Monday, February 22, 2016

Lake Birds

A rather quiet trip around the lakes today but I did get some species of interest. Out on Lake Davis, a small flock of Lesser Scaup rested out in the center of the water. Wintering duck numbers have been rather low this year.

Lesser Scaup

A lone male Mute Swan drifted close to the shore.

Mute Swan

Another lone male. This time a Ring-necked Duck.

Ring-necked Duck

A single Ring-billed Gull rested as well. Everything seems so sleepy this morning.

Ring-billed Gull

Even this male Wood Duck next to Lake Cherokee. Just kind of sleep walking around on the grass.

Wood Duck

Perhaps they will be more active next time I visit.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

2016 Orlando Wetlands Festival

Time for our next outing at the Orlando Wetlands Festival with the banding crew. Last year was a blast with our biggest capture rate ever at that location. This year's take was a little lower but there were some great birds banded and many more seen.

Sign

I have already made a couple of blog posts on the banding blog so I encourage you to go here and here to see all the birds we encountered.

Monday, February 15, 2016

American White Pelicans, Take 2

Two days out from the huge Pelican flock I decided to make my next round again. The day was a bit gloomier but there were still American White Pelicans out on Lake Cherokee. I was first more interested in the Great Blue Herons feeding by the Eastern shore. I am always amazed by how many fish are in these local lakes to supply the large birds that visit all the time.

Great Blue Heron

The American White Pelicans were more subdued today but there were still a lot of them wandering about. These birds were a bit grimier suggesting they are digging deeper for fish.

American White Pelican

Cleaner birds were floating out farther in the lake.

American White Pelican

I liked having a chance to get the Pelicans lined up in many shots today.

American White Pelican

More Great Blue Herons lurked around the edge of the lake waiting for a chance at a meal.

Great Blue Heron

Most of the remaining American White Pelicans were juveniles and taking their time to rest.

American White Pelican

A very young bird drifted by as I scanned the lake.

American White Pelican

Among the incoming birds was an adult soaring in from overhead.

American White Pelican

Yet another Great Blue Heron posed on the outtake pipe and took in the view.

Great Blue Heron

An adult American White Pelican splashed at a following juvenile following a bit too close for comfort.

American White Pelican

Not as exciting as Saturday but still an interesting morning.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

American White Pelican Frenzy

My Saturday jaunt around the lakes turned out to be much more eventful than I had ever dreamed. I am used to seeing a few white dots far out on the lake as the Mute Swans are typically around, but as I came up to Lake Cherokee I could see an entire flock of white dots at the far North end. I diverted from my planned route and got to the opposite side of the lake where I discovered a huge flock of American White Pelicans!

American White Pelican

The Pelicans were in there tight formation moving toward the reeds to trap prey to feast upon.

American White Pelican

Once that supply was exhausted they floated away from the shore for a bit. A woman from the neighborhood had also noticed the activity and came out with a point and shoot and asked me about what they were and we chatted for a while. Then I headed closer to the lake to get shots of other species that had gathered to join in.

American White Pelican

Beside the inlet pipe, a Snowy Egret waited for leftovers.

Snowy Egret

Nearby, a Wood Stork stood stoically with a feather stuck to its bill.

Wood Stork

The American White Pelican suddenly changed direction and headed back toward my spot. I count just over 100 in this shot but I never got a full field view with the zoom lens.

American White Pelican

Wading into the reads, a Great Egret watched for a chance to snatch a meal.

Great Egret

The Pelicans went from calm to frenzied as they rounded up the next school of fish.

American White Pelican

The Mute Swan pair are usually kind of the bullies around the lakes but they knew to back off from this mob.

Mute Swan

A Double-crested Cormorant soon surfaced from under the rush having grabbed a bite for itself.

Double-crested Cormorant

Seeing the commotion around the corner, another American White Pelican flew in to join in on the feeding.

American White Pelican

I started to scan the skies and more Pelicans were still coming in from distant locations.

American White Pelican

One after another flew in and I could still see spots up in the air coming in from far away. The biggest flock we had last year was 16 that moved all around the city. This was group approaching 200!

American White Pelican

Appearing sated for the moment, I decided to head to my other planned destinations but I couldn't resist one more shot back toward Orlando proper.

American White Pelican

I circled Lake Davis and found it a bit more calm but still full of interesting birds. The usually fiesty Swan Geese were chilling under the shade.

Swan Goose

A wary female Wood Duck decided I was safe enough to swim past toward the geese.

Wood Duck

Convinced I was OK, too, the male Wood Duck soon followed. On another local lake there is a pair with several ducklings. So glad we have breeding Wood Ducks in the neighborhood. One of those birds I wanted to see as a kid and never thought I could almost trip over them in Orlando.

Wood Duck

Tree Swallows were out feeding and, as usual, they are a challenge to photograph as they move so fast and bank and turn in a millisecond.

Tree Swallow

This is the only other shot of 40 that came out OK.

Tree Swallow

While I was shooting the swallows a male Blue-winged Teal floated by to head over to the shade.

Blue-winged Teal

Near the center of the lake, a few Bonaparte's Gulls loafed on the surface. Very few of the more typical Ring-billed Gulls. Nice to have these hanging around for a while.

Bonaparte's Gull

Moving away to the other lakes I had a nice soaring Red-shouldered Hawk over Lake Emerald.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Behind Lake Weldona in the neighborhood was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk perched on the corner.

Red-shouldered Hawk

I headed home and rounded Lake Cherokee again and found the American White Pelican flock feeding again.

American White Pelican

I was ready to get back but got one more shot of the hungry birds still gorging. A nice mix of adults but mostly juveniles. FYI, the adults are the ones with the rounded bump on their bills.

American White Pelican

A productive morning. Let's see how long these birds stick around this year.

Friday, February 05, 2016

Atlas V from Work

Time for another launch of the Atlas V. This time while I was at work. It was a perfectly clear Winter morning and a couple of us ran out to each the show. Just after it cleared our horizon it was burning bright.

Atlas V

One of my favorite parts of launches is when the contrail kicks in and gives you a scale of how far the rocket is at any moment.

Atlas V

Looks like there will be a lot of launches of many types this year. Hoping to get some darker sky lift offs. I enjoy them all but sunset and night launches are even more dynamic.