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.

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.

Clear Lake Park

I had to make a trip to the county electronics drop-off and once that was complete I remembered that there was a park I had spotted on Google Maps a few times and decided to swing in for a look. Clear Lake Park is behind a neighborhood and school and has a nice sidewalk and exercise stations for joggers.



I was unsuccessful at getting photos of the warblers moving from tree to tree so I headed back to the car were I was greeted by a Blue-headed Vireo right overhead.



Encouraged by this I headed down toward the edge of the lake. Next time I will wear something better than flip flops. All kinds of twigs and such once you are off the sidewalk. The lake is lined with oaks and Cyress trees. Just offshore, a large flock of American Coots and a Pied-billed Grebe floated by in the bright sunshine.



There is a short dock that juts out over the water and once I wandered toward it another Pied-billed Grebe drifted into view.



Anoles scurried all around the entrance on the dock but I was more interested in the Skink that paused before me.



Across the lake you can see the recently renovated Citrus Bowl.



I made my way around the sidewalk when I heard the sharp calls of Blue Jays raising an alarm. I changed direction and walked through the grasses and branches to try and locate what was bothering them. I didn't anything for a while but then a Red-shouldered Hawk came bursting out of the canopy and flew toward my car. I followed and managed one decent photo before he let out a series of calls and disappeared into the shadows again.



This looks like a good spot to find birds during Fall migration. I will be sure to visit here again then.