Largo Birding

Where to go the day after Christmas? I couldn't decide so I visited several spots all around Largo. First stop: War Veteran's Memorial Park where I have spent time during Christmas Bird Counts. It was not too birdy, but the Brown Pelicans feeding out in the channel.



I was taken aback by the lack of other birds in the park. The only other fun bird of note was a male Black and White Warbler moving at high speed near the point. Very little other activity in all of my hiking this morning.



Since it was pretty quiet at that park I headed over to Largo Central Park Nature Preserve. Things were a bit more interesting here. I walked around the back side of the park and found a number of Black-hooded Parakeets up in the power station.



I started through a recently cut portion leading back to the park and noticed some small birds darting into some brush. It took me a bit to nail it down but was pleasantly surprised to discover it was a House Finch.



Down in the freshly cut grass and brush were several Western Palm Warblers hopping around and feeding.



Halfway along the boardwalk in the woods a Downy Woodpecker dropped next to me and began pounding away on a tree. I took many, many photos just wanting the bird to look my direction at least once but he would not cooperate so I ended up with most of the shots becoming blurry.



One of my presents was a wide angle lens. It should be fun to play around with from time to time. Have to practice some exposure times, for sure.



Heading back to the parking lot I spotted a Pied-billed Grebe swimming down the creek toward me.



Just beyond that was a juvenile Little Blue Heron feeding so intently that it never paid attention to me as I took a couple dozen shots.



Just nearing the restrooms I saw a bird flash out and back to the trees. It was an Eastern Phoebe plucking insects from the air and returning to its perch.



I turned toward the car and had a Northern Mockingbird pop up out of a bush. Who can resist that shot?



I then headed over to John S. Taylor Park. It is a park that is hidden in plain sight, almost. It is surrounded by office buildings and homes but is fairly large and holds different birds than the other parks. Like Ring-billed Gulls which were relaxing all along the shoreline and atop signs. Which profile do you prefer? To the right...



...or to the left?



I love how this Common Gallinule looks like it was carved out of wax and the color scheme really works for me, too.



Up in the pines was a lone Anhinga just relaxing.



There wasn't too much more to look find so I had to take more shots of the gulls on the way out. This one seems a little younger than the others around.



This one is definitely an older bird



Not a bad way to spend a long morning of birding. However, it will soon be time to head back to Orlando and home.

Friends?

I don't think so. Emily called me out from the office to ID a raptor on the phone pole. In the cloudy light she wondered if it was a Swallow-tailed Kite. Turned out to be a Southern sub-species of a Red-shouldered Hawk. And it was being mobbed by the nesting Northern Mockingbirds.



The hawk put up with the assault for quite sometime as the Mockingbirds took turns swooping at its back and head. Finally, the hawk began to call.



A few seconds later, the hawk retreated to the woods across the stream and the Mockingbirds headed back to their nest and the morning was quiet again.

Yearly Birding Stop at Ft. DeSoto

My father and I left dark and early to get to Fort DeSoto and the Tierra Verde Duck Ponds to try and find anything. I always try to get over here at some point when we visit at Christmastime. We stopped by the ponds first so we got to the Loop a little late but there was still a nice sunrise going on with our 3rd sundog of the weekend.



I was really hoping to find a Franklin's Gull somewhere. We missed the one that was here last year and many are being seen on the Atlantic side of the state. Unfortunately, all we could find were Laughing Gulls.



Ospreys are nesting now and thy often fly by in search of a meal.



We enjoyed watching the large flock of Brown Pelicans on the rocks next to the pier.



Just after we pulled into the North Beach parking lot I spotted a bird off to the right. It was an American Kestrel that actually stayed put after I got out of the car. That never has happened before!



Not too long ago (OK, maybe a couple years) I heard that Pinellas County was going to try and get rid of all the non-native Australian Pines. You could the difference right after we parked. The whole wind-break before the beach was gone and once we got to the sand all we found were stumps.



They cut those larger trees but it looks like they are just poisoning the smaller ones. Sorry, I have a soft spot for Australian Pines. I recall growing up along the shoreline and listening to the wind going through the branches. A wonderful sound to me.



We continued walking and there was this single Ring-billed Gull out that just wanted to have its picture taken. OK, with me.



On the way back I decided to test the macro function on the new camera. My first subject was a chunk of Sand Dollar.



I spotted this grouping of Mangrove stems sticking out of the sand on the way out and the shadows just pulled me down for a close shot.



Tiny shells sit above ripples caused by the waves.



Suddenly a Forster's Tern got near and was feeding along the edge of the waves. It finally was in a pretty good position to try for a shot.



We headed toward the duck ponds again but that will be in another post. When we got back to the house I was trying some more macro shots when this silly Northern Mockingbird popped its head out from a bush.



Stay tuned for the duck story following soon!

Mead Garden Walkthrough

It had been a long time since I had a chance to drop in at Mead Botanical Gardens so it was time for a stroll. It was not too bird since we are deep into July but the first bird to greet me was a juvenile Northern Mockingbird.



Over in the newly installed rocky area behind the new amphitheater a turtle basked in the morning sunshine.



How long has it been since I have been here? Long enough for them to build a giant pond and build a restored section to the boardwalk. And no one who knows me and is alway here tells me this?!?



The section from the Butterfly Garden all the way to the marshy area has been redone. The new section is wide enough for wheelchairs to comfortably pass through but is narrows to the old section pretty quickly.



Since I was not seeing many birds I decided I would head back to the car. By the time I made it to the main pond I spotted a Swallow-tailed Kite having a snack high above me.



Finally, I spotted one of the resident Barred Owls up in the palm trees before I exited the gardens.



Hoping that that newly built boardwalk section is a hint of things to come. I miss the old boardwalk very much.

Jay Watch 2015, Part 1

It's that time again! Back out into the Summer heat to count Florida Scrub Jays. This weekend I was stationed at Buck Lake Conservation Area near Mims, Florida. Always nice to meet up with old and new friends and hopefully get some shots of the Jays and other discoveries in the scrub.

While the instructions for our procedures were given to the new volunteers I spied something more interesting. Up on one of the powerless I spotted a Great-Crested Flycatcher. A few minutes later it actually stuck its head into on end of the large pipes and then flew back to perch. Another flycatcher arrived and then the two seemed to have a bit of a quarrel leaving the original bird sitting on the wire. I can only surmise they have a nest in that pipe. Cool.



The group leaders seem to have finally nailed down how to get group photos of the daily volunteers. Used to be they would wait until the end of the morning but by then either half the group has gone home or is just too exhausted by the heat. Now we get the shot before heading out for the counts.



I had the closest count points with Jane and Maria (who runs the event on this side of the state). Approaching our first count point I spotted a pair of jays on a dead tree snag. We had to walk past the birds to get on the best side of the morning sunlight. Shortly after we settled in with our binoculars to get the leg band data. Soon, one of the Florida Scrub Jays flew among us, grabbed something from the ground and found a spot to cache it in the sand.



It then hopped up into small tree right in front of me allowing me some nice shots.



Maria had been looking for a photo that showed the pattern on the back of adult Florida Scrub Jays and our bird was happy to oblige me as I moved behind it and I got some excellent shots. Turns out that this shot serves a duel purpose as it is also a good example shot of tail molt.



That bird flew back to the tree but the second one soon replaced it, again, right in front of me. This is a good shot of the leg bands on this bird which would be recorded Silver/Black/Mauve.



We moved off to survey some other points before returning to this general area. I played my jay tapes and a pair of Florida Scrub Jays flew in from a quarter mile away. Took a few minutes to confirm but it was the same pair we hung with earlier.



While I was positioning myself in the oaks for the best angle I could get of the Jay above me a juvenile Northern Mockingbird flew in to see what all the fuss was.



The next set of points was near the large ditch that cuts across the property. It stays a bit more damp and typically have some interesting flowers blooming like one of our species of St. John's Wort.



Tucked down in the grasses, a few Rhexia swayed in the gentle breeze.



A yellow flower I have yet to identify caught my eye as I headed back to the roadside to meet my ride.



Once I got settled a flash caught my eye up in the blue. First the sky was totally blue but suddenly an area of white would appear like a rotating advertising sign an disappear again. Wood Stork flock I figured but I took a shot just to document it. I thought that the Anhinga following at the bottom of the flock was interesting, too.



Once I got the image on the home computer I was a bit more than surprised. Those weren't Storks. They were American White Pelicans! I am use to seeing them only in the Winter but I guess some do stick around sometimes according to records. Just a pretty rare sight for June.



I play my first round of Jay calls per instructions then have to stop before the full minute was up. A Swallow-tailed Kite was flying right toward me. Kites have been known to prey upon young birds so we try not to attract any jays when raptors of any kind are in sight. The Kite eventually headed out over the tree line and I played the tape for one more round before my time was up.



Grasshoppers were constantly flying out of the way of my step at every stop. This one posed for a nice morning shot in the road.



It was taking a while for Maria to get me for the next round. Maybe she had a bird or two at her stop. As I waited I spotted a small dot on the horizon, high in the sky. Didn't seem like a Red-tailed Hawk to me so I snapped a few shot to take home and analyze. Turned out to be a Short-tailed Hawk, another excellent bird for this time of year. I have only seen a few of theses birds ever and never got a shot as clear.



Maria finally headed down to get me reporting that she did, indeed have a bird at her area. It seemed to be unbanded so we hurried back with my camera to try for documentation. Sure enough, an unbanded Florida Scrub Jay panting in the warming morning.



The scope was brought out for a closer view and to verify there were no bands on this bird.



No more birds for us on our remaining spot but I am sure some of the other teams had some. Tomorrow is Part Two at Lake Monroe. Hopefully, we can keep the nice breeze around. It wasn't as hot as I had feared it was going to be today