suddenly more!


And next to the cormorant branch, a nice big turtle, and a duck showing off the very nice purple in her wing.

We also saw a little snake and a bunch of other birds. It was nice to get out for a bit, even if we didn't want to do very much.

Comments

[boujee_redneck]

Yay!!! A monarch! =D (I haven't seen any monarchs or painted ladies this year but maybe it's early yet for the latter migration?)

May I inquire what variety duck those are in the last image? (I'm dreadful at ID-ing waterfowl haha.)

Looks like it was a lovely, scenic walk!

Edited to correct: Having just Googled it, I think I'm actually mistaken and that we don't have painted ladies here in Colorado, but another species of orangish migratory butterfly? Whatever they are, they're smaller than a monarch and I've only really seen them in hoards at the end of summer/beginning of Fall?

[mistressofmuses]

I was delighted for the monarch!

We definitely do have painted ladies here! They had a really dramatic migration a few years ago, because I remember the dismay of how many wound up on the windshield. DX I don't think I've seen any this year, though. A few fritillaries, which are another similar-sized orange butterfly, but I usually see them in ones and twos, instead of the sometimes bit groups of the painted ladies.

[boujee_redneck]

Oh okay haha, after my cursory Google search and seeing the migratory map for painted ladies showing routes between Europe and Northern Africa, I just assumed "oops, wrong butterfly" haha. But, phew, my memory was correct that we do have painted ladies and there was that massive migration a few years ago. xD (I remember seeing landscaping with purple salvia flowers bent over it had so many painted ladies on it which was amazing.)

[mistressofmuses]

Their migration from Europe to Africa is very cool! But they're just extremely widespread around the world!

Ah, having that many on the salvia would be lovely! I remember my mom's garden being pretty full of them that year.

[spikedluv]

Love the variety of critters in the first pic! And the close up of the duck with the purple in her wing!

[mistressofmuses]

I was pleased with all the various animals hanging out together.

The purple is so pretty, and sometimes so hard to really see!

[olivermoss]

The name was a lie, but they still had lots of large birbs!

[mistressofmuses]

Sad, Pelicanless Pond, but pretty pleased with Cormorant Cove, haha. I know it's not really much of a cove.

[umadoshi]

So many cormorants! (I don't think we have them here, but someone local I follow is now a birder, so I'm becoming much more aware of how many birds we do have here that I just had no idea about.)

[mistressofmuses]

Being in some birding and some herpetology facebook groups for my state has really enlightened me to how many more species we have than I realized!

These are double-crested cormorants; looking at a range map, it looks like Nova Scotia has migratory breeding populations! (I think you're in Nova Scotia?)

[umadoshi]

it looks like Nova Scotia has migratory breeding populations! (I think you're in Nova Scotia?)

I am! ^_^ Good to know.

[scarlipswolfwife]

I miss pelicans so much. They and seagulls were always my favorites down in Corpus, and for me, they're such a comforting sight because beach and bay and waves and seas and oceans. And monarchs - I love all butterflies, but there is something about monarchs that always made them my favorites, and I can't even tell you why. I always get excited to see them...haven't seen any here yet. I think it's just too hot. Down in Corpus at the university, usually in October and November, I could walk past a variety of the greenery all around campus and they'd be thick with monarchs flitting around. Though I also walked past this one section of greenery with flowers on it and I couldn't figure out why the shrubs were buzzing. An electric almost buzzing, and then I paused by it and hordes of hummingbirds made their presence known.

[mistressofmuses]

I'm always excited to see pelicans. We joke about them being terrifying harbingers of the apocalypse, because they're so BIG, but I love seeing them. (I rarely saw them when I was younger, so when they started being a relatively reliable sighting every year, I was very excited.)

Monarchs are lovely. This is the only one we've seen this year, which is a shame. I know their population is in decline, but some years we see more than others, though rarely more than one or two at a time. I think there were more south of us along the bigger migration path. I've never gotten to see the massive migrations except in photos and video, but it looks absolutely stunning!

I'm always so excited when I see hummingbirds on flowers. Our hummingbirds were late this year, but did eventually arrive. My mom has a good group of them around her house visiting her feeders.