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Nothing to See Here

More waiting time, might as well find a comfy place to sit it out and give the fingers a bit of exercise.  Things are progressing well at Mayo.  Linda has finished 4 of her 5 appointments today and now just waiting for a meet with the cardiologist.  I cannot say enough about how efficient Mayo Clinic is.  I realize they have had a lot of practice moving people through, but I could say the same for many other organizations that are nowhere close to the honed processes I am witnessing here.  Check out the plan for the day on the Mayo app, arrive, check-in, execute medical task and you are on your way.  Now the downside is from a social perspective, this area can be a definite downer.  Being at the tops of the medical field brings with it a higher concentration of the serious ailments humans must endure.  You look around and your heart feels for the hardships many of these patients must deal with on a daily basis.  If there is any calming, it is knowing they are at least in the best place possible to get some relief.

Last post, I featured the golden-eyed one (the White-Tipped Dove).  Definitely a stunning feature should you be lucky enough to catch a specimen in enough light to show it off.  While looking at my processed queue found another eye stunner.

Black-Crowned Night-Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center, Texas December 2017

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of Mr. Redeye.

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Raggedy Andy

I had plans to get to this earlier this weekend, but it’s been a whirlwind around here.  Had to finish tearing out the tile in the bathroom, had a slight catastrophe in the guest room closet that ended up being more work that intended and this morning was my 16 mile training run (6.5 on the road, 6.3 on very muddy trails and then back to the road for 3.2) which included me hitting the ground hard thanks to a missed root hidden in the leaves while running down a hill – ugh.  Nothing like making the most out of your weekend.  While the body tries to recover, decided to try and get another post out just under the wire.  I technically already have my quota in for the month, but wanted to get another Georgia post out to make room for one of my top five favorite birds in April.  Without any more delay, here is a quick post featuring another apparent swamp liking bird.

Black-Crowned Night-Heron found at Harris Neck NWR outside Savannah Georgia May 2015

Hit the jump to see a couple more pics of our stoic looking bird!

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That Statue Moved

It occurred to me after the last post that I kinda let the cat out of the bag on one of my previously unpublished additions to the Birding Life List.  If you recall I mentioned my brother Ron and I had taken a trip down to Emiquon in Havana IL to snap a few shots of the Black-Crowned Night-Heron for his list – the implication was I did not need that particular bird for mine.  Well, that was actually true because I had the privilege to shoot one at the Denver Botanical Zoo a few years back.

Black-Crowned Night-Heron Shot at Denver Botanical Gardens

Now technically I did post what I believe to be the Juvi of this species back in 2013 (link here), but truthfully, the Juvis just do not convey how cool looking these birds are.  All that newbie brown gives way to a stunning display of color from the gray, black and white that dominate the body colors down to the haunting blood-red eyes.  Since I knew the adult was in the tin, I went ahead and counted it in my Birding Life List – it was actually already on the List Gallery along with the Juvi.  I snuck one in on you.

Black-Crowned Night-Heron Shot at Denver Botanical Gardens

Hit the jump to read and see a bit more of this majestic bird.

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A Juvi or a Bittern – Tough to Tell

Looks like today I can report the tale of two lists.  First off, thanks to confirmation from Ron I can now add two more check marks to my birding list.  This is definitely one of those very pleasing moments when I can make that mark next to another entry, but when you actually get to make two marks at once .. through the roof.  If you recall, a few posts ago (link here), I had made some speculation on some bird identifications that were stumping me.  Figured the suggested identifications were my best guesses, but looks like Ron was in agreement with both of them – SWEET!  That Yang and the Um thingy once again makes its presence known around here.  With the good of the bird checks comes the equally bad entry on The List.  Those who know me, know you never ever want to make it on that list since it signifies a personal lifetime ban.  Surprisingly, I was able to locate an old copy of it online (link here).  I have to admit that Best Buy made its way off the list thanks to Circuit City closing leaving no other competition in the area.  There are some other additions, but today’s add is Eddie Vedder and of coarse ANYTHING he is affiliated with.

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Pearl Jam fan when I bought Ten

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden fan when I bought Temple of the Dog

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Pearl Jam fan when I bought Vs

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Pearl Jam fan when I bought Vitalogy

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Pearl Jam fan when I bought Yield

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Pearl Jam fan when I bought Ten for Rockband

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Pearl Jam fan when I bought their guitar sheet music for Ten

I was a law abiding 2nd Amendment practicing Eddie Vedder fan when I wisely chose not to buy his craptastic solo album

… and now this fuck wishes bad things to happen to me (link here).  I wonder exactly what this asshole would think if someone went after his First Amendment rights?  It isn’t worth wasting anymore time on this topic – the money saved on not buying his latest album will nicely offset the cost of the ammunition spent while substituting those CDs for targets.  Welcome to The List.

Cleansing breadth … crap Kozma is sucking it up at the plate for the Cardinals tonight… cleansing breadth.

There, much better.  On to the real topic of this post.  The last plea for bird identification help worked out so well, figured it was worth trying it again.  Once again there’s another bird shot the second day of the Henderson Nevada Bird Viewing Preserve that has me in a quandary.  What seems to be the norm these days, the expectations going into the identification phase were high due to the key features this particular bird possesses.

Stocky frame, dark coloring palette and takes the standard Heron/Egret form in flight.  No problem right.. this has to be a Green Hero… uh, hmm uh.. let me look at those reference books again.  From the reference images, the Green Heron tends to have a rustier neck and a little more yellow on the bill.  They are also a lot more stockier than the specimen here.  Hold on, there should have been a post on one.  Yes, yes, here it is (link here).  Now it is coming back to me – that bird found at Jubilee Park looked a lot different than this one – mainly again due to the stockiness and the varying yet pronounced colors.  This next shot doesn’t show a whole lot more, but does provide some clues to the neck coloring.

Hit the jump to continue the quest to identify this bird

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