Birds and other things at Circle B Bar Reserve

My first bittern. Yea, I scratched this one off my list. But really, these pictures aren't too great. It was too close to the trail and didn't move for a half hour.

The bittern finally started creeping around under the brush.

This woodpecker was screaming to have his picture taken.

Lazy limpkins hanging around the booms in the lake.

Some type of water snake that had just crawled out of the lake.

There was a raccoon family high up in a tree. My thanks to Philip (one of the semi-regulars to the park) for spotting these guys. He sees everything.

These blue winged teals were too cute. They would bob under the water at the same time.

My New Year's Eve trip to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland was pretty productive. I finally saw my first bittern. It almost looks like a green heron but without the pretty colors that the green heron has. They blend in well with the dead reeds in the marsh. I might have just walked right by him if a group hadn't already been standing there watching him. It's amazing the amount of limpkins there. They were everywhere.

I am disappointed about Bubba though. One of the park's largest alligators, who lived in the main pond at the big intersection of trails, was relocated. I'm not sure if it was out of the park or a different section of the park. She was very visible in her spot and would lay right on the edge of the trail. The section was roped off and there were big warning signs not to bother the alligators but apparently some kids were seen throwing rocks at her so the park moved her. She was a little too close but I liked to see her laying there on my visits.

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Baby snake on our front porch.

Brett & I got back from a long weekend trip this week and found the above in our screened-in front porch. He was very tiny. I figured it was a baby but wasn't sure what kind. We had a black racer living under our shed for about 2 years but he's been missing for over a year now. I tried to look up snakes but this one didn't look like anything I could find. I posted the picture on flickr and was told it was a baby black racer. I guess snakes are like some birds, they look nothing like their parents when they are little. With the red and grey markings, I thought it would have been a poisonous snake. Glad it's not. If he sticks around we'll have to name him. The black racers don't turn black until later and lose the pretty color they have as babies.

Circle B Bar Part 4 - other animals

There were turtles everywhere.


Black racer on the trail.

Smaller alligator on the trail.

The big one in the bird pod.

The big one up close.

There are lots of other animals at Circle B besides birds and ducks. Sunday I saw at least 10 alligators. Turtles were everywhere in the water. Several people reported raccoons there on Sunday. I've also heard about many other animals that are there but I haven't seen yet: otters, raccoons, foxes and wild pigs. The wild pigs come out on the trail when it gets dark. A group of 10 wild pigs were sited recently by someone taking sunset pictures there.

Kapok Park - no birds

I stopped by Kapok Park on my way home from work tonight. It looked like it was going to rain during the afternoon but the sun came out right as I was leaving work. Not much there in the way of birds. They must have all gotten the memo "It's hot, go north" Even the limpkins which have always been there were not around.

Lots of other animals though. Baby snake and dragonflies. The lake is always full of turtles though I did not see the large snapping turtle that is usually hanging around the boardwalk. There were strange fish skimming the top of the plants in the water. Not sure what they are but Brett thinks they may be carp. Any id would be great.