Pic(k) of the Week: A Sunday kind of hawk

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) perched in a tree: a wonderful find for a winter's Sunday stroll.

When I first noticed this handsome fellow, he was sitting in a marsh, far from my position and partially hidden from sight. I found a fallen bough to sit on and waited, hoping he might move closer for a 'cleaner' shot. Forty-five minutes later, he obliged.

And, for a moment, I felt like a 'birder.'

Decatur Legacy Park
City of Decatur, Georgia, USA.
11 January 2026.

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Barry Harris: Ornithology
Album: Breakin' It Up (Label: Argo, 1959)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Afternoon of an owl

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"Chiefly nocturnal, a barred owl does not generally tolerate close approach." Yet there he was, in late afternoon, perched only a few meters in front of us.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA, 24 September 2025.

The barred owl (Strix varia) is a chunky owl with dark eyes, dark barring on its upper breast, and dark streaking below. It is a common resident in dense coniferous or mixed woods of river bottoms or swamps, and upland woods. Its distinctive call is a rhythmic series of loud hoots: 'who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all.'

— National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America.

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Gonzalo Rubalcaba: A Quiet Place
Album: Skyline (Label: 5 Passion, 2021)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Should I stay or should I go?

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What I really want to know,

Should I stay or should I go?

An American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) sits in a small, artificial pool fed by a natural spring. Decades ago, the pool was a source of water for dairy cows. Now, it's a haven for amphibians and waterfowl.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 13 June 2025.

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Sheila Jordan: Anthropology
Album: Lost and Found (Muse Records, 1990)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Sextuplet brood

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A mallard hen (Anas platyrhynchos) was swimming in a bog, right in front of me, just below the camera's angle. She noticed me and, not pleased, let out a stream of loud, agitated quacks. Her six ducklings, alerted to danger, quickly scattered for safety. I couldn't help but apologize to them all as I exited...but not before capturing a photo!

Frog Bog in Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 24 April 2025.

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Maurice Ravel: String Quartet (II. Assez vif – très rythmé)
Musicians: Auryn Quartet
Album: French String Quartets (Tacet 2003; Naxos 2020)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Morning bird in winter forsythia

And smale foweles maken melodye

A peripatetic ruby-crowned kinglet (Corthylio calendula) momentarily stops to sing in a forsythia bush, its red crown shining in winter morning light.

Ruby-crowned kinglets typically inhabit northern North America. I spotted this male, however, much farther south (in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA), where it was probably preparing for its imminent migration back north.

26 February 2025.

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Ralph Vaughan-Williams: The Lark Ascending

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Pic(k) of the Week: Master of his domain

Waiting and watching,

The green frog sits atop the pond,

For the moment,

Master of his domain.

Postal Pond in Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 15 June 2024.

Lithobates clamitans —commonly known as the green frog— is a species of frog native to eastern North America. The two subspecies are the bronze frog and the northern green frog.

Green frogs usually have green heads while the body is brown, gray, or dark green. The green head can be more or less prominent on certain individuals. The belly is white with black mottling. Male green frogs in breeding condition have yellow throats. Green frogs are darker colored on colder days to help absorb heat. Adult green frogs range from 2 to 4 inches in body length (5–10 cm); the typical body weight is 1 to 3 ounces (28 to 85 g). The mating call of a green frog sounds like the single note of a plucked banjo.

— Wikipedia.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Heron in morning pond

In early morning, a juvenile great blue heron (Ardea herodias) was fishing in in a large city-park pond. I tried not to disturb her.

Postal Pond in Decatur Legacy Park: Decatur, Georgia, USA. 1 August 2023 (8:12 am EDT).

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Pic(k) of the Week: Turtle, surfacing

A native red-eared slider turtle blows bubbles as she surfaces.

Seen at a wildlife sanctuary pond in St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA. 3 July 2023.

The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (Trachemys scripta elegans) is a subspecies of the pond slider (Trachemys scripta), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. The red-eared slider is native from the Midwestern United States to northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become invasive in many areas where it out-competes native species. The turtle gets its name from the small, red stripe around its ears, or where its ears would be, and from its ability to slide quickly off rocks and logs into the water.

— Wikipedia.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Winking Hawk

A juvenile red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) winked at me. Or, maybe, she was covering her left eye with a nictitating membrane.

Decatur Legacy Park: Decatur, Georgia, USA. 6 June 2023.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Yellow-crowned Night Heron

North for mating season (from its winter habitat from southern Florida, through Mexico, into Central America), a yellow-crowned night heron perches in swampy marshland in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA, on 21 April 2023.

Unfortunately, I 'blew out' some of the highlights (such as the heron's yellow crown) and 'cut off' one of its feet. Nonetheless, I was excited to have photographed this fine fellow in the wild.

Thank you to a passing birder who identified this yellow-crowned night heron for me (and congratulated me on my new "lifer": birdwatching lingo for spotting a bird you’ve never seen before).

Fortunately, I did not forget to thank her (or, silently, the heron).

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Pic(k) of the Week: Ambush Owl

'An Ambush,' said Owl, 'is a sort of Surprise.'

— Winnie-the-Pooh
A.A.Milne

Surprising me and my dog, this fine fellow graciously held his pose overhead for a couple of seconds.

It was 19 May 2019. All three of us were in a forest on the grounds of the former United Methodist Children's Home, in Decatur, Georgia.

The city recently purchased this seventy-seven-acre parcel of land. What it will do with it remains up in the air.

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