Great Egret Hunting

I rarely see great egrets hunting in trees but this one was actively after something.  He made a couple of attempts but failed to catch anything.  I never saw what he was after.  I took this shot at Mt Dora on the Palm Island Boardwalk.  This is a great location for birds, gators and snakes.

                        

Great Blue Heron

This GBH was actively hunting in this rapidly moving water.  These are very common birds here in central Florida but I never tire of watching and photographing them.  They are amazingly tolerant of people although I still exercise care not to cause them to give up their feeding and take flight.  I was out trying out my "new" lens.  I picked up a mint Nikon 70-300mm ED on ebay for $60.00.  It's amazing the deals you can find.  I previously bought a Nikon D1H for under $100.00 and this now gives me an outfit that I don't mind taking into the swamps and wetlands.

Sanibel Light and Osprey

Sanibel is one of my favorite destinations.  The point where the lighthouse sits is a great birdwatching site.  The Ospreys use these snags as perches and there are egrets, herons and Pileated Woodpeckers in the palms.

Clouds and boats

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all!

Snowy Egret Portrait

Another shot of a snowy egret taken at Ponce Inlet in Volusia County.  These birds hang out by the jetty and are very accustomed to people, especially the fisherman that give them handouts.  It's a photographer's paradise although it seems a little too easy to get close to these birds.  If you are at all interested in the technical aspects of photography I'll share with you the fact that this photo was taken with a Nikon D1H with all of 2.7 megapixels.  I never got on the more pixels are better train and just concentrate on focus, camera stability, low noise and getting in close to the subjects. 

Water Lily

Somehow I've managed to miss going to St Petersburg's Sunken Gardens until today.  What a great place to visit, even a couple of days before the onset of a Florida winter.  It was about 80 degrees with a mild breeze blowing.  I took this shot of a water lily in moving water.  That's usually a recipe for a blurred water lily.  I tried to time the swaying of the lily to get the shot when it reached one extreme of it's travel and paused before moving back in the opposite direction.  I kept the shutter speed just low enough to get a sense of motion in the water.  I like the result.

Green Tree Frog

The mosquitos were terrible by the edge of the swamp where I took this photo.  This green tree frog did his best but couldn't make a dent in the population.  I tried and tried to get a photo of an actual catch but the frog is too fast and I'm too slow. 

Female Eastern Bluebird

This shot was taken during the same time period as my previous post.  The female is actively working on the nest.  The male is also bringing material but I'm sure that she has the final say in arrangement and determining when it's finished.  I find these cedar nest boxes that are sold at one of the big box building supply stores for around $11.00 work great.  I mount them to a length of aluminum conduit with a length of re-bar inside it.  I usually use a 10 foot length and drive about 4 feet into the ground.  They last for years and hold up well during hurricanes.  I wipe a few inches of vaseline on the conduit to prevent ants from accessing the nest.  I don't use snake guards because, even though I have some around here, I've never had a problem with them.  Maybe snakes don't or can't climb the aluminum tube.  I also leave about 30 feet of open area in front of the box because that's the way the birds want it.  Finally, if you keep your property mowed during the summer months it greatly improves these birds ability to hunt.  They do come to my birdbaths although not as frequently as many of the other species around here.   If you provide the food, water and shelter the bluebirds will almost always find you.

Female Eastern Bluebird

This female bluebird was drawn to the nest by the male.  Apparently she liked it because nest building quickly followed.  We moved to our current home about 12 years ago and started with a single nest box that was inhabited within a few days.  Since then we have added boxes and have seen multiple succesful nestings every year.  We have even had one of the bluebird boxes modified by a red bellied woodpecker for their nesting purposes. 

5 lined Skink

These are amazingly fast little guys.  This one was running full steam and suddenly stopped and posed for me.  I took this in the Ocala National Forest.  The young ones have a beautiful cobalt blue tail so I think this is an adult female.  The males will tolerate females and young skinks in their territory but actively defend it from other adult males.  I remember catching these as a kid but those days are long gone.

White Morph Reddish Egret

I've only seen a few of these birds.  This shot was taken at Ft Desoto on the north shore of Tampa Bay.  This bird was taking a short break from it's characteristic racing around the shallows with it's wings spread hunting for lunch behavior.  I don't know what this pause was for but it only lasted a few seconds.

 

Juvenile Cardinal

Cardinals are frequent visitors to the garden.  This one is very young and was following mom to one of our feeders. 

Going after the big ones

This egret appears to be getting serious about fishing.  Taken on the commercial docks in Cortez, FL.

White Pelicans

My wife and I had a great time in Cortez, FL and Anna Maria Island today.  These white pelicans have just recently returned to Florida from their summer homes in the upper midwest.  The brown pelicans are most likely year around residents.  Cortez is an interesting town in that it is one of the last remaining commercial fishing villages in Florida.  Working boats are visible everywhere you look.  We enjoyed a great 2 hour boat tour of Anna Maria sound, Longboat pass, and a short excursion into the Gulf of Mexico aboard Captain Mark's pontoon boat.  I highly recommend him, he is very knowledgeable of the area, the wildlife and the fishing industry.  The nice thing is he doesn't feel the need to be a tour guide for the entire cruise which greatly enhanced my enjoyment.

Snowy Egrets

I was at New Smyrna Beach, Florida a few days ago.  It was a very cool and windy day and the egrets were more subdued than usual.  The area on the south bank of the Halifax River near the breakwater always has a number of these birds along with a healthy population of ruddy turnstones.  Ospreys are very common as well and almost always are putting on a show of diving into the inlet for fish.

Great Blue Heron

This GBH took a dunking in a valiant effort to capture lunch.  The fish got away, the bird got soaked and seemingly chagrined that I captured it for posterity.  A small frog paid the price a few moments later.  I missed that one.

Ringbilled gulls

The ring billed gulls have taken over this boat.  The photo was taken at Sumter Landing in The Villages which is a retirement community located in central Florida.  There are pockets of good birding areas left within the area.