On the way home from Corkscrew, we drove along Fort Myers Beach to Bowditch Point Park on the far north end of the island.
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| Great Egret |
Showing posts with label Osprey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Osprey. Show all posts
Monday, April 23, 2012
Bowditch Point, Fort Myers Beach
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Metro Parkway - Again!
My sister Beth arrived on Thursday and we couldn't wait to take her to the new birding place we recently discovered. She barely had time to change into her shorts before Bill was explaining the "here after." She didn't want to be "here after we were gone" so she was quick!
It was a beautiful afternoon and the birds were everywhere!
He kept circling back and forth,
and then seemed to stop mid-air,
before taking a drastic turn downwards,
plunging into the water,
and grabbing a fish.
Off he went with his prize!
The Roseate Spoonbills are such a treat!
Isn't it time for the White Pelicans to head north? They DO fly north, don't they?
I wonder if the Wood Stork likes his reflection.
When we were at Harns Marsh, I saw what I decided was a Greater Yellowlegs. When I saw this one I assumed it was the same - but after looking at the pictures more closely, I think it's a Juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs. Feel free to correct me.
Another Black-necked Stilt. This was a new life bird for my sister.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
This is a great birding spot and since it's so close, I'm sure we'll stop again. (and again...)
It was a beautiful afternoon and the birds were everywhere!
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| Osprey |
We don't see as many Osprey in Ocala, so it's nice to see so many here in Fort Myers. This one was searching the water below for fish.
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| Roseate Spoonbill |
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| White Pelican |
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| Wood Stork |
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| Lesser Yellowlegs |
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| Black-necked Stilt |
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| Anhinga drying his wings |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Great Egret |
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| Least Sandpiper |
Thursday, April 12, 2012
OTOW Unique Birders Go Up the River
The OTOW Unique Birders, led by head birder Margitta, car pooled to the Moss Bluff boat ramp where we met Captain Vince Druding to board our pontoon boat for a trip up the Ocklawaha River.
The Ocklawaha River watershed covers 2,769 square miles from Polk County to the St. Johns River. It is divided into the Upper Ocklawaha River, Lower Ocklawaha River, and Orange Creek sub-basins. The Upper and Lower sections are divided by the dam and lock in the background.
It's nesting time for the herons and egrets. These Great Egret parents were taking turns tending to their hungry babies.
Aren't they just the cutest babies you ever saw? Their beaks look too big for their little faces but they'll grow into them.
The river was a scenic path through the river shed habitats.
The birds were beautiful. Check out the breeding plumage on the Great Egret parent as it checks on the fuzzy balls in the nest.
A great deal of time is spent preening.
But the results are worth it!
Off he goes for more food for his hungry family.
We also saw Great Blue Herons.
and Anhinga families.
The Anhinga babies.
We saw this Great Egret and because his beak is darker than the others, there was some speculation it might be a White Great Blue Heron.
But looking closer, it was just a Great Egret; his legs are black, he has a smaller bill and no head plumes.
Osprey were everywhere. The first time I got a picture of an Osprey with a fish in his talons, I thought it was really original. Now I realize that there are fish in most of my Osprey pictures.
...but not all.
This is a Red-wing Blackbird. Most of the adult males had bright red on their wings. This one must be a juvenile.
The sun was shining on this male Boat-tailed Grackle showing his beautiful colors.
This is the female Boat-tailed Grackle.
We saw both Turkey Vultures and this Black Vulture.
The wild flowers lined the banks of the river and attracted loads of butterflies.
They were beautiful!
After our trip we had lunch at the Dam Diner and tallied our bird count. We saw 22 different kinds of birds. Great trip - thanks Margitta!
The Ocklawaha River watershed covers 2,769 square miles from Polk County to the St. Johns River. It is divided into the Upper Ocklawaha River, Lower Ocklawaha River, and Orange Creek sub-basins. The Upper and Lower sections are divided by the dam and lock in the background.
It's nesting time for the herons and egrets. These Great Egret parents were taking turns tending to their hungry babies.
Aren't they just the cutest babies you ever saw? Their beaks look too big for their little faces but they'll grow into them.
The river was a scenic path through the river shed habitats.
The birds were beautiful. Check out the breeding plumage on the Great Egret parent as it checks on the fuzzy balls in the nest.
A great deal of time is spent preening.
But the results are worth it!
Off he goes for more food for his hungry family.
We also saw Great Blue Herons.
and Anhinga families.
The Anhinga babies.
We saw this Great Egret and because his beak is darker than the others, there was some speculation it might be a White Great Blue Heron.
But looking closer, it was just a Great Egret; his legs are black, he has a smaller bill and no head plumes.
Osprey were everywhere. The first time I got a picture of an Osprey with a fish in his talons, I thought it was really original. Now I realize that there are fish in most of my Osprey pictures.
...but not all.
This is a Red-wing Blackbird. Most of the adult males had bright red on their wings. This one must be a juvenile.
The sun was shining on this male Boat-tailed Grackle showing his beautiful colors.
This is the female Boat-tailed Grackle.
We saw both Turkey Vultures and this Black Vulture.
The wild flowers lined the banks of the river and attracted loads of butterflies.
They were beautiful!After our trip we had lunch at the Dam Diner and tallied our bird count. We saw 22 different kinds of birds. Great trip - thanks Margitta!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Morning
Merry Christmas! It's a beautiful sunny morning here in the OTOW compound so Bill (here's a shocker) is already up and out at the RC flying field crashing his planes so he'll have a project repairing them later in the day. I'm not sure how he will survive without heading to the hobby shop - but hopefully his other hobby (feeding me) will keep him busy.
Son John is still asleep after losing a wild game of combat dominoes last night. We played until the wee hours of the morning - probably past 9:00 PM!!
My bird feeders in the backyard are a hive of activity with Goldfinches, Bluebirds, Titmice, Cardinals, House Finches, Doves and Sparrows. The Killdeer are playing out back and there are Blue Jays in the tree out front. I love my life!
So before I get started making chocolate chip cookies for Johnny, I think I'll finish posting some of the backlog of pictures from our trip to Fort Myers.
We've made some great new friends here at OTOW and two of them, Peg and Bob, came down to spend the weekend with us in Ft. Myers. Peg is a fabulous quilter, so I knew she and Beth would hit it off (the three of us hit all of the quilt shops in the area - what a blast!) and Bob is a RC flyer so we took them over to the Cape Coral RC field. Naturally I had my camera - but I wasn't looking at the planes.
I watched these two friends sitting on the fence at the end of the field - chatting it up and ignoring the activity on the field.
The talkative bird is a Meadowlark and his friend is a Loggerhead Shrike.
I guess the shrike got tired of listening and decided to check the wind direction.
Deserted, the lark found comfort in food and plucked a juicy worm from the grass and ate it. Don't you think he looks guilty?
This Bald Eagle felt no guilt as he finished his meal high in a pine tree. He is a teenager on the verge of adulthood with some of the brown on his face still visible.
Over at the ball field where we see the Burrowing Owls, I watched these two Osprey torment a noisy nest of Monk Parakeets high atop one of the stadium lights. It looked like the Osprey were hoping one of the parakeets would make a tasty meal, but despite their efforts, the parakeets were safe.
I hope all my readers will stay safe this holiday season. Merry Christmas!
Son John is still asleep after losing a wild game of combat dominoes last night. We played until the wee hours of the morning - probably past 9:00 PM!!
My bird feeders in the backyard are a hive of activity with Goldfinches, Bluebirds, Titmice, Cardinals, House Finches, Doves and Sparrows. The Killdeer are playing out back and there are Blue Jays in the tree out front. I love my life!
So before I get started making chocolate chip cookies for Johnny, I think I'll finish posting some of the backlog of pictures from our trip to Fort Myers.
We've made some great new friends here at OTOW and two of them, Peg and Bob, came down to spend the weekend with us in Ft. Myers. Peg is a fabulous quilter, so I knew she and Beth would hit it off (the three of us hit all of the quilt shops in the area - what a blast!) and Bob is a RC flyer so we took them over to the Cape Coral RC field. Naturally I had my camera - but I wasn't looking at the planes.
I watched these two friends sitting on the fence at the end of the field - chatting it up and ignoring the activity on the field.
The talkative bird is a Meadowlark and his friend is a Loggerhead Shrike.
I guess the shrike got tired of listening and decided to check the wind direction.
Deserted, the lark found comfort in food and plucked a juicy worm from the grass and ate it. Don't you think he looks guilty?
This Bald Eagle felt no guilt as he finished his meal high in a pine tree. He is a teenager on the verge of adulthood with some of the brown on his face still visible.Over at the ball field where we see the Burrowing Owls, I watched these two Osprey torment a noisy nest of Monk Parakeets high atop one of the stadium lights. It looked like the Osprey were hoping one of the parakeets would make a tasty meal, but despite their efforts, the parakeets were safe.I hope all my readers will stay safe this holiday season. Merry Christmas!
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