obnoxious_osprey's Favorites

Walton County, Georgia ©williamwisephoto.com

• Mostly sunny, with a high near 58.
• Sunrise 7:38 am; Sunset 5:53 pm
• Daylight Hours: 10 hours, 15 minutes (+1m 17s)
• Moon: 97.1% Waning Gibbous

A REQUEST:
When recommending an identification, please adhere to current standards of taxonomy as deployed by iNaturalist at this time — as opposed to identifying and classifying organisms based on personal beliefs about what taxonomy can, should, or of right ought to be in opposition to iNaturalist’s current taxonomy. Comments noting such taxonomic disagreements, however, are welcomed and encouraged. I prefer my observations to be inline with current taxonomic standards as deployed by iNaturalist (as opposed to my personal beliefs) so that this and other observations are readily accessible to iNaturalist users with greater efficiency and usability. Thanks!

If you have any questions regarding this observation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Janson Jones,
http://floridensis.com.

GEOPRIVACY NOTE:
All my observations are posted with “obscured” geoprivacy. This means the exact location for each observation is masked somewhat within the red box that shows up on the standard browser viewer. I’m happy to provide more habitat description if requested — as the map may not be too precise in the public view.

A REQUEST:
When recommending an identification, please adhere to current standards of taxonomy as deployed by iNaturalist at this time — as opposed to identifying and classifying organisms based on personal beliefs about what taxonomy can, should, or of right ought to be in opposition to iNaturalist’s current taxonomy. Comments noting such taxonomic disagreements, however, are welcomed and encouraged. I prefer my observations to be inline with current taxonomic standards as deployed by iNaturalist (as opposed to my personal beliefs) so that this and other observations are readily accessible to iNaturalist users with greater efficiency and usability. This has been an issue in the past with some folks in the herpetological circles. Thanks!

If you have any questions regarding this observation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Janson Jones,
http://floridensis.com.

A REQUEST:
When recommending an identification, please adhere to current standards of taxonomy as deployed by iNaturalist at this time — as opposed to identifying and classifying organisms based on personal beliefs about what taxonomy can, should, or of right ought to be in opposition to iNaturalist’s current taxonomy. Comments noting such taxonomic disagreements, however, are welcomed and encouraged. I prefer my observations to be inline with current taxonomic standards as deployed by iNaturalist (as opposed to my personal beliefs) so that this and other observations are readily accessible to iNaturalist users with greater efficiency and usability. Thanks!

If you have any questions regarding this observation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Janson Jones,
http://floridensis.com.

A REQUEST:
When recommending an identification, please adhere to current standards of taxonomy as deployed by iNaturalist at this time — as opposed to identifying and classifying organisms based on personal beliefs about what taxonomy can, should, or of right ought to be in opposition to iNaturalist’s current taxonomy. Comments noting such taxonomic disagreements, however, are welcomed and encouraged. I prefer my observations to be inline with current taxonomic standards as deployed by iNaturalist (as opposed to my personal beliefs) so that this and other observations are readily accessible to iNaturalist users with greater efficiency and usability. Thanks!

If you have any questions regarding this observation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Janson Jones,
http://floridensis.com.

A REQUEST:
When recommending an identification, please adhere to current standards of taxonomy as deployed by iNaturalist at this time — as opposed to identifying and classifying organisms based on personal beliefs about what taxonomy can, should, or of right ought to be in opposition to iNaturalist’s current taxonomy. Comments noting such taxonomic disagreements, however, are welcomed and encouraged. I prefer my observations to be inline with current taxonomic standards as deployed by iNaturalist (as opposed to my personal beliefs) so that this and other observations are readily accessible to iNaturalist users with greater efficiency and usability. Thanks!

If you have any questions regarding this observation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Janson Jones,
http://floridensis.com.

White Rock lake, Sunset Bay pier
I don't see these guys often so finding one leads to a happy dance. It was in a stand of rushes. They blend in so well they are very hard to spot. Once you do spot one, you have plenty of time, they tend to stay there for hours.

©williamwisephoto.com Close-up of boney osteoderms. (Note the frog on the left side of the photo!) Suwannee Canal; Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 6, 2021.

• Cloudy, showers, high near 59F.
• Sunrise 6:50 AM, Sunset 6:31 PM
• Day length 11 hours, 42 min (+1m 52s)
• Moon 43% Waning Crescent
• www.okefenokee.photography

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia; Billy's Lake. Friday, March 5, 2021.

• Sunny, with a high near 72, with a low around 48.

• Northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
  Sunrise: 6:51 am; Sunset: 6:31 pm

• Daylight Hours: 11 hours, 40 minutes (+1m 52s)
• Moon: 56.3% Third Quarter
• www.okefenokee.photography

The sheer size of this duck suggests hybridization to me, in addition to some mixing of muscovy and domestic duck coloration. The head and bill shape, are of course, completely mallard, so could this be some weird mix of very large mallard breeds? I'm not sure.

For size comparison, look at the photos of the duck swimming alongside Egyptian geese, which look small in comparison.

On a recent trip to the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier with Friends of the Pelicans (https://www.friendsofthepelicans.org/), we found nine injured pelicans, and one great blue heron which we failed to catch and save. All had fishing hooks in them. Many were entangled in fishing lines. One had a mysterious head injury. Volunteers from Friends of the Pelicans caught the birds and removed the hooks. Eight of them still had to be taken to a bird hospital. Out of respect for these birds, each of the ones I got pictures of will get a separate observation.
How can you help?

1. If you hook a pelican (or another bird), Never cut the line! Cut off the hook’s barb and back the hook out of the bird.
2. If you find a bird in need of assistance or hospitalization, call a licensed wildlife rescue center.
3. While fishing, be aware of birds in the area.
4. Never feed pelicans. Feeding them will make them more likely to beg from fishers and put them at higher risk for entanglement.

5. If you are on a tall pier, don’t try to reel in the bird. Use a cast-net (pictured here) to catch it.
   Thank you everyone for caring about our pelicans!