Variety at Kapok Park

Glossy ibis yawning.

Hawk hiding in a tree.

You can always count on an anhinga sitting in a park.

Cowbird in a small tree.

Two juvenile moorhens heading towards me.

Juvenile moorhens hanging together.

I stopped by Kapok Park after work in between the rain storms last week. I didn't think I'd see much there but I did manage to find a few birds. The glossy ibis was a nice surprise. I have never seen them there before. There were several moorhen families with juveniles together. I didn't see very many ducks and the park is usually filled with them. I saw the hawk for about a second and then it flew off and headed out of the park. I looked for the great horned owls but could not find them. Hopefully they'll be back soon and we'll have another baby this winter.

Dancing reddish egret

The reddish egrets have got to be one of the most animated birds there are. And the one above has got to be one of the most photographed at Fort Desoto. The north beach marsh at Fort Desoto was at low tide. I walked up and sat down on the sand and watched this egret for at least half an hour. He kept jumping around back and forth. He looked like he would take off and then stick his head under the water and come up with a fish. They lift their wings up to shade the water so they can see the fish better. They do it so gracefully. This one kept sort of half flying around. He almost seemed to be performing for me. He was also eating quite a bit of fish. He slowed down after a while and stopped to preen. I headed down the beach to find my hubby.

The Makeup Of Bands

I was fascinated to learn more this week about a Piping Plover observed on 6 August 2010 than I would have ever imagined.

The Piping Plover above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2010.

The plover most recently observed at Bunche Beach Preserve had four bands and a flag on its legs.

The reporting of this bird that Tom Obrock had observed five days later we believe to represent the same bird with his documentation seen here.

The Piping Plover above was photographed at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2010.

An email reply to Tom's report sent to him and myself follows . . .

Thank you for the report and photograph. The green flag on the upper left leg is a regional marker for piping plovers banded on the Missouri River below Gavins Point Dam. Gavins Point Dam is located on the northeast Nebraska - southeast South Dakota about 5 miles upriver from Yankton SD. The plover was banded by researchers from Virginia Tech who are studying piping plover use of sandbars constructed by the Corps of Engineers to provide nesting habitat for piping plovers and least terns on the Missouri. I will forward your report to the VPI researchers and they should be able to provide you with additional information as to when and where the plover was banded. Thanks again. It is nice to know that one of our plovers has already made it back to the wintering grounds.

Greg Pavelka
Wildlife Biologist
US Army Corps of Engineers

Another exciting observation of a banded Piping Plover again made at Bunche Beach Preserve, 5 November 2008, led to my discovery that the bird had been flagged in Argentina and was handled and banded in Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, Suriname, and possibly in the United States.

This plover also had a metal band placed on the upper right leg which remains a mystery without closer observation and better understanding of it.

A great resource for a basic understanding of bands and flags and what they represent may be seen here.

Be sure to report your finding of banded birds.

Please don't hesitate to recommend your favorite website resource to do this.

Skywatch Friday - Fort Desoto beach

Beautiful sea oats at Fort Desoto beach. This was taken 2 weekends ago. I think it might have been the last time I saw blue sky and the sun. It's been raining almost every day since.



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

Another trip to my favorite place, Fort Desoto. It was very hot and there were hardly any shorebirds around. I only had my small point and shoot in the beach bag so I didn't take a lot of pictures. Hubby and I were sitting in our beach chairs and a ranger pulls up in a truck near us and starts to rope off the above turtle nest site. I was tempted to run over and ask him how he knew there was a turtle nest there. It was in the middle of a row of sand dunes. I guess early that morning someone noticed a turtle track leading there and notified them. I stopped and took a picture as we were leaving. The little grasshopper was sitting close by.

Wordless Wednesday

Tiger Swallowtail on sunflower.

Get wordless at Wordless Wednesday

Frigatebirds near Fort Desoto

Before you drive into Fort Desoto you pass several ponds. The above were flying high over the ponds recently. My husband calls frigate birds "the mean birds" because they steal food from other seabirds as they are flying in mid air. They also steal baby chicks from the nest to eat. They do not swim and cannot walk well so they rely on other birds for food. The only place I've seen them in the wild is at Fort Desoto and only recently. Last summer we saw a few flying high up in the sky. Last weekend there were 40-50 of them soaring over the ponds. There's almost always someone on the side of the road taking pictures of them.

The first picture is of a male who is all black and has a orange pouch under his beak that turns red and puffs out when he is mating. The ones with the white are females. There seemed to be more females than males flying around. Maybe the males where somewhere else watching a baseball game.

Hot night at Lake Seminole Park

The usual dragonfly.


Great egret posing. He must be used to all of the people at the park. He didn't even flinch when I stopped to take his picture.

Tri color heron landing in the reeds. Taken into the sun right before sunset.

Great egret flying across the lake.

Juvenile moorhen screaming for a snack. I love their big yellow feet.

A large group of ducks waiting for a handout. The stick in the upper middle is a big sign that says "Do not feed the wildlife, including ducks." People ignore it. There's a spot at the lake near a small parking lot that the ducks congregate at. People park there and feed the ducks. The ducks are very aggressive and will charge at your ankles if you don't feed them.

I stopped off at Lake Seminole Park one day last week to check on the limpkin nest. I had been there 2 weeks before and there were several eggs in a nest built on a shallow section of the lake. I wanted to see if the eggs had hatched. Since it had been raining every day for a week the nest was under 2 feet of water. I couldn't see from the boardwalk if the eggs were still there so I don't know if they had already hatched and the family had moved on. I didn't see any limpkins on that end of the lake which is unusual. Sad, hot and depressed I started the walk back to my car. I was thinking I wouldn't find any birds around but I did manage to see a few before I left.

Shorebirds on the causeway

Young royal tern making a racket.

First year least tern that's been banded. I couldn't see the numbers on these bands.

Another least tern with only one band.

Marbled godwit.

Cute little plover.

The Courtney Campbell Causeway is starting to get an influx of different shorebirds. I stopped by there after work one day last week when it was about to rain so there wasn't too many people on the small beach on the Clearwater side. Lots of young birds there that aren't in full adult colors yet. The least tern's beak will turn yellow after it's first year. Migration season is starting so I'm going to try and hit this little beach and Gandy beach after work for the next couple of weeks to see if I can find some different birds. I heard common terns and gull-billed terns hanging around so I'm going to try and find them.

Black terns in the Tampa bay area.

Last week I saw my first black tern. I had read on Pinellasbirds.com that there were hundreds on the Gandy beach as well as some on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. I wasn't able to get there until a few days later. There were about 20 hanging around with other gulls and terns. I missed the big migration of hundreds but it was neat to see a few of them. Only a few were still all black in breeding colors (1st picture). The rest were now in non-breeding colors with a lot of white on the head and chest. Apparently they migrate through area. I've never seen them on the gulf beaches before. It's weird that they would pick an intown area to stop and rest.

Feature: Babcock/Webb WMA

If you're looking for a very rewarding wildlife experience away from the beaches in southwest Florida, the 80,335-acre Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area, a stop along the Great Florida Birding Trail, is a must see venue.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

I made my mid-August 2010 and first arrival at the Red-cockaded Woodpecker colony on "north" Oilwell Grade at sunrise as recommended by my friend, Tom Obrock.

The colony's site and others within the BWWMA are easily identified by "RCW" signs along the roads and by white paint around the pines the woodpeckers nest in.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

It was hoped to observe and photograph the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker whose range once extended into the states of New Jersey, Maryland, and Missouri, but no longer, with the woodpecker's population estimated to be a mere one percent of its original size.

I was rewarded with the sighting of several of the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, though was only able to photograph the closest, which allowed a view of its banding as it made the interesting behavior of leaving its nest cavity to peck at an adjacent pine tree very briefly before moving on.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

At this spot I would observe in the next couple of hours four species of bird I had never seen before including Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Meadowlark, and Eastern Towhee.

Also seen were Loggerhead Shrike, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and an overflight of Sandhill Crane with the bird checklist for this venue viewable here.

The Loggerhead Shrike above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

In addition, I heard a yet to be seen Northern Bobwhite which there were two of or a solitary bird that made its way south by a couple hundred yards on the west side of Oilwell Grade.

I would spend the next two and a half hours exploring other areas of the Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA while driving along Tram Grade and a side spur where I observed Northern Cardinal, Pine Warbler and an unidentified species of bird.

The Northern Flicker above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

"South" Oilwell Grade offered another unidentified species of bird that was in the middle of the road on my approach to its dead end and then in the same spot upon my return to Tucker Grade and then Webb Lake Road.

Webb Lake Road offers a wonderfully scenic view of Webb Lake with interpretive signs that highlight the WMA.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

At the end of Webb Lake Road I am quite confident I observed briefly, while regrettably wasn't able to photograph, an Orchard Oriole seen for the first time (chestnut belly, black head, back and tail feathers and appropriately sized for the species) as it worked its way north within the shrubbery at the edge of the lake, with this migratory species not on the WMA's bird checklist.

Also along Webb Lake Road I observed an Osprey and Great Blue Heron, both noticeably larger than any I've seen at beach venues.

The Eastern Towhee (Red-eyed) juvenile above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

Other species of bird observed at the lake included Tricolored Heron as well as an adult Little Blue Heron with juvenile.

There weren't any waterfowl observed on the lake that has possibilities of a dozen known species during this initial visit to BWWMA.

The Eastern Meadowlark above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area permits periodic hunts and therefore should be investigated in advance here to ensure the area is avoided if visiting for other purposes.

There are other recreational opportunities including fishing, hiking, biking, kayaking, horseback riding, and camping.

The Eastern Kingbird above was photographed at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in August 2010.

A guided tram tour of portions of the wildlife area is also available at certain times.

Skywatch Friday - Storm on the way

This has been the view on the way home from work for a while. It's either raining or about to rain. I pulled onto the access road on the causeway to take the picture of the rainbow. As I was snapping I stopped to chimp (yes, check to see if my pictures looked okay). I noticed the below great blue heron in front of me in the water. It looked like he had something in his mouth. I only had my small point and shoot with me so I couldn't zoom in to closely. It looks like some type of shrimp.

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