Swampy summertime visit to Riverbend



Watersnake



Pig Frog



Leopard Frog



Went to Brooklyn to catch the last 2 shows of Iron Maiden's Book of Souls Tour. Had an AMAZING time! Met Iron Maiden fans from all over the world. Also met Papa from Ghost!

Didn't have a lot of time for sight seeing but I strolled down to the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoyed some urban parks.







Starting to look toward fall. Getting the garden ready for warblers and hummingbirds. May start to see some in the next month or so! Can't wait!

The great-crested flycatcher family has been visiting the garden.





Cicada for lunch



Ridiculously cute baby rabbits are hanging around too. We get two kinds, Marsh Rabbit and Cottontail.

Marsh rabbit



Cottontail



Was in TX for work the week before last.







My schedule worked out so that I was able to catch another Iron Maiden show before heading home, which was awesome!

Ghost opened the show, again. This time I enjoyed their performance a lot more! They sounded a lot heavier and more intense.













Maiden were electrifying. Everyone was on their feet and getting into it! There was this amazing energy in the place.























It was an unexpected bonus extension to Metal Week!

Earlier this month, we took a week off to see some local-ish Iron Maiden and Yngwie Malmsteen shows. It was incredible!!!

First, Iron Maiden in Tampa, with Ghost as the opening band. The show was pretty cool but I wasn't really that into Ghost at the time. That would change after seeing them a second time in TX... more on that later!

Papa Emeritus and the Nameless Ghouls







IRON MAIDEN!!!















Because we saw the first show of the tour last year, we didn't get to see all the little extras that they added as they went along. Like Eddie's heart!







After Tampa, we had a day or so to recover before the first Yngwie Malmsteen show in Orlando. I had seen him last year as part of the Generation Axe show, but seeing his full set was quite the experience!





Notice the Fuzz Face sitting on the ground? He doesn't use it- it just sits there because it looks cool, like a landmine as he says. That's why I brought one for him to sign at meet & greet. He seemed fairly surprised, apparently no one has every brought him one before!



After that, another day to recover, and then Yngwie Malmsteen again in Ft. Lauderdale at the Parker Playhouse. Another amazing meet and greet! This time Rich had his YJM Stratocasters signed. Not wanting to be left out, I brought a miniature. Hilarity ensued.







We had front row seats, just like we did for Steve Vai last year. It was AWESOME!!!











The wall of Marshalls!







At times it felt like he was playing just for us. An unforgettable end to our week of metal!

Little did I know I would be seeing Ghost and Maiden again in TX... but that is a story for next time!

The brown thrashers nested in the yard and their babies are now using the garden as a little nursery.





A female hummingbird visited for a few days last week.





Bumblebee





Visited the Jupiter Ridge scrub and coastal preserve to see if the scrub jays were still around. They were!





Osprey nest



Curious black racer



Red-bellied woodpecker keeping an eye on him



Funny fiddler crabs





Been hearing baby blue jays around, hope they visit the garden soon!

The screech owlets fledged last week. It seems so fast!























Here's a rundown of this season's activity:

Jan 25- first visit to box by female confirmed

Mar 9- female started spending days in box

Mar 12- first egg laid

Mar 14- second egg laid

Apr 9- first egg hatched

Apr 10- second egg hatched

Apr 30- first day female spent away from box

May 10- first baby fledged

May 11- second baby fledged

Down the last female painted bunting. The rest of the buntings left a week or so ago, but one female is still hanging out.



Here's one of the males from last week



The baby screech owls have been a joy to watch. The nest box is getting crowded!











Peekaboo!



Better not get too close!

The babies are growing up fast.



Mom is usually the one in the box with the babies. She spends the days in there and at night she tears up the larger prey items for them.



This is the only photo I have of the whole family. Mom and Dad are almost never at the nest at the same time. He is the smaller one on the lower left. If it were in color you could see that he is a grey morph, while she is a red/brown morph.



Brown anole for scale



Mummy cuddles







Hello!



Spent a few days in Colorado for work. A nice break from the increasing heat here in FL.











More of the baby owls on twitter at @janineimages

The owl chicks hatched a week ago today. They are growing fast!









The Indigo buntings showed up last weekend also. They didn't stay long, but I got to enjoy them for a few days.





Red and Blue





Had some fun with this one in Photoshop- the levitating Painted Bunting was by himself, so I plopped him next to the angry Indigo.



Gossiping at the bird bath



Straggler hummingbird



Last views of the Ovenbird, another bird that headed north this week.



The birds are a distraction from weekend work. Never fear, "Chore Hawk" is on the case! Once he shows up, birds scatter and housework can get done!





I'll end with a shot of the majestic Jupiter Lighthouse.

Migration is picking up. The swarms of goldfinches have moved north. I have a few stragglers left, but they are not as colorful as these males from last week. Note the Northern Parula checking out the action.





Most of the hummingbirds have moved on as well. I have at least one still visiting the coral bean.



The screech owl (aka "The Princess") is incubating her eggs



A hooded warbler arrived yesterday.





This morning, there was a varied palette of birds in the garden: painted bunting, indigo bunting, and cardinals.



I've got more of The Princess and the buntings on my twitter too, check them out @janineimages

I got carried away with the saturate tool on this one, but really liked the effect that the flowers made in the foreground.



My fragrant dendrobium orchid is also in bloom!



Biggest sphinx moth I've ever seen!





A quiet evening at Riverbend

Took advantage of this week's cool front to visit Jupiter Ridge, a nice chunk of coastal scrub habitat.

Florida Scrub Jay, our only endemic bird





Another creatively named creature, the Scrub Lizard





Gopher tortoise



Zebra swallowtail caterpillar





Lots of bird action in the garden. Painted buntings still here.



Sunbathing brown thrashers



Northern flicker



Giant swallowtail



And in screech owl news, there are two eggs!



I've set up a twitter for her, and just to post nice wildlife things in general. Check it out @janineimages