Osprey at Honeymoon Island - Skywatch Friday

I remember the first time I saw an osprey. My dad died in the spring of 2001 and my mom decided she wanted to move to a retirement community rather than live alone. She was a very sociable person. She moved into this great apartment on the 4th floor and right across the driveway was an osprey nest! My sisters and I stood on the balcony asking ourselves "What is that bird?" I remembered that we had packed an old waterbird book that my dad had bought years ago at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. We dug that out and flipped through the pages. There it was, an osprey. Or fish hawk as it also know. It's a type of hawk that catches fish with it's talons. The ospreys had babies on the nest, although we could barely see them. We spent that week watching that nest with a pair of old binoculars. Later the next year I moved down here with hubby and at some point we noticed all of the osprey that would hang out on the bridges eating fish. It became a habit of mine to count the number of osprey on the bridge on the way home from work. Several summers ago I got up to 22 on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. This past summer I think I only hit 12. 

One of the best places to see them is at Honeymoon Island. There's a lot of nesting going on but I don't think there are any babies yet. There are tons of osprey on the trail flying around and eating. I saw all of the above while heading to the end of the trail to check on the eagle's nest. I'm going to try and check back in another month to see if I can catch some baby osprey.

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Alligators and birds at Gatorland

The big gators were bellowing when I walked into the bird rookery.

A big one standing in the water.

You can feed hot dogs to the gators in the lake but I think the birds eat more of them than the gators do. I once saw a kid throw the hot dog on the gator's head and a bird picked it off his head. I have also seen a gator catch and eat an egret so it happens.

Wood storks close to the boardwalk. I think they were walking around looking for lost hot dogs.

Big smile!

It always seems funny to see the birds use the gator tails as logs to stand on.

This snowy egret was stepping over the gator.

A loud video of the gator bellowing. Birds are calling in the begining. Towards the end you can hear the bellow.

I got to Gatorland right when they opened at 9am and headed straight for the bird rookery. When I got there I heard the strangest noise. I have been to Gatorland several times in the spring for the last 2 years and had never heard that sound before. All of the alligators were bellowing. It sounded like a sick dog groaning. It was very loud. Creepy but interesting. I was just glad I was on the boardwalk and not in some swamp with that sound. The weather was cool when I got there which I think is why the gators were so active that early. It warmed up pretty quick though. It's interesting the relationship with these birds and the gators. They are both just looking for food in the same places. The alligators in the lake provide a safe place for the birds to build their nest over to keep raccoons out (until one of the babies falls out of the nest).  I posted this picture last year on Flickr of an alligator with a great egret - flickr picture. Sad but I know everyone has to eat.

Baby great egrets at Gatorland

This mom has her hands full. Three baby great egrets. These were the only babies at Gatorland when I was there. I'm thinking they were the first ones born. There are several other nests with eggs so soon the bird rookery there will be loud with babies crying to be fed. I missed the other parent flying in with a fish but made it as the mom (I'm assuming the female) started feeding them. It looked like she was eating first and then upchucking pieces of fish to give them. Yum! The babies are so cute with their fuzzy heads and big yellow beaks. They were moving around quite a bit. That nest is going to be full when those babies start to grow. Hopefully, none of them will fall out as the nest overcrowds. There are hungry alligators waiting below.

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Nesting wild birds at Gatorland

I think it all starts here. The great egret gets that pretty bright green "I'm sexy" color on their face.

Then they grow the "I'm sexy" feathers and start doing the "look at me" dance.

Then they start "going steady" and become a couple.

Then "it" happens. There was a lot of it going on at Gatorland recently.

They work on the nest bringing sticks and twigs.

Then they become parents. This one only had one egg. 

This is a snowy egret with four eggs. They are going to be busy parents when they hatch.

Two weekends ago I made my first seasonal trip over to Orlando to check out the wild bird rookery at Gatorland.  The mangroves along the alligator exhibit are full of wild birds that fly in for the spring to have their babies here. Since the alligators keep away the raccoons, I guess the birds think it's pretty safe for them to build their nests over the alligators. Right now it's mostly great egrets, snowy egrets, anhingas and storks that are nesting with eggs. Soon the tri-colored and blue herons will move in and nest as well. There was only one nest that had hatched (more on those later) so I'm going to try and get back there in late April to check on the rest of the eggs.

Baby eagles, parrots mating and a starling

Getting a bite of fish.

Feeding the baby although it looks more like a kiss.

The parent is looking at something.

Both babies are visible.

Baby is flapping it's wings.

One of the parents flying by. I know I shouldn't post this since I cut one wing off but I couldn't resist. He flew so close to me so fast.

A lone starling was sitting in a tree close by.

Wild parrots making whoopy.

The recent Sunday started out sunny but later in the day as I was on my way to check on the cemetery eagles in St. Petersburg it started to get cloudy. The closer I got to the cemetery, the cloudier it got. There was a small chance of rain and it looked like we were going to get it. White and gray clouds do not make for a nice background but hey, when you are watching a bald eagle feed it's chick you get over it real fast. They had just started eating when I got there so I missed the big "parent flying in with a fish" moment. After the eagles finished eating and had settled down in the nest I noticed a few other birds around me. I found a lone starling which I though was strange. Usually they are in big flocks. Right as I was leaving a parrot couple landed in the tree near my car and quickly got down to business. I wonder if they have a nest in the cemetery. It would be nice to see the baby parrots growing up.

STA5 Revisited

I had made an afternoon visit to Estero Lagoon earlier in the week with hopes to capture the Green flash in the setting sun.

The Willet above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

No luck with that although I had an enjoyable time nonetheless.

There were no birds in the north lagoon upon my arrival which might be expected under the circumstances.

The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

A good number of shore and wading birds worked the surf as shelling by humans was observed.

The lores of one Snowy Egret in particular had a brilliant dark pink that can be seen during the breeding season.

The Royal Tern above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

What I believe to be the same pair of Reddish Egret seen a few months ago were present with one of the birds sporting its leucism.

A few Willet meandered by followed by a few Ruddy Turnstone.

The Ruddy Turnstone above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

In addition, a solitary Osprey and a Royal Tern had control of the sky above.

A Brown Pelican arrived in the last light of the day and dove in the water in search of prey.

The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

After photographing the setting sun, a solitary Roseate Spoonbill was seen actively feeding in the lagoon.

An 18 inch red snake (possibly Red Rat Snake) was seen in the mangroves in the last light of the day.

The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

Due to my inability to appropriately plan a visit to STA5, I made a last minute email to Margaret England to advise her of my interest in joining the first Big "O" birding tour of STA5 on the morning of March 23rd.

Upon my arrival a few minutes after sunrise, I was surprised that there were no vehicles at the entrance gate.

The sunset above was photographed at Estero Lagoon in March 2011.

A South Florida Water Management District employee entered STA5 as I waited in anticipation of seeing Margaret greet her visitors to the Stormwater Treatment Area as was the case in February.

As the minutes ticked by I sensed something was wrong.

The Snail Kite juvenile above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

With Snail Kite active in the northeast corner of Cell 1A, I walked to water control structure G-343A which allowed me site of my vehicle and any incoming cars.

The water level in Cell 1B appeared lower to me than I thought I had seen it last month.

The Purple Gallinule above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

If this was indeed the case, it was only a matter of inches and possibly impacting the number of birds which were half those within this cell seen previously.

A water control structure to the east of the entrance to STA5 appeared to have water pumped into Cell 1B near maximum flow.

The scene above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

Some bird species certainly favor ideal conditions for them to be present in an area.

This was brought to my attention by Tom Obrock in my first observation of Black-necked Stilt at the Exit 131 Rest Stop on Interstate 75 in late July of 2010.

The Snail Kite juvenile above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

Although I observed a handful of the stilts at STA5 in February, it was a treat to see them again this past week.

Shortly after I settled down to observe and photograph the scene, a SFWMD helicopter was apparently making a survey of the area and flushed the stilts from behind tall grasses to my southwest.

The Caspian Tern above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

I had not seen one of these "official" helicopters since an overflight at Bunche Beach Preserve about a year ago.

I was able to count 11 (one is out of frame in the image enclosed) of the birds in the flock before they flew out of view and would not return.

The aircraft above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

In addition to the stilts, as many as 25 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were seen in flight and was likely my first sighting of the species.

After the helicopter left the scene, the ducks returned either individually or in small groups.

The Green Heron above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

I had never observed so many Green Herons as on this occasion which made low flybys on a frequent basis.

It was a treat to see the male and female Snail Kite with a juvenile while for some reason the male Snail Kite is not seen predictably at Harns Marsh Preserve among the many females of the species there.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

Many of the other regular species expected to be seen in the area were present in my few hours of observation at the STA5 water control structure.

Later in the morning I was surprised to see a small caravan of cars approach from what appeared their first lap along the levies.

The Anhinga above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

It was at that point that I knew I wish I were able to have committed to this trip much sooner.

I was impressed to hear that this group of observers had arrived at 6:00am "for sunrise" although it didn't actually occur until about 90 minutes later.

The Fulvous Whistling-Duck above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

Sunny conditions predicted for the day were were not seen in the morning with heavy fog and low cloud cover through mid morning.

After the fog burned off the clouds that remained diffused the available light making the long distance photography somewhat of a challenge for focus tracking and sharp images especially considering the necessary heavy crops of the images taken.

The Limpkin above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

Although it was my expectation to again explore STA5 on this visit, I'm glad that things happened as they did which gave me the opportunity to have a better understanding of bird behavior in a relatively confined area over a longer period of time at this venue.

I'm looking forward to a return to STA5 next winter.

The Green Heron above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

Interesting wildlife news this past week was the report of the sighting of the oldest free flying bird known that is a survivor of the most devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami to strike Japan since records have been kept.

The Laysan albatross seen is believed to be in excess of 60 years of age and was observed supervising its chick within Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge after the disaster.

The Snail Kite above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.

The albatross was banded in 1956 with the designation triple O seven as seen in the most recent photograph of the bird.

A great story about the bird and facts about the species may be read here.

The Blue-winged Teal above was photographed at STA5 in March 2011.