Snail Kite

Today was a wonderfully gloomy day that started to rain around 2pm. It rained a soft, gentle rain all afternoon and into this evening. It's delicious. It's also not very cold, but of course, if you are out in it and damp and the breezes tickle you, it feels suddenly cold.

So a Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a new bird we learned about today. It lives in the Everglades and has a very hooked bill, which it uses to fish out apple snails. There were as few as 400 breeding pairs due to habitat loss and a new invasive snail that was too large. In one generation, the kites became larger-bodied and gained an edge against the larger snails, which are a different kind of apple snail known as the Island Apple Snail, originating from South America.

Here is a really happy article about Common Loons in Maine (gorgeous birds).

Here is a very cool Pacific Loon that winters along our coasts. (I'd love to see one of these)

Here is a poem for you.

These long nights and short days. Rain with glimmers of hope and magic. Bring me closer to home or to self. Here we are. It is the dark of the moon. Happy New Moon. It is truly dark.

Sunrise: 7:20 | Sunset: 4:53

Sending oodles of love,

Tawnia

Bird List - 15 species today

Rock Pigeon
Anna's Hummingbird
Western Gull
Red-masked Parakeet
Black Phoebe
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler