Quiet morning at Largo Botanical Gardens

I went for a walk at the Largo Botanical Gardens last weekend and didn't see too many birds. In fact, I think the only thing I saw were moorhens. The above picture is of a juvenile moorhen. I didn't see any alligators there and usually they are everywhere. I'm assuming they are hiding under the water. There were tons of butterflies and dragonflies buzzing everywhere. If it wasn't so hot I probably would have spent more time trying to get different pictures. After two hours in the heat I headed home.

Feature: Black-necked Stilt

The Black-necked Stilt is a species of bird that should not be expected to be seen at any time unless you are somewhat certain to find it.

The Red-shouldered Hawk above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

Well, with that said, how might one expect to find a needle in a haystack?

In my case, I was informed of the elusive species' location by reading the wildlife blog of Tom Obrock.

The Red-shouldered Hawk above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

I've come to realize the benefit of a full understanding of the preferred habitat of the species you are looking for.

In addition, it helps to have a great familiarity with the area if you're going to find an elusive species on your own and then perhaps simply get extremely lucky.

The Glossy Ibis above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

Although I was never specifically making a diligent effort to find the Black-necked Stilt until this past week, I was disappointed that I had not observed it before.

The Black-necked Stilt is considered a shorebird and having spent countless hours at wildlife parks and preserves that constitute suitable habitat for the species had me believe that I should see the stilt at least occasionally.

The Killdeer above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

But that was not the case as the Black-necked Stilt remained an elusive creature with it a member of the family Recurvirostridae which includes the American Avocet.

In my three plus years of Florida wildlife observation, I have only once seen the American Avocet with it in the surf at Lovers Key State Park in early May 2008.

The Anhinga above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

As has been my experience, I consider Recurvirostridae extremely rare relative to other shorebirds in my area of southwest Florida.

On the morning of my attempt to see the Black-necked Stilt for the first time, it was with great fortune that Tom Obrock drove through the Exit 131 Rest Stop off I-75 as he was headed home from work while continuing his search for migratory species and specifically "lifers."

The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

As we chatted about photography and our recent observations, it became clear he found me very misguided as to where I thought I might observe the stilts and gave me more specific detail of his observations of the species.

Tom also told me that he needed some shut eye before meeting up with the Birdpatrol at Bunche Beach later in the day.

The Mottled Duck above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

I think we are both in agreement that Harns Marsh Preserve needs another access point to negate what I certainly feel is an extraordinarily long walk around its perimeter.

Since I had to work very early in the morning the following day, I regrettably couldn't attend the Birdpatrol event.

The Cattle Egret above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

I chose to continue my attempt to observe the Black-necked Stilt where Tom had told me he had observed it in the recent past.

Approaching my third hour of observation at the Rest Stop site, I was literally in my car with the engine running already having given up when a few of the stilts flew into view.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

It was infuriating to me that I missed flight shots of the incoming Black-necked Stilt as I had been planted at the ready with the camera for such an extended period of time.

Three Black-necked Stilts were observed to fly into the flooded (due to seasonal rains) undeveloped commercial property from the south at the tree line immediately east of the Rest Stop.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

David Sibley's Guide to Bird Life and Behavior indicates that the avocets and stilts, classified as shorebirds, will frequent fresh water environments.

The field had a water depth of between four and 12 inches of water over an area I would guess at ten acres which allows for favorable, though fleeting, ecosystems.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

An unusual anatomical detail of Recurvirostridae shorebirds is that they have partial webbing between the three primary toes in the avocet while the stilt has webbing between the middle and inner toe.

While I was mobile in my observation of the stilts, with an effort to have the birds with the sun behind me, a neighbor of the property stopped to tell me that the water level seemed to be at an ideal depth as the birds might not otherwise be seen.

The Black-necked Stilt with Greater Yellowlegs above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

The gentleman also noted that he was pleased that others cared about what we could behold before us.

In my next two hours of observation of the Black-necked Stilt, there were a total of four of the species seen.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

While I originally thought there was another group of six stilts, a review of my photographs taken proved to show that the birds I thought were stilts were actually Greater Yellowlegs.

I had observed the yellowlegs into the sun and was only able to photograph them somewhat successfully using a very high exposure bias to avoid the capture of the birds completely in silhouette.

The Greater Yellowlegs above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

While there were only three Black-necked Stilts initially seen together, the fourth bird would ultimately make its way onto the scene from a direction I failed to observe.

With my little understanding of the Black-necked Stilt species, I speculate that the group of four included two juveniles.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

The juveniles might easily be mistaken for adult females on the ground as they are very similar in appearance.

When the four birds were captured in flight together, it's seemingly obvious that there were two juveniles as their size appears significantly smaller than the adults.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

Of the four birds in tandem, I believe the adult female to be the laggard.

Wildlife species I consider notably observed near the company of the Black-necked Stilt included Greater Yellowlegs, Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Heron with 1st year juvenile, Killdeer, Mottled Duck, Anhinga, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, and Red-shouldered Hawk.

The Black-necked Stilt above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

This retreat for the Black-necked Stilt at the Rest Stop will be further determined by the unpredictable rains this season, the dry season ahead, and future development.

Black-necked Stilts are thought to migrate to and from Argentina at the southern end of their range.

The visitor of the wildlife venue above was photographed at Exit 131 Rest Stop, Interstate I-75, Fort Myers, Florida USA in July 2010.

The most spectacular sunsets I've observed in my life, regrettably without an ability to photograph them, were observed this past week.

Skywatch Friday - Clouds on the causeway

One day last week after work I was coming home late across the Courtney Campbell Causeway. The sun was just coming down. It was so bright but kept trying to hide behind the clouds. I had my camera with me so I stopped off on the access road and parked. There were lots of people out fishing along the causeway. It would have been a nice night out if it hadn't have been so hot. As the sun was getting lower it hit a wall of haze so it lost it's luster. The below juvenile night heron kept me company while I was taking pictures. He just stood there and watched, probably thinking "Why doesn't this fool go home and have dinner in her air conditioned house?".

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Wordless Wednesday

Female Eastern Pondhawk

Get wordless at Wordless Wednesday

Baby ducks and moorhens

Muscovy duck family on the side of the lake.

What a cutie hiding in the reeds.



Big muscovy duck family.

Baby moorhen with mom.

Baby moorhen siblings.

There are still a lot of babies around this summer. A recent trip to Crescent Lake park revealed two families, a muscovy duck family and a moorhen family. It's funny how opposite these babies look. The muscovy babies are so cute when they are babies. They look like wood ducks or mallards as babies. Unfortunately, when they grow up they become one of the least attractive ducks. Moorhens, on the other hand, start out as the funniest looking aliens. Once that red beaks comes in they become pretty. I know, all babies are cute.

Feeding time at the St. Pete Pier

Someone had dropped some crackers on the sidewalk leading to the St. Petersburg pier. I didn't see anyone do it but it must have happened right before I got there. A few laughing gulls were already there starting to eat. A few seconds later they all started to swoop in. A handful of brown cowbirds found the crackers as well. The bottom two pictures are of a mom cowbird feeding her baby crackers. That's really good nutrition for a growing bird. They should be filling up on bugs (Yum).

Wild parrots at Crescent Lake

There's a group of wild monk parrots living around the water tower at Crescent Lake Park. They have several nests built into the steps of the water tower like the above picture. There's a baseball field next to the tower and the parrots were hanging out on the fence behind home plate. It was obviously mating season. They were pairing up and preening each other. They were very loud birds. I'm sure the neighbors around that park get tired of hearing that squawking all day. They are beautiful birds though, and very animated. I just stood by the ball park fence for a while and watched them fly back and forth. Every once in a while they would look over at me but did not pay too much attention to me.

Baby geese all grown up

The first picture was taken back in April at Crescent Lake Park in St. Petersburg. There were 11 baby geese at the park during that time. I think I only got 9 in the first picture. They never seemed to stay in one place to get a picture of all 11. I went back last weekend for a walk around the lake and realized the baby geese had all grown up. They were in the same spot and pretty much stayed together. They are used to being fed and would walk up to anyone that walked off the trail and stopped for a few minutes. They were in the lake when I first saw them and swam towards me. They seemed to say "Do you think she has any food?" There are other geese there as well so the park is going to seem overrun with them.

Bunche Beach East

Until this past week, it had been a very long while since I visited the east channel that cuts its way from San Carlos Bay into the estuary at Bunche Beach Preserve.

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

I was well aware that my early morning visit, when I had the chance this week, would be at a very high tide which would make passing the channel impossible on foot as I was.

Even at a very low tide, the east channel is nearly chest deep in places if you choose to cross it, though gets shallower the further you go out into the bay.

The Willet above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

The approach to the channel was met with very still air and little bird activity.

The biting insects were at their worst after exiting the car a mile back and not bad compared to how they can be after sunset under certain conditions at the preserve.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

The water of San Carlos Bay was closer to the grass along the dune than I ever recall seeing it before.

Once at the channel, a Reddish Egret was seen in the company of a Willet feeding close to shore as the tide peaked when I took my first shots with the water three feet above mean sea level.

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

I had been forewarned by a weather forecast on the radio that this would be the hottest day of the 2010 summer.

There had been many other days already that were more uncomfortable due to higher humidity conditions while my morning through early afternoon visit to the preserve was comparably very pleasant.

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

A goal was to ensure that the shots I would take were level, without a need to rotate any shots in post processing, which was made possible by a bubble level in my tripod.

I initially made a great effort with this in mind by kicking the sand along the shore to a depth of a few inches where I was able to set one of the tripod's legs where it allowed me as low to the ground as possible without having to hold the camera.

The White Ibis above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

The water of the bay actually felt surprisingly cool as I entered it while planting myself down where I remained within a small radius for the next four and a half hours.

Photographs of birds, if they're not in flight typically, I find most appealing in an image from a low perspective while as close to their height as possible.

The Little Blue Heron juvenile above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

At about the time I saw evidence of clouds around 9:00am was when a strong and welcome breeze picked up from the east.

With the sun at my back, I simply waited for the action to happen.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

I have to admit that I would not have considered making this trip under the conditions of such a high tide if there wasn't the possibility of seeing the Black-necked Stilt for the first time.

Tom Obrock had told me that the species had been seen at the preserve about a month ago while he has noted seeing it more recently at the I-75 rest stop near the Fort Myers airport.

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

The stilt regrettably remains elusive to me after my most recent visit to Bunche Beach Preserve.

I did, however, see some surprisingly enjoyable action that I would never have expected.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

The conditions turned out to offer some of the most enjoyable and prolific wildlife observation I had yet to encounter in one day.

Shortly after a few wading species passed overhead, I decided to change my strategy and primarily focus my efforts on photographing birds in flight which I continue to struggle with successfully.

The Brown Pelican above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

I adjusted the camera's settings many dozens of times to compensate for the different species and the perspectives I had of them.

It was a treat of course to see species I hadn't observed in a long while and to photograph juveniles which should be expected this time of year.

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

This visit to the preserve was an opportunity for me to acquire a much better appreciation for the differences in shorebirds and improved identification of them.

Sandpipers, plovers and terns were abundant as the tide waned and the bay's flats were exposed offering the birds a resting and feeding opportunity.

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

My first few shots of the day were taken into the light.

I don't like shooting under those conditions as the results are often unreliable for an appealing image unless compensation is made diligently in the camera's settings or through flash which I chose not to use.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

In this most recent visit to Bunche Beach Preserve, I made my typical adjustments I do with the camera's exposure bias which was determined by the subjects that I thought warranted it.

The lower settings were used for the most part when I was photographing the Snowy Egret and other species seen in the surf with significant white in their appearance.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

The higher settings were used when I was photographing many birds in flight in the bright sky.

I've never trusted the camera to take an image with automatic settings and most often choose to make any inferior images with full accountability to myself.

The Bald Eagle above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

There were a few disputes of territory between a pair of Snowy Egrets and a pair of Tricolored Herons which occupied some of my observation time.

At one point I was surprised by a juvenile Snowy Egret having apparent dominance over an adult.

The "Great Getaway" above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

The Tricolored Heron juvenile was harassed by its elder when the younger bird got too close.

It was interesting to see the successful feeding by the birds with the Snowy Egret in particular making numerous stabs into the water which brought two fish at a time.

The Laughing Gull above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

It was on this trip that I made an observation, with the most confidence I've yet to have, of the Western Sandpiper.

I continue to struggle with the identification of these birds with subtle differences in their appearance.

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

I consider the highlight of the trip my sighting of the Bald Eagle which I observed at the preserve for the first time.

A fellow visitor of the preserve told me of a visit he made to Bowman's Beach on Sanibel Island in June of this year.

The Least Tern juvenile above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

He commented on his observation of Snowy Plover juveniles that ran into his shadow to escape the heat of the sun.

I also heard this week from American Birding Association member, Hemant Kishan, who told me of his "spectacular" observations last month at Estero Lagoon which included the sighting of a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron "hunting plover chicks as if they were crustaceans."

The Western Sandpiper above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

Thanks for that report, Hemant.

I also had an interesting visitor to my Pbase site that commented on images cryptically over a half dozen images which when strung together read . . . IN SEARCH OF PEACE AND LOVE, I AM EXPANDED TO PROTECT MY WORLD. PLEASE COME AND JOIN WITH ME, LET US TOUCH THE SKY & REACH THE HIGH. FLY BEYOND THE BONDAGE, FOR FOOD TO MY SOIL MOTHER, I MUST RETURN TO YOUR PLACID BREAST.

The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

Although I missed photographing a flyover of a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron as I wasn't prepared for it, I fortunately observed another of the species on the roadside while leaving the preserve which made up for the earlier loss.

I certainly won't consider a high tide visit to Bunche Beach Preserve any less than very favorable again.

The Osprey above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.

And I have to add that I'm very much looking forward to frequent trips to Bowman's Beach during the 2011 breeding season.

The inclination of Bowman's Beach appears very favorable for great light during morning or afternoon visits as is Bunche Beach.

The Black-crowned Night-Heron juvenile above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in July 2010.