Lake Apopka on Father's Day

I was pondering what I wanted to do on this Father's Day and opted to take a drive along the Lake Apopa North Shore Drive to do some contemplating since this would be the first one without my Dad. I almost decided against it since there was an approaching storm headed that way but when has a little rain stopped birding?

The only problem was that the storm was coming from the East meaning we wouldn't have that nice morning light. One of the first birds I spotted was a juvenile Black-necked Stilt picking at snacks in the water.



Nearby, a juvenile Common Gallinule sat on its nest and called loudly.



The first clouds moved closer and made the morning nearly dark as I tried for my first Osprey photo.



Even with a bit more light I had to do some acrobatics inPhotoshop to show the next Osprey doing its own acrobatics during breakfast.



American Alligators were pretty active this warm morning and they were cruising most everywhere. Some days you can hardly find a few.



The last time I was out here the Green Herons were constantly flying by instead of posing. At least I had one cooperate today.



I thought I had another Green Heron fly over the road ahead of me. It wasn't until I got home to look at my images that I figured out that it was actually a juvenile Least Bittern! Didn't know they nested out here.



Something else I had never seen before was a female Red-winged Blackbird catching a dragonfly to eat. Thought they only ate seeds. I guess mostly...



There were a lot of Anhinga around today and one female perched on a branch next to the drive.



I rounded the next bend and spotted an Osprey with a large fish. He just looked at me like, "Don't even think about it!"



Another Osprey flew in just below the first bird on a perfectly placed branch. I eased forward whispering, "Please don't move..." but he decided to take flight as I snapped. I think I like this shot even better than the one I was hoping for.



As usual, you loose count of the number of Common Gallinules at some point. Still a bunch of juveniles around.



I was pleased to have a couple of Common Ground Dove around, especially at this spot. They are typically seen near the end of the drive.



Hunkered down on the bank of a canal was a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.



Male Red-winged Blackbirds are always calling from branches all over the property.



Just below him was a young American Alligator prowling though the water as the rain began to fall.



Can't recall seeing so many Bladderwort blooms out here. Perhaps I was never here at the right time. There were large rafts of them all over the back stretch.



Just before the last big turn heading toward the swallow area, a female Boat-tailed Grackle hopped up to take a look around.



Not too much farther along, a Pied-billed Grebe surfaced with a tadpole.



It spent most of the time flinging it around and diving back under water to retrieve it again. It then began to thrash it about to tear off smaller piece. Made me smile for some reason. It was really shaking that thing!



Once it made a small enough collection of pieces it began to eat them one by one.



A juvenile Little Blue Heron paused for a moment before continuing to forage along the road.



Another Black-necked Stilt family was feeding a bit farther into the Marsh with the parents flanking their chick as they picked through the grasses.



This shot reminds me of an Audubon painting the way it is posed.



I really was happy with this shot of the juvenile Black-necked Stilt. The background was perfect and those feathers are just to so pretty.



In between showers, a Rainbow weakly appeared for a minute or so before being swallowed up again.



Speaking of swallow, I was finally at the area where the Barn Swallows nest and many adults were there with juveniles in tow. I didn't even try for a flight shot today. Not in these conditions.



A relaxing tour of the property. Happy with some of the photos. Missing Dad.

Maitland Center

Wow. October went by quickly! Not much birding but very busy at the bird banding site. In fact, these shots were taken on the way home from a banding session.

It is that time of year when I start checking for Hooded Mergansers that return to a couple of retention ponds in Maitland Center every year. They weren't back yet but the fist bird I found was a Pied-billed Grebe feeding close to shore. It surfaced a few times, giving me a brief chance to take a snap.



On the railings leaving the parking lot, a few birds were just perched. I thought for sure they would fly off as I got nearer but they stayed put and just stared at me. A pair of White Ibis were on the left side of the road. I am always mesmerized by those icy blue eyes.



On the righthand side of the road was a Little Blue Heron panting in the warming morning air. We have been having a lot of temperatures in the 80s and it doesn't appear that it will cool down any time soon.



No Hoodies but an interesting jaunt through a parking lot.

Traveling Around the Neighborhood

Have hardly had a chance to bird since the first of the year. If it weren't for space related things my January would be pretty vacant, blog-wise. I was going to go out to help round up sparrows on the west coast but a forecast of bad weather lead them to cancel the event. So, on this gloomy morning I decided to at least drive around the neighborhood.

This season has been so quiet I was wondering if I would find much but it actually was pretty bird. I was watching a small flock of Ring-necked Ducks at Lake Weldona when I saw a Tricolored Heron out of the corner of my eye spearing a fish. I edged the car up slowly but hoping fast enough to get some snack time shots.



It took several tries to get the fish off of the bill before the bird was able to swing the prey around and gulp it down.



While I was snapping shots of the heron a feeding flock of Western Palm Warblers were flying just above ground level to snatch up insects. Only one would stop long enough for a portrait.



I discovered another little retention pond between a local church and some homes up the road and add it to my loop check from time to time. As the rain creeped back over I noticed a wet Belted Kingfisher. Usually they fly off on any sort of approach but this one just stared through the chainlink fence.



On the other edge of the pond, a Pied-billed Grebe dove and bobbed near the shore.



I then remembered a few ponds near a hotel toward the airport and headed over to check for any ducks. Total disappointment. Nothing in the ponds. However, when I got back onto the road to head back home I noticed some large shapes along the sidewalk. I turned toward them and tried to figure out what they were. I was almost up to them before I realized they were Wild Turkey!



I was not expecting them here closer to the airport but here they were. Four females grabbing seeds along the roadway before disappearing into the bushes.



On the way home I made my way around the high school to check the feeders at a home I have checked over the years. There was a bit of activity around but what made me stop in my tracks was the color blue. There shouldn't be any birds with blue feathers except for Blue Jays. I could never get them in better focus in this low light.



I raced home to do some research and found they were Blue Waxbills, a member of the cordon-bleu finches from Africa. They most likely escaped form some home but it was weird to see 6 of them in one flock. I tried to refind them when the clouds cleared but I never saw them again.



Not a bad morning check. Quite full of little surprises. Hoping I can get out more but we are getting into festival season so my weekends are pretty booked for a while. At least those involve birds.

More Hooded Mergansers Returning

I stopped by the retention pond after banding again. Surprise. I do it almost every week in the Winter. More Hooded Mergansers are in the pond now but it was a little overcast. At least I had one small flock near the car bridge.



Most of them retreated to the opposite side of the pond but one stopped in front of me and seemed to just stare.



A short time later I figured out why he was sticking to the spot. A female emerged from under the bridge to join him. They glided side by side to mingle with the rest of the birds.



Up on the parking level was a collection of waders. I couldn't get the Great Egret in the photo but the Little Blue Heron and White Ibis were strolling the wall as friends.



I will be back to check again next week. Maybe the light will be better.

2013 CBC in St. Pete, Part 2

Part two of our St. Pete Christmas Bird Count began after wolfing down some pizza (while still counting birds from the upper deck, of course) and then splitting up to grab some more species for our list. Don and Jeff headed out to some ponds while Lorraine and I headed to another section in hopes of finding a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

It was looking bleak at the spot they saw it earlier in the week. We circled the pond and tallied other birds along the way including Muscovy Ducks resting in the shade under the trees.



In the small retention pond we had Anhinga, Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, and numerous White Ibis which are everywhere.



We began to scan the trees around the pond, taking note of the trees with bore holes made by Sapsuckers in the past. Scanning several trees we did find a Black-and-White Warbler which is always a good find. Still no sign of our target bird and Lorraine charged me with finding one before we left. Moments later, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew in right over my head! Once Lorraine got a shot of our bird a second flew in to chase the other around. Success!



Off to search for Hooded Mergansers. They typically frequent a pond across from the golf course, I was told, so we made a stealthy approach (Hoodies are very skittish) but the pond only gave up Common Gallinules and Pied-billed Grebes. Farther along in a different 'window' in the mangroves we did find an adult Brown Pelican, one of many for the day.



Our final search area of the day was the golf course where at least we could ride instead of walk. The new enemy of the count was the increasing winds as the front moved ever closer toward us. There was already rain being reported at the coast.



Our first pond along the first first tee revealed several Blue-winged Teal and a Roseate Spoonbill.



The next pond had a few more Teal and an Anhinga that was not sure whether to fly off or just hope we moved along.



A brave female Anhinga. It let us drive real close to get a sweet pose.



Just past the Anhinga, a Little Blue Heron rested among the reeds.



Jeff and Don took the lead as we passed a flock of Double-crested Cormorants. Nothing else was found here and we decided to wrap up and call it a pretty good day of birding, despite the weather. At least it was warm this year!



In the evening, the votes would be tallied from all of the ten groups throughout the St. Pete area. Total species counted this year was 156 which is fairly average. A new bird found for the count was the first ever Lapland Longspur found by another group to the West of us in a restricted area.

CBCs are always a great time. I am privileged to be asked to help out my west coast birders and love the chance to look for some birds I don't normally get to see in Central Florida. Thanks, as always to Don and Lorraine Margeson for their hospitality and friendship and it was great meeting and birding with a new birding friend in Jeff Miller.

Can't wait until next year!