Winter blahs...

There hasn't been much going on bird wise.

Ring-billed gulls on the wall in New Richmond

Desperately waiting for spring migration!

Bird variety at Kapok Park

Mallard swimming around. I love the colors on these guys - orange feet, yellow beak, green head.
American coot taking a bath.

This osprey looked strange. He doesn't seem to have as much brown on his head. It makes him look like a ghost bird.

Great blue heron eating with turtle friend.


Busy getting a snack!

Mockingbird sitting pretty.

The last couple of visits to Kapok Park had not been too exciting. I went this past weekend and there were more signs of life at the park. There were at least 3 opsrey flying over the lake trying to get lunch. Lots of ducks there. Soon there will be lots of baby ducks swimming around. Two specific things I was looking for but did not find were otters and owls. I have only seen the otters from far away and was not able to get any good pictures. I had heard the owls were back at the park but did not see them this past weekend. I also saw a picture of a bobcat that people say lives there. I'm going to be on the lookout for him as well for my next trip.

Bunche Beach Preserve III

Well, I was compelled to get an exact number of times I've visited this premier birding venue known as Bunche Beach Preserve.

The Reddish Egret above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

I had to revisit a number of computer photo files that I had merely classified by date to be able to say that I made my 28th to the preserve 27 JAN 2010.

This most recent was an afternoon visit, so I made a glance to the West from the parking area to confirm anything unusual and saw that the lion's share of the birds were congregated about a half mile to the East.

The Ring-billed Gull above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

It was an easy decision to head toward the East channel that allows waters of San Carlos Bay that in part enter and leave the estuary. I never made it that far.

The sun at this time of year in the winter months is still relatively low on the horizon which allows for favorable light for photography at any time of day here with good weather.

The Long-billed Curlew above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

I personally prefer to visit the preserve at low tide. Fellow blogger, Tom Obrock, whom I've yet to meet has noted in his blog that he prefers to visit the preserve at high tide.

This week's visit was near a high tide which allowed for the observation of many species of bird in a much more concentrated area as Tom notes as a benefit.

The Long-billed Curlew above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

There were 15 species observed with the addition of a special one that I had not seen in over a year since at Little Estero Lagoon about a mile to the South.

It was quite extraordinary to see the Long-billed Curlew fly in to the area with plumage that was unique from the other birds seen.

The Long-billed Curlew above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

The curlew seemed out of place to me as there was not another of its kind in the group of birds that possibly numbered 150 or more in three primary groups. This was a lower than normal sighting of birds overall as there were relatively few Black Skimmers.

While I attempted to continue to keep sight of the entire scene, the curlew was of course the highlight of the trip.

The Long-billed Curlew above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

The bird was mobile and rarely still. I was able to capture some interesting feeding behavior as a Willet undoubtedly caused some stress to the curlew while harassing it.

The Willet seemed unusually aggressive. I'm not sure if it was merely after some scraps or possibly was capable of taking the food from the curlew. Further observation will hopefully offer a better understanding.

The Royal Tern above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

As the curlew made its way through the concentration of birds, it was at odds with gulls that apparently staked their claim to small pieces of real estate on a couple of occasions.

The sun went down without a cloud in the sky. It allowed me to be temporarily blinded in attempt to get a sunset shot.

The sunset above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in January 2010.

The construction of facilities continues to proceed slowly. Roof trusses are finally on the building in the new parking area.

Bunche Beach Preserve was as exciting on this last visit as the first.

Bundaleer's death

I heard sad news this week. On Tuesday night Lowry Park Zoo posted on their facebook page that Bundaleer, the koala bear who came to the zoo this past summer, has died. He was 10 years old. He came to Lowry Park from the San Diego Zoo. The zoo said he had a recurring infection that they had been treating since October. I am so sad. He was so cute even if he was sleeping most of the time. I think I caught him awake twice in the 10 times I have been to the zoo since he arrived. Below are some pictures I was lucky enough to take.

Honeymoon Island

Lots of osprey flying around.



Stay away from my fish!

Two osprey sitting near their nest.

First time I have ever seen a tortoise there. He was sitting right on the Opsrey Trail.

I was admiring these pretty red leaves that were growing everywhere and someone told me they were poison ivy. Glad I didn't get too close.

It's starting to get very busy at Honeymoon Island with all of the opsrey setting up house. There are a ton of osprey nests along the trail. Many of them already have at least one osprey sitting on them. Soon there will be baby osprey crying everywhere. The best time to go is early in the morning (early to me is 9 or 10am). They are flying around with sticks and fish. Lots of activity before lunch. I did see a lot of other birds and animals as well. There were 2 armadillo walking along the trail.

Eagle babies

Parent landing on the nest while the other parent watches.

Feeding one of the babies.

My husband thinks the baby looks like a tiny horse.

Proud parent sitting in a tree close by the nest.

This Saturday I had a productive visit to Honeymoon Island. I had not been out there for a while and it seemed to look different. They had been doing a lot of controlled burning so part of the back trail looked black. The rain from Friday had most of the northern back trail flooded, up to knee deep in some areas. I decided to stay off those trails since there could be snakes swimming around in there. I got there around 9:30am and headed straight back to the eagle's nest. When I got there only one adult was sitting on the nest. A few minutes later another one came flying in with a fish. Immediately the baby's head popped up. There are 2 babies but you could mostly only see one. For a few minutes when the adult was feeding the one you couldn't see you could catch a glimpse of the beak. After that fish was eaten the adult took off and went and got another fish within a few minutes. At one point both parents had left the nest alone but not for long. I stayed for at least an hour at which time the eagles were settling down for a while so I decided to continue walking around the rest of the trails.

Lots of critters in the neighborhood

I was cleaning up the yard Saturday afternoon and found this bee sitting on an orange. It looks like he's missing a wing.



This kingfisher was flying around the channel and he landed on my neighbor's dock. There was already an ibis sitting there. They sat there together for a while eyeing each other. Taken from my bedroom window.


I think this shorebird is lost. He was standing on my neighbor's dock. I think he's a lesser
yellowlegs. We usually don't see shorebirds in the channels. Update from Andrea - it's a spotted sandpiper in non-breeding colors.


The question is how did a dead fish get on my dock? There's been a ton of dead fish floating in the channel from the freeze. I'm assuming a bird, maybe the osprey that hangs out in the channel, picked it up and then just happened to drop it there. Did he leave it there as a present?

Saturday night right before dark the osprey landed on my neighbor's sailboat mast. He usually sleeps there at night.

Feature: Venice Rookery

Within the wildlife and birding mecca of Southwest Florida is an unassuming island that could unquestionably be described as an oasis.

The Glossy Ibis above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

This place is located at Audubon Venice Area Rookery in the metropolitan area of Venice, Florida.

I arrived at the rookery for the first time about 45 minutes before sunrise about mid January 2010. This was fortuitous as I was able to observe what most visitors to the rookery perhaps do not.

The Great Egret above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

In the near pitch darkness it was evident from the parking area immediately adjacent to the rookery that there was life on the island. The contrast of the pure white feathers of the Great Egret in particular resting in the foliage was striking and memorable.

Many dozens of these birds as well as several other species took flight to the East well before the sun's rays would cast their glow on the diminutive island.

The Great Egret above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

The birds that remained included a relatively small handful of Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Glossy Ibis, and Anhinga that seemingly had staked their claim to nests on the island.

As time passed and a dozen or so fellow avian enthusiasts would come and go, I was able to observe some interesting wildlife behavior and see a couple of species of bird that I had not photographed in Florida before.

The Great Blue Heron above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

A list of 17 bird species seen on my visit to the rookery is highlighted by clicking here. The seemingly omnipresent Laughing Gull was mistakenly omitted in my list.

Of the two bird species not observed before in my effort to document the near 500 that either live in or migrate through Florida were the American Robin (not photographed) and the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck flew in a group of up to 14 over the rookery on four occasions. It was a great test of my ability to document them with photographs. I knew that special compensation had to be made in the camera's settings to avoid underexposure of the images.

While all of this was going on, I was extremely fortunate to observe a pair of Great Blue Heron mating. The male was able to accomplish this after his third arrival to his mate with nest building material.

The Great Blue Heron above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

Other interesting behavior was observed in a male Anhinga that was diligently breaking the berry laden branches of his perch and offering them to his mate who was somewhat hidden from my view.

The brilliant green lore of the male Great Egret was a welcome sign of the exciting months ahead. Virtually every male bird within its species will make a noticeable change in its appearance to entice its potential mate.

The Anhinga above was photographed at Venice Area Audubon Rookery in January 2010.

The rookery is a must see venue if you are anywhere in the area or otherwise. While the wildlife is tantalizingly close, it's been well noted that longer lenses of 400mm to 600mm or more are helpful for photography as close as you may seem to the action. Don't forget your binoculars.

Find directions to the rookery by clicking here.

Baby primates at the zoo

Baby red tailed guenon hanging upside down on mom.

Baby mandrill watching the older one.

Baby angolan colobus hanging around.

Baby siamang gibbon with mom.


Baby orangutan giving mom a look.

Such cute babies at the zoo! Some with a face only a mother could love. I stopped by Lowry Park Zoo this weekend and was surprised by all of the baby primates out playing around. When the weather cools off here the animals come out to play. It's not like in the heat of summer when they are all sleeping in the back. There must have been a lot of "monkey business" going on this past summer and fall to have such an abundance of babies this winter. If you get a chance to check them out go early in the morning before they take their naps.

Hooded merganser

Driving home I pass by a small pond near my neighborhood. This weekend I noticed a handful of new ducks in it. As I was sitting at the red light I could see that big white spot on one of the duck's head and knew it was a hooded merganser. Since these ducks are only here for a few shorts months during the winter I wanted to get a picture. I pulled off the side of the road and got out and snapped. I noticed there were 3 of them, 2 males and a female. I wonder if these were the same 3 in the channel behind our house a few weeks ago. They were there for a few weeks and have been gone for about 2 weeks.

Wild birds at the zoo

Ibis flying into the fish pond.

Ibis flying into the fish pond.


Snowy egret eating lunch.

Stork has a big fish.

Sparrow taking a bath in the sand.

Saturday it looked like it was going to rain so I headed to the zoo. You can always find wild birds at the zoo looking for an easy bite. The fish pond at the cheetah exhibit had a large group of birds eating the fish. There were storks, egrets, ibis and a great blue heron. The cheetahs didn't seem to mind. They slept through lunch. I got lucky with the weather, the rain did not come until later in the day.