We’re taking the train to Fes today, so who knows what wildlife pictures, if any, I’ll be able to get, but here are a few left over from previous days. This first one isn’t very pretty, but I was still glad to get it. I’d been seeing large black birds flying in groups for days, and thought they were cormorants until I watched a group land in a dry field, which I can’t imagine cormorants ever doing. Well, that’s because these are glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus) instead, and while Anne and I were strolling around the vicinity of our hotel in Casablanca, before going to the airport to collect my sister, we found a slew of birds at a little puddle of water deep in the brush behind a fence. The black birds are the ibises, the white birds are western cattle egrets, and an added bonus were about a half dozen black-winged stilts. As we left, after sneaking a few pictures through the sticks, something “kicked the hive” because there were suddenly dozens of birds in the sky. Lucky timing!

Also by the hotel in Casablanca, there seemed to have been some kind of land snail infestation. I have never seen so many.

Fast forward to here in Meknes, and there is a pair of kestrels, perhaps a lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) nesting in the medina wall. This one looks like the male, ….

and this one looks like a female or youngster. Either way, it was calling quite adamantly to the male hiding around the corner.

Finally, here’s another butterfly from Volupilis yesterday, and this one appears to b a brown argus (Aricia agestis)

My sister did arrive safely, and after a quick visit to Casablanca, we took the train inland to Meknes, “one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco.” Here we are staying in a riad, which is very nice, and which gives me a nice roof-top view of the city. While out on the coast, we saw a few storks, just like the ones we saw in South Holland, but here they are everywhere, some towers host a half dozen nests, and here’s one flying over our riad early this morning.

The morning skies are also full of swifts, and here is a momentarily-tight formation of alpine swifts (Tachymarptis melba), which I believe I have seen before on a previous trip to this side of the Atlantic, but never photographed.

Closer to the ground, or rooftops in this case, the first singers I hear in the morning are house buntings (Emberiza sahari), a completely new bird for me, and here’s the best picture I’ve managed so far.

Today, we took a taxi to the nearby Roman ruins of Volubilis, which were amazing in their own right, but I found also found more larks there, and this time they are Thekla’s larks (Galerida theklae). They look very similar to the crested larks we saw in Asilah, but the song is different.

There were also some beautiful butterflies visiting the wild flowers growing amongst the ruins, and this one appears to be one of the many Polyommatus species, maybe even Austaut’s Blue (Polyommatus celina)

They’re pretty on the topside/inside, too.

On the ground, I also noticed this unusual looking “grasshopper”, which could be in either the Truxalis or Acrida genus.

Finally, as we were just about to head back to Meknes, I glimpsed this beauty flying by.

Happily, it didn’t go far before stopping to perch again.

When I saw that big beak that lines up with the dark stripe through the eye, the first thought that popped into my head was “roller”, and sure enough, this is my very first European roller (Coracias garrulus), the only roller that breeds in Europe but also ” the Middle East, Central Asia and the Maghreb.”

Lastly, I did hear from Fuji that they automatically shipped my good lens back to Shorewood on the first day that I arrived here in Morocco. Perfect timing, right? If I have somehow managed to keep FedEX from sending it back to New Jersey while I’ve been away, I might someday be able to show you some nice clear pictures again.

I was out in the field next to our hotel in Asilah again early yesterday morning when I started hearing little sounds from the grass around me, which I first thought were coming from insects, but instead they were coming from these tiny and aptly named zitting cisticolas (Cisticola juncidis). I have never heard of cisticolas before, let alone zitting ones, even though they can be found in South Holland.

When I first spotted this cutie in the bushes right beside the hotel, I thought the dark cap made it a great tit, as we did see in South Holland, and then the separation between the eyeline and the cap is reminiscent of a Eurasian blue tit, which we’ve also seen there, but their range does not extend across the Mediterranean. Instead, this is our very first African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae).

After that fruitful outing, Anne and I drove the kids up to Tangier to catch a ferry to Spain, and then we went into the medina to see what we could see. There were a few birds about, especially swifts, but the best picture I could get was of this yellow-legged gull, which we first saw in Slovenia, on the wall of the kasbah.

After a fun evening and overnight in Tangier, this morning we started back south and stopped at Cape Spartel, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, and where this wild boar (Sus scrofa) came out of the woods looking for something to eat. Happily, I was not on the menu. It reminds me of the javelina we saw in Big Bend State Park, but I read that they are only “somewhat” related.

Finally, a bit further down the coast, we stopped again, and the bushes were full of speckled wood butterflies, same as we used to see in South Holland.

My sister, the vet who saved the Carolina warbler from a glue trap, is joining us tomorrow morning, and then we’re taking the train to Meknes. I can’t wait to see what we find there.

After a couple of long, but uneventful flights on Turkish Airways, and a nice long layover in the Istanbul airport, we all finally arrived safely in Morocco yesterday afternoon, at which point we rented a car and drove north along the coast to Asilah, a bit south of Tangier. This morning, after a solid nine hours of sleep and a fine breakfast, I strolled around the grounds of the hotel, and these are some of the sights I got to see.

There is a big field across the road from the hotel, and in the hedge of weeds between the road and the field, a few European greenfinches, which we’ve seen before in South Holland, were feasting from blossoms already gone to seed.

A little river runs to the Atlantic along the north side of the hotel, and this little egret, which we’ve seen before in Mozambique and Slovenia, perched in a palm tree on the riverbank to preen.

Finally, there is a little bridge over that river, which is now closed to car traffic, and on which I captured this image of my very first crested lark (Galerida cristata).

Lastly, here’s a striped hawk-moth (Hyles livornica), which I believe feeds from flowers while hovering like a hummingbird, as we’ve seen snowberry clearwings do in Estabrook Park. This one was cold, however, and even crawled up onto my fingers so that I could take its picture in the sun, after which I left it on a bush in the garden to warm up at its leisure.

You won’t believe who’s back. Ol’ Mrs. Snappy was right were I first found her yesterday morning, and that’s the curb at the edge of the parkway right under her chin. It appears that I misjudged how much she would prefer to lay her eggs in exactly that spot. It did not appear, however, that she was having any better luck digging a hole in the turf than yesterday, but let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson, and I left her to her own devices today. “Best of luck, Ma’am!”

So, I took a seat on the bench, began surveying the birds, and soon saw the wood duck hen and four ducklings, but also spotted the mallard duckling swimming all on its own. Happily, as I searched high and low for Mom and contemplated trying to get a picture, she flew in from somewhere, and the pair were soon reunited. Perhaps she had taken to the air to flee those pesky drakes again. Sheesh!

Anyway, I headed toward the river, and as I entered the clearing at the north end, I was greeted by this happy and more peaceful scene of goslings and their mom grazing under the watchful eye of their dad.

I tried to edge around them to the water without scaring them off, and when I got there, I was thrilled to spot a beaver in the water at the southern tip of the northern island. You can just make out its dark shape in front of the sticks at the water’s edge.

Better yet, as I waited to see what it was up to, it climbed up on the bank behind those sticks and started pushing them around. I wonder what’s up with that. If you’re having trouble spotting it, compare the two pictures and look for the shiny wet fur on its haunches below.

At the far north end, I was counting the cliff swallows and checking on the nesting barn swallows under the Port Washington Road Bridge, when I spotted a cliff swallow swoop up to the bridge under the near span. Holy smokes! They’re also nesting right there, but with a different construction technique. Either that’s a brand new nest, or I’ve failed to notice it all month. “Pay attention, Dressel!” Heck, I thought they had already nested under the eave of the Holiday Inn, but maybe there were just roosting there. I could even see a second nest under the bridge, but it was still a work in progress. Cool!

Back at the pond, the snapping turtle was gone, and I could not tell if she managed to bury her eggs or was forced to give up again. Meanwhile the mallards were up on shore and back in their usual napping spot.

Lastly, as I followed the paved path west of the southern soccer fields, a largish bird with a long tail, like a grackle but brown, flew right in front of me and perched low in the trees on my right. Once I got a good look at it, I could not believe my luck. It’s a black-billed cuckoo, which we only get to see about once a year. Better yet, it perched right in the sun with a nice blue and green background for me. I immediately sat down and crab-walked down the path a bit for a better angle, and thank goodness no runners or cyclists came through for a minute.

Well, that’s gonna be it from Estabrook Park for a while because Anne and I are off to sunny Morocco tomorrow. I’ll bring my camera with, but my good lens is still not yet back from the shop, so I can’t promise much. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

She’s baaaaack. Yup, the snapping turtle in the pond was up on shore and trying to lay her eggs again, just three days later than last year.

Here she is, perhaps thinking, “oh, it’s you again.”

Anyway, this year she had already marched past the bench when I found her, and she was trying to dig a hole through the turf right beside the road. That’s the concrete curb under her chin. She didn’t look like she was making much progress, but she wasn’t actually in the road, and it didn’t appear that she intended to cross it, so I left her alone and hiked around the pond to see who else might be there.

The mallard hen and her duckling and the wood duck hen with her four ducklings were all there, but I found this sight more interesting: a robin chick out of the nest perhaps a day or two before it was ready and looking fewer than thrilled with the development. The parents were nearby and expressing their agitation with me, so I grabbed a quick picture and kept moving.

When I got back to the turtle, she still hadn’t made any progress digging through the turf, so I borrowed a recycling bin from the beer garden, scooped her up, set her free on the east side of the pond where the sod is thinner, and wished her luck. There was no sign of her later on my second visit, so here’s hoping she found a better place than the dirt right in front of the park bench.

The next surprise of the morning was hearing this scarlet tanager and spotting it in a tree right at the crest of the bluff over the river. Dang, I wish I had my good lens back.

Finally, on my walk home, I found another subject that let me get nice and close, our first damselfly of the season, an American rubyspot.

The skies have been cloudy and dark all morning, but the air is calm and not too cool, so it was not the worst weather for a visit to Estabrook Park.

At the pond, I saw three wood duck hens, but only one had ducklings, and here they are setting off to graze some more even before Mom is done with her break.

The mallard hen and her duckling were also grazing on my first visit.

A belted kingfisher was there, but it foiled all my attempts to get close enough for a picture with my current equipment, so I headed to the river. There was plenty to see at the river, but nothing I could capture in this low light, so I returned to the pond and took a seat on the bench to soak in all the action. The green heron was croaking again, and then there were two flying around, which was great to see.

The most interesting sight for me, however, was watching how the mallard hen dealt with some pesky drakes. When nipping at them wasn’t doing the job, she flew up onto the lawn right in front of me, called for her duckling, and eventually flew back to nudge it along. They then paddled over to the lawn together, hopped right up, and the duckling quickly settled down for a nap. The drakes kept their distance out on the water.

In a minute, Mom joined in the napping, and for all the world, it appears that she is using people as a drake deterrent. Fascinating, and no, I don’t have any idea what her age might be, but I think the title works better with “old” in it.

Finally, the one other bird that let me get close enough for a picture this morning was this grey catbird who had a song to sing.

and some days you’re the bug. Despite the nice, though a bit breezy, weather this morning, my luck went from red-hot yesterday to pretty darn cold this morning.

I did get to see the mallard duckling again, because it really wanted to forage through the detritus along the far edge of the paved path around the pond. After it scrambled back to the water when a dog and walker came through, it went right back to where it left off. I wonder what it is finding there. Must be yummy!

And the best Mom could do is keep and eye out and try to block traffic, which probably only worked on me.

The real saving grace, however, was coming across our first eastern tiger swallowtail of the season. I’ve been spotting them for a week or two, and there were actually two this morning chasing each other for a bit, but this one soon opted to just park in the sun for me. It even let me reach in and move a couple of branches that were casting shadows across it. If only more of my subjects would be so obliging.

Yesterday’s forecast did hold, and it was a beautiful morning in Estabrook Park. At the pond, I was able to find all three hens with their ducklings: the two mallards, …

the five wood ducks, …

and the seven wood ducks, which I believe were eight the last time we saw them. Boy, it’s been a tough spring for wood duck ducklings.

Also at the pond, a green heron was back and making a croak that sounded more like a frog than a bird. I know they have an unusual call, at all, but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard this sound before.

The pair of bluebirds were also back on their favorite perch, and here’s the male, looking as resplendent as ever.

At the river, dozens of cliff swallows, which appear to have nested under the eave on the south side of the Holiday Inn on Port Washington Road and have now fledged, were flying in and out from under the bridge, perhaps because the breeze was keeping the flies low, and I took at stab at getting a picture of one. Well, here is our very first image of a cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), such as it is. That’s our fourth species of swallow in Estabrook, after the rough-winged, barn, and tree. Who knew, right?

On my walk back to the river after my second visit to the pond, I was stunned to watch this little beauty flutter across the trail right in front of me and perch not three feet away. I could not believe my luck, and this turns out to be our very first white-striped black moth (Trichodezia albovittata). Outstanding!

When I finally reached the river, this little cutie swam by, and at first, I thought it was a muskrat, based on its small size, but once I saw those ears, I knew it was a beaver.

On my way home I stopped by the pollinator garden, but nobody was home. Instead, a colleague pointed out our very first mourning cloak butterfly of the season, on the railing along the paved path just south of the garden. These have often been the first butterfly I see of the season, but not this year. Better late than never, right?

The skies are starting to clear now, but it was a very soggy morning in Estabrook Park. The forecast suggested a gap in the precipitation right after sunrise, however, so I hustled out the door, and my reward for getting out so early is spotting this Virginia opossum hurrying home after a night of foraging. This picture is surely nothing to write home about, but it is only the second image I’ve ever managed to capture of these amazing nocturnal marsupials in the park while still alive.

At the river, which is running quite high after all this rain, I was pleasantly surprised to spot this wood duck hen with her six ducklings. They might have been hatched here, or they could be the second set of ducklings from the pond, which I haven’t seen in a few days.

At the pond, I did see the wood duck with four ducklings, but they kept their distance today. The mallards, on the other hand, were far more obliging.

Finally, back at the river and at the north end, the last big surprise of the morning is this peregrine falcon on the remaining big dead tree over the northern island.

That’s it for today, I’m afraid, and I’m kinda surprised I even managed four semi-presentable images with all the dark skies and rain showers. Let’s all hope that the clear skies forecast for tomorrow morning come to pass.