Humor, Nature, Photography

Annual Migration Conference. Birds Fly In. I Fly Out.

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The Mayor was busy. He patrolled the waters between the small islets that served as conference rooms for the annual Migration Conference at the salt marsh.

older great blue heron older great blue heron The crowd was generally well behaved. Apart from the young Great Blue Heron. He was acting up, pretending he’d been promoted to Deputy Mayor. Which of course wasn’t the case. His provoking behavior raised a few eye brows among the guests.

young blue heron and a wood storkwood stork blue heron and roseate spponbill Finally the Mayor decided he had to be managed. And sent him away from the premises amid loud protests.

The oldest Wood Stork started everyone off with a long speech. Some listened intently, others preferred to hold their own side meetings. Or started lining up for the smorgasbord.

papa wood stork wood storks and a snowy egretgreat egrets and wood storks And yet others preferred to explore the marsh during the proceedings, like the Reddish Egret, the Tri-colored Heron and the Snowy Egret. But everyone’s eyes turned to Miss Rosa when she entered the stage in her hot pink dress.

reddish egret tri-colored heron snowy egret She was nothing short of stunning. No competition there.

roseate spoonbill Actually, almost everyone turned to look at her. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron found it difficult to keep his eyes open at all during the meeting. He’d probably been up late. Or just found it plain boring.

yellow-crowned night heronThe little Pied-billed Grebe enjoyed the relative calm at the deep end of the marsh, where also the Moorhens and their friend, the Muscovy Duck, had fled the hubbub.

pied-billed grebe 2 muscovy duck and moorhen Unlike last year, Mama Sandy had declined to participate in the conference. She had gone fishing with Papa Stanley, and they were enjoying an early lunch away from the crowds. Stanley at his resort and Sandy 60 feet away on a lamp post. Both checking on each other, and on me, between the bites.

male osprey eating fish female osprey eats fishI am happy I was invited again this year to document the Migration Conference. But it was completely out of question to get everybody lined up for a group photo. This was the best I could get.

migration conference Now that all these birds have arrived south, it’s my turn to fly north. I’ll see you in about ten days. While away I’ll be very busy, and also won’t have internet connection for several days. But I just might try posting a short greeting from my iPhone. Now that the new editor is so mobile friendly 😉

pelican taking off I’ll catch up with you all on my return.  And Happy Thanksgiving to  friends and visitors celebrating this wonderful holiday on Thursday! I trust you spotted the turkey among the conference participants 🙂 Much love, Tiny

79 thoughts on “Annual Migration Conference. Birds Fly In. I Fly Out.”

    1. Thanks Stephanie! After a day in London on Friday, I’m going to see my dad and my sister so I’m sure my trip will be enjoyable 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

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    1. Thank you Sylvia. Miss Rosa was more beautiful than ever ~ with sun illuminating her “dress”. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours too 🙂 I’ll “see” you when I get back from Europe end next week.

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  5. Thanks again Tiny for a very entertaining record of the Salt Marsh Conference. How amazing to get so many different waterbirds to line up for their photo! Have a safe and enjoyable time away!

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    1. Happy you enjoyed the conference footage! It was difficult to present the attendance very well because there were about 30 birds in the salt marsh! I’ll be having the second helping of my Thanksgiving Dinner on the plane tomorrow 🙂

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    1. Yes, we had a great gathering of birds at the salt marsh, about 30 of them! I used the same camera & lens as always…hopefully I’m getting a bit better by time in capturing them 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Hien!

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  9. Oh how I envy you and the sights you see daily, and of course the mayor and all his constituents in the marsh ~ all of January is going to be filled up with trade shows and meetings and to have “…small islets that served as conference rooms” would be heaven. Wonderful shots Tiny, and your writing places me right there will all your feathered friends 🙂

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    1. Thank you kindly Randall. I’m happy you enjoyed the footage from this special conference. I do lots of meetings virtually with clients abroad(while watching the birds from my office window), but the countless meetings rooms of my life are in fresh memory…and far from small islets. Happy Thanksgiving wherever you will celebrate it ~

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    1. The little wild turkey that I “planted” in the midst of the conference guests also sounded like that…gobble, gobble 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Nancy.

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    1. You made me smile, Matti. I’m far from a master…but these birds are really beautiful and nowadays they don’t run from me so easily.

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    1. Happy you enjoyed the conference report, Hariod. That little baby duck was so adorable swimming in the midst of those white seeds, my favorite too.

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    1. Thank you Bruce. I’m happy you liked the conference footage. The little Grebe looked quite lovely with all those “wishies” floating around her. Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Barbara! I’ll walk in my “ancestors” footsteps for a few days on this trip…probably in snow 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours 🙂

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  25. Thank you so much for beginning my day with such fun. I thought I’d fallen in love with the antics of young great blue heron, until I saw that little pied-billed Grebe. Love right back at you. Happy and safe travels – Susan

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    1. Thanks Susan! The young GBH truly lived up to his reputation that day. Buffed himself up and walked provocatively close to the visiting storks…and everyone else. At the end he was chased away by the “Mayor”, I didn’t make that up 🙂 The little Grebe is adorable, and she seems to have taken up residence for the winter at the salt marsh. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  26. What a superb conference!All the members present at the assembly and decently dressed!So much beauty dear,Tiny-Helen ? All your photos are your “Grateful Thanks” for the day!But,my favourite one is the Ballarina in the pink costume and ready for the “conference-performance”.Is it a scene taken from a Ballet performance,dear Tiny?
    ♥ Have a Happy Thanksgiving,Filled with Blessings and Joy ♥
    As for me,off I fly,sorry go to your previous butterfy post 🙂 xxx

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    1. Thank you my friend! I’m happy you enjoyed the conference footage, dear Doda! Miss Rosa’s performance was well worth waiting for and yes it was taken from a ballet 🙂 I’m flying away too, tomorrow, right after an early Thanksgiving dinner. Have a wonderful week & weekend!

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      1. Fingers crossed for a yummy in-flight meal for you! We’re driving out to Joshua Tree Nat’l Park tomorrow for some hiking (no turkey involved) and then continuing on to San Diego for a little weekend getaway Fri-Sun. I’m excited to get some vacation time with hubby, since my week away was just me and a girlfriend.

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