Prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

What a beautiful bird Zackiedawg. Stunning shot. By the way, what tree is it. From the leaf looks like a banyan tree - but not one I would expect to see in Florida (unless it has been brought there).

Jaysan said:

What a beautiful bird Zackiedawg. Stunning shot. By the way, what tree is it. From the leaf looks like a banyan tree - but not one I would expect to see in Florida (unless it has been brought there).

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We actually have quite a few banyan trees here. One of the many thousands of invasive flora and fauna in Florida, banyans are very well established. In fact, one sits over my backyard, straddling my property line from the neighbor's property - about 1/3 of the roots are on my property and 1/3 of the canopy. Which was really fun when it blew over in a hurricane in 2005 and landed in my pool and deck...$8K of damage. They cut the tree apart down to just the big root ball about 10 feet tall and 30 feet around, then tipped it back up into place with a bulldozer. 15 years later, it's back to 70-80 feet high and looks like it did before the storm.

Zackiedawg said:

We actually have quite a few banyan trees here. One of the many thousands of invasive flora and fauna in Florida, banyans are very well established. In fact, one sits over my backyard, straddling my property line from the neighbor's property - about 1/3 of the roots are on my property and 1/3 of the canopy. Which was really fun when it blew over in a hurricane in 2005 and landed in my pool and deck...$8K of damage. They cut the tree apart down to just the big root ball about 10 feet tall and 30 feet around, then tipped it back up into place with a bulldozer. 15 years later, it's back to 70-80 feet high and looks like it did before the storm.

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Thanks for that Zackiedawg. Guess you do have plants and animals from across the world. The story of Burmese pythons taking over has made big news, but was unaware of the banyan tree.

There were plenty growing from cracks on the cement around our homes back in India. Guess they reach there via bird droppings and take root. Used them to make bonzai's when I was a kid. Lovely to see aerial roots emerge and grow. They are still doing well back home after all these years. These trees are a magnet to birds when they are fruiting. Despite the damage, you are extremely lucky to have one so close. If it was 30 feet around, it must have been there for ages.

We used to make cards with the veins of their leaf (though I preferred the pepal leaf). We used to take a mature leaf and soak it in water for a few days. When the pulp softens, if you gently remove the pulp of the leaf with the ball of your thumb you will be left with just the veins of the leaf, which you can stick on to a card and decorate. The things we did as kids

Beautiful bird but he really needs a new name!

Wonderful pose and clarity.

And the hits just keep on coming!!! Perfect.

What an idlyllic pose, setting, and composition.