The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Snails, fish, insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located.
This will be a brief, Memorial Day bucket from Tallahassee, Florida
This morning it is about 70 degrees and still - humidity remains low. Calling birds include the usual suspects: Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, Blue Jays. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo could be heard down the street a few minutes ago. Fish Crows are around this morning and the sounds Limpkins and Pig Frogs again drift up from the lake.
Yesterday we had two separate observations of very successful Ospreys. Around 730 PM I spotted one perched on the snag visible from our house. It had a very substantial (I would guess close to two feet long) catfish in its talons. As we were just going out for a walk we didn't linger and watch it eat.
Compared to the last few times, our visit to the neighborhood dock was fairly uneventful. One Green Heron and several Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets flew north on their evening pilgrimage. A single Forster's Tern remains flying around the south end of the lake.
There were two notable observations.
After we had been there maybe 15 minutes an osprey flew by, clearly scanning the lake below for fish. It made a dive and went approximately 80% of the way underwater. Nothing particularly unusual there except that it didn't immediately take off again. It made and attempt and then subsided so that only its head was above water.
Then it made another, stronger, attempt and managed to get its wings out of the water and then take off. It was a long, labored attempt as it slowly headed off to the far side of the lake. With another large fish in its talons.
Just as we were about to leave a Limpkin suddenly appeared from the emergent vegetation nearby. This is a discrete patch of plants and not all that big. We were amazed that this large bird had been able to stay in there for so long unnoticed. And then it proceeded to do absolutely nothing that was remarkable in any way.
That's it for me. What's up in your neck of the woods?