Sunny, mild and calm
We are still here at the Shades of Green Resort in Disney World after a wonderful birthday celebration for Sharon’s uncle Bud. Late night last night, so I wasn’t up quite at the crack of dawn. I did get out around 9:00 to see if anything of interest was stirring. First up was another of the very large turkeys that are wandering around the property. He seemed more interested in me that I was in him, and came up quite close to inspect me. He must be very used to humans on the resort grounds.
The next bird I encountered was a Northern mockingbird. These birds are so wide-spread and so commonly encountered in the field that I normally pay them little attention. “Trash birds” they are so often disparagingly called by jaded birders. In reality, they are quite handsome and have a marvelous command of the avian language. They can imitate or “mock” so many other birds that we often mistake their call for actual call of another bird.
The Mockingbird happens to be the state bird of Florida, and as we prepare to leave the state to head back to our home grounds of New York, I thought I should pay due homage to this fine species. After photographing the bird, I noticed it was a bit agitated with my presence and kept staring down in my direction from its perch.
I soon discovered why. I short time later, the bird flew into some lower shrubbery with a tasty bug in its beak. This could only mean one thing….it had a youngster or two on the nest in the nearby tree. As I snapped the photo of the parent and its “take-out meal”,
I heard the whispy plaintiff call of a youngster high up in the thick of the tree and realized that I was on the bird’s home turf. I quickly beat a hasty retreat as to not harass the family any further. Yet another sign of spring down here in the Sunshine State.
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