Pages

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Ding Darling - Early morning low tide

It's early, it's 7a.m. and the gates open for the Wildlife Drive at Ding Darling. First sighting - several Yellow-crowned Night Heron - the sun is just above the horizon.

Beautiful colors on the Brown Pelicans in the morning light.


White Pelicans were busy keeping their feathers in tip-top shape.

This was a typical sight this morning everywhere along the Wildlife Drive - hundreds upon hundreds of bird species....Little Blue, Reddish Egret, Snowy Egret, White Ibis, White Pelicans and Tri-colored Heron can be seen in this shot.

Are you looking at me?

In the thick of the mangroves - hundred of White Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Tri-colored Heron could be seen and especially heard.


YUM! I love shrimps.

I think I'll get me another.

The Blue Crab was watching the feeding frenzy and staying put without moving a claw.


Guess whose feet these are? If you said Snowy Egret - you got the prize.

I like to think of the Snowy Egret as wearing yellow slippers.

Where did the sun go? All of a sudden - a dense fog seems to hover over the wildlife drive. But wait?? What do we have here - a River Otter blending in the background, almost unnoticed.

Roseate Spoonbills making their first appearance this morning.

Flying over the Tower and heading to the sand/mud dunes.

Joining in with the others and taking advantage of the low tide.


Off to another little island - commotion could be heard.....this Laughing Gull was pretty territorial.

Oh, I see now that the White Ibis has a nice tasty morsel and since he's in Seagull territory - he's getting to hear about it....even the Ring-billed joined in.

The White Ibis got smart and made its departure.

"Geeze, okay.....I'm outta here."







Time to go to the ocean and get some diving in going.



All in all, it was a fantastic day with the 37 species that I saw and I can easily say that if I didn't have another engagement to go to, I would have spent another 2 hours and would have been able to see all the others that were present.
My E-Bird List 

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Snipe

This afternoon I was shocked. I read daily the e-mails that comes through the Birdbrain list-server and one of those was from a gal who had been visiting the Babcock Webb - she shared with the group that she made a point of reading the hunting board on the way out and saw that 770 Snipes had been listed as having been shot and bagged.
Now, you tell me, why would anyone want to take such a small bird who measures 10" from tip of bill to end of tail - this makes no sense at all to me.
I could understand that perhaps it is hunting season and that it is permitted to bag a 'limit' of sorts - just wondering here....if they are plentiful and in great number, how come only one makes it down to the Bailey Tract? Such a low number would make you think that they are endangered - but perhaps they are plentiful in other areas.
I hope that the birds fed a few bellies and that the kill wasn't just a 'sport' of some sort.

BTW - this photo was taken at the Bailey Tract earlier this year. The Snipe has just recently returned after being absent for 6 months or so.

Windy day

What a windy day it was today. I met up with a gal whom I had met on the beach while doing turtle patrol this past summer - and today we went to the Bailey Tract in the hopes of seeing some birds and/or wildlife. We spotted this Osprey who sat into the wind and let his feathers flutter....something to learn from our feathered friends to go with the flow.



Shortly after arriving at home I noticed the Great Egrets which  had found a quiet spot to feed and clean up.

What a nice couple they make - in tune with one another...just being.





Monday, November 25, 2013

Harn's Marsh with Caloosa Bird Club

I had been really looking forward to attend today's bird trip and I was not disappointed. This was also my first opportunity to make the entire loop and with 38 sets of eyes, we got to see a total of 57 species - a good birding day indeed.
We all gathered up at the head of the trail and carpooled in a caravan across the Harn's Marsh Preserve - our group consisted of 33 members and 5 guests.

Limpkin - eyeing us and probably thinking....."here we go".

A pair of Sandhill Crane flew over and vocally welcomed us.

Great sighting of Ring-necked ducks as well as a Hooded Merganser (left side).

The Wood Storks.

Awww....this feels like "home" to me.

More Ring-necked ducks.


The Northern Harrier gave us a good show today.

The small 'wildlife' didn't go unnoticed.

The Sandhill Cranes - a beautiful pair wouldn't you say?


After a while the Cranes took off and chose another spot.

The Snail Kites were fun to watch - it dove and caught it's favorite food....apple snail....yummy escargots. I wonder how many of those snails the Snail Kite can consume in one day?


There were many skippers, butterflies, damsels and dragonflies flitting around throughout the Marsh.


Our last sighting at the end of the trail - it doesn't get much better than that.
Check my E-Bird List for all the species that were seen today - definitely a 'go-to' place for observing wildlife.
A big thank you to Jose and Stan for leading a fantastic trip.