February 28, 2018

Location: Vero Beach, West Regional Waste Water Treatment Plant

I am a male Sandhill Crane
My eye kind of looks like a marble.
But it's just my nictitating membrane
Which keeps stuff out of my eye that might be harmful.

(Special bonus post: Check out my latest video featuring baby Roseate Spoonbills.)

Sources: Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition - Crane FAQs and Facts


Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 27, 2018

Location: Flagler Beach

I'm known as a Ring-billed Gull
Shown here from underneath.
You can see I've got a feathered triangle
In the middle of my ring-billed beak.

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 26, 2018

Location: Satellite Beach, Samson's Island

This is known as Salvia
Also known as Tropical Sage.
My flowers are little red trumpets,
And my leaves are shaped like a spade.

Sources: Florida Native Plant Society - Native Plant Owner's Manual - Tropical Sage

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 25, 2018

Location: Spray Fields, Palm Coast

This is the leg of an Ungulate
A Deer, specifically.
I don't now how it died, but instead of curbside,
It was left here for vultures to clean.

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 24, 2018

 Location: Spray Fields, Palm Coast

I am another Bonaparte's Gull.
I have black tips on my primaries.
I am unique among gulls because I don't nest
On the ground; I instead nest in trees.

Sources: Cornell Lab - Bonaparte's Gull

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 23, 2018

Location: Spray Fields, Palm Coast

I am known as a Bonaparte's Gull
Compared to other gulls, I am smaller sized.
I have a black beak and black spots on my head,
That make me look like I have 4 eyes.

Sources: Audubon Guide to North American Birds - Bonaparte's Gull

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 22, 2018

Location: Spray Fields, Palm Coast

We are Long-billed Dowitchers
Our bills are long and lean.
We are easily ID'd by the way we feed,
We probe up and down fast, like a sewing machine.

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 21, 2018

Location: Spray Fields, Palm Coast

Snowy Egrets have black beaks and legs,
And yellow feet that don't match.
Cattle Egrets have a yellow beak,
On their head and wings is an orange patch.

Bonapart's Gulls are the odd man out
They don't look al all like an egret
But they all can hang out and be good friends
And make for an interesting vignette.

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 20, 2018

Location: City Hall, Palm Coast

I'm known as a Wilson's Snipe
I'm kind of short and chunky.
I'm usually secretive but when you walk by,
I'll fly away in fast zig-zags like a drunken monkey.

Sources: Cornell Lab - Wilson's Snipe

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 19, 2019

Location: Vero Beach, West Regional WWTP

I'm a Little Blue Heron
Though my color is kind of strange.
I'm not immature, but I have white on my wings,
I'm adult who never quite finished the change.

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 18, 2018

Location: Satellite Beach, Samsons Island

Welcome to the first official video edition of Dee at 8 a.m. Today I take you on a poorly filmed tour of the beautiful Samson Island in Satellite Beach.  I apologize in advance for the videography. In the future, I think I will either use a tripod or get someone who is steadier than I to do the filming.  This video is close captioned.


Video © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 17, 2018

Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

I am a Yellow-rumped Warbler
Of the Myrtle subspecies specifically.
You can tell by the fact that I have a white chin,
And the fact that I was seen in the east.

Sources: Cornell Lab - Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 16, 2018

Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

I'm a Blue-headed Vireo
This time, shown from behind.
You can ID me by the bold stripes on my wings,
Which vaguely resemble Venetian blinds.

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 15, 2018

Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

I'm a Blue-headed Vireo
My head is blue-grey and I have a bold white eye ring.
I like to eat insects and my nest
Is a cup placed in a tree or sapling.

Sources: Cornell Lab - Blue-headed Vireo

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 14, 2018

Location: Spray Fields, Palm Coast

We are a girl and a boy Boat-tailed Grackle
We look different, so that might be a surprise.
But you can tell we are from the same species
When you compare our beaks, feet and eyes

(In addition to having the same beak, feet and eyes, behavior, such as how they feed, can also be a clue as to weather you are looking at 2 birds of the same or different species. If all that fails, check to see if the male gives the female flowers and candy on Valentines day.)

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 13, 2018

Location: Palm Coast, Princess Place Preserve

I am a Tufted Titmouse
I've got big black eyes and a little grey crest.
I have a stout beak and orange armpits,
And am mostly white on my tummy and breast.

Sources: Cornell Labs- - Tufted Titmouse

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 12, 2018

Location: City Hall, Palm Coast

I'm known as a Pied-bill Grebe,
And I'm having a really bad time.
All because some terrible person
Was careless with their fishing line.

(We alerted an official who will hopefully be able to take care of the bird. If you go fishing PLEASE always dispose of used fishing line appropriately. We see far too many birds in this predicament.)

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 11, 2018

Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

I am an American Kestrel
I'm in Florida for a short time, but don't you fret.
I'll go back up north and find a mate,
And you can watch us raise young on the internet.

(Make sure you bookmark the webcam link below and check back in March when they start breeding!)

Sources: Bosch KestrelCams

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 10, 2018

Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

I am a juvenile Eastern Phoebe
You can tell by my plumage.
My head is brown and my tummy,
Is the color of a light cheddar fromage.

(Note from Heather, my French coach who says: "The note [on your poem] has to be that your French coach is cringing at the poem. Also, having said that, the French do treat their Rhymes in poetry more loosely than we do... They actually have varying degrees of rhyming.")

Sources: Cornell Lab - Eastern Phoebe

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 9, 2018

Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

I am a Red-bellied Woodpecker
My tummy's not as red as you'd think.
I have a bright red stripe on the back of my head,
But my belly is really just pink.

(You might have to click to enlarge the picture, but trust me, you actually can see the "red", aka "pink" belly on this one.)

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 8, 2018

Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

I am a Red-bellied Woodpecker,
Drilling a hole in a tree.
You can see my nictitating membrane
Which protects my eyes from the flying debris.

(Click to enlarge this picture and look at his eye - you can see that his third eyelid is down.)

Sources: Nictitating Membrane

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 7, 2018

Location: Fellsmere, St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

Cattle Egret is what I'm called,
Don't confuse me with a Snowy Egret.
My beak is orange, not black,
And my shoes and sox match,
And I have a stockier silhouette.

Sources: Cornell Lab - Cattle Egret

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 6, 2018

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

I am a female Anhinga
I've white spots my wings and a brown head and neck.
If I was male my head would be darker,
If I was immature I wouldn't have the white flecks.

Sources: Anhinga: Species Profile

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 5, 2018

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge
Text.

I am a Great Blue Heron
Performing some personal maintenance.
It's breeding season and I want to look nice
When I mean that special acquaintance.

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 4, 2018

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

I am a Snowy Egret,
My species won't be here forever.
Our numbers are declining for many reasons
Including habitat loss, pollution, and the weather.

Sources: FFWCC - Snowy Egret
Florida’s Wading Birds Had a Terrible Breeding Season Last Year


Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 3, 2018

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

I am a Tricolored Heron
When I'm fly, I'm easy to spot.
My wings are dark on the top, and white underneath,
When I flap it's lights on/lights off.

(Thanks to David Simpson for this excellent imagery.)

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 2, 2018

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

I am a Greater Yellowlegs,
Compare my head to my beak.
The length of my beak is greater than the depth of my head,
Lesser Yellowlegs have the opposite physique*.

*In general. As shown in the linked article, the beak length can vary quite widely.

Sources: Why are Yellowlegs hard to identify?

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

February 1, 2018

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

I am known as a Killdeer.
I am a really good mom.
If you get to close to my nest, to distract you away,
I'll pretend I've got a broken arm.

(Note - I think this only rhymes for those of you in the Boston area.)

Sources: Cornell Lab - Killdeer

Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson