Checking out Paynes Prarie Preserve SP

Glossy Ibis with red breeding coloring

Come  a little closer, you'll get a gooood picture

Green frog was on this snowy egret's lunch menu

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We headed west on Saturday to an area we haven't explored before...Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.  The  22,000 acre preserve is located in Micanopy just south of Gainesville.  The main visitors area is nice, but we were interested in the La Chua trail, a 3-mile round trip walk.  A large sign warned that there were lots of alligators.  It was right.  And plenty of birds.
     On the way home, Lydia's internal GPS led us to Gainesville and Trader Joe's Market.  This West Coast business is heading East and definitely worth a stop.  There were lots of things you don't find in a regular supermarket or Whole Foods stores.  We headed out with some french roast coffee, avacados, and sweet potato chips in case we got the munchies during out 100-mile trip back home.

Face off

Mom to youngster: "No!  You cannot go hang out at the dump.

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - It's about time for the kids to leave home.  Mom may be looking forard to that...and the migration back north.

Egrets hanging out

Reddish Egret wading

Snowy Egret on the wing with green eye shadow  (the lores coloring denotes breeding time)

Sunbeam kitty

The Queen

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Sometimes we nearly forget about the royalty in the household.  Not to worry. The Queen has perfected mournful wailing designed to give her parents a guilty conscience. But mainly to see if she can get an extra ration of kitty treats.

Pale rose-colored reflection

Damn, I look good

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We headed south to Titusville early this morning to see if many of our feathered visitors had left.  It appears that vacation time is over for most of the birds who had headed South for the winter.  But not all.  This Roseate Spoonbill was eiher admiring his/her reflection or practicing some form of avian martial arts pose.
     Surprisingly,  it was a record day for seeing bald eagles.  We spotted FIVE in different locations so that could mean five different raptors or that a couple of them were wandering quite far.  As context, even in Alaska I do not remember seeing five eagles in one day.

ON GUARD

Always vigilant ... despite the Sequester

Going airborne

And a' one

and a' two

almost there

CRESCENT BEACH, FL - - Once airborne, the Eastern Brown Pelican, likes to 'float' on the wind and glide just above the water.  However getting airborne requires some fancy footwork to get the (average) 8-10 lbs. bird with the nearly 7' wingspan into the air.

Washington Oaks Gardens SP color

Morning glory

Orange blossom nectar for breakfast

Sunny Azalea blossoms

A small waterfall

Palm Coast, FL - - Saturday morning views of Washington Oaks Gardens (Florid) State Park

Grumpy

Hey!  You'd look grumpy too if you had three noisy kids to take care of.

Air show

Dad makes flying look so easy

Sometimes after watching the kids I just want to take off

Click on the photo.  Look just above the right ankle to see the bird has been banded.

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We were alerted to an eagle's nest with 3 youngsters in it just 3 miles from home.  Our local newspaper published photos of the family so we decided to go take a look. Friday morning there were only two other photographers on site so we got a good view of the family - - although for me it seemed I was never looking when all three turned our way.  Two our of three kids isn't bad and, fortunately, "Pop" decided to go soaring after we had been watching for over an hour.

Now where did that grocery cart go??

Still life..with grocery cart

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Hey, Winn Dixie.

Kingfisher

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We're always on the look out for a chance to photograph a Kingfisher.  Why?  Because these birds never seem to land in one place for more than a few seconds.  And when they fly off, they fly away from us.  This Kingfisher was apparently spooked by Lydia, but flew in my direction.  Gotcha'

Gotcha

An Osprey makes its meal selection from the buffet

...and shakes the water from its wings and body

...turns toward safety

and speeds off to find a safe place to enjoy the freshly caught meal

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - On the return run from a weekend trip to St. Augustine, we stopped at Bing's Landing.  This a Flagler County (Park) favorite with fishermen which has a boat put-in and a recently opened BBQ / bait shop combo.  The outside dining area of the BBQ  offers a good view of the river activity and good food making the stop worthwhile.
     As I was wandering around on one of the fishing piers, I spotted an osprey circling  and looking for fish swimming near the surface.  Good eyesight and a blitz dive netted the raptor in the four photos above a (small) meal.

New gang in town

Hooded Merganser playing  submarine

Great Egret reflecting  Click on the photo and look closely to the left of the heron's back at the five mergansers in a feeding frenzy

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We seldom see a merganser at nearby Sunrise Park, let alone five of them (3 male / 2 female).  Maybe they will hang around a week or two.

Contrast

I wish I had a cool black-and-white suit.

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Checking back through the gallery of our final morning at Merritt Island NWR, I spotted a stylish newcomer to my collection.   The American Avocet sports nifty black-and-white coloring for their winter wear.  Meanwhile, the American Coot looks a bit drab year-round.  The Avocet's needle-style beak makes them appear like hummingbirds on steroids.

Express mealtime

Black Skimmer skimming...

...and skimming

...and skimming

TITUSVILLE, FL - - Today was 'check out' a couple of new places in Merritt Island NWR.  East Gator Rd, a twisty and narrow one lane-plus marl track out among the mangroves, didn't produce any gators.  We didn't really expect any despite the colorful name.  We also didn't expect to come upon a Black Skimmer working on his breakfast.  Neither did we expect him to zip in front of us in one direction and then the other, over and overt again.   But he did.  These three photos are representative of the activity.  There was never any indication whether or not he ever got anything to eat. 
     Click on any photo for a larger view.  Check out Lydia's FlickR account via the link elsewhere on my blog.

YUK!!!

Hey!!  Who put that worm in my breakfast cereal??

Osprey attitude

Osprey are very good at watching...

...And leaving just as you are ready to make them a star.

Sometimes, they even return just to spite you.

TITUSVILLE, FL - - Usually, in this game of 'seek and fly'  it's the osprey who wins.  This time I got lucky. Click on the first picture to see the shots in large format.

New arrivals

Bald Eagle

Male Anhinga...with breeding eyeshadow color

Mr. Hooded Merganser

Limpkin under cover

TITUSVILLE, FL - - The annual Space Coast birding and wildlife festival is on in Titusville so we've headed our for two days of chasing birds.  Usually we get rewarded with a few new arrivals when we visit the Viera Wetlands.  This trip proved no different,  although the eagle, perched and posing,  is an exception as they usually do a high altitude fly-by and disappear.

Dead 'possum on the sidewalk

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - It's a cool, gray day in OB.  The light is bad, there's a slight  wind and the birds are hiding anyway.  However, there was activity in our backyard. 
     For no real reason, I took a look out a back window at our sidewalk.  I saw birds congregating and not the type I expect to see or want to see.  A black vulture and a turkey vulture were checking out something on the sidewalk.  The last thing you want is for vultures to think your house/back or front yard is a gathering place.
     I went our into our Florida room to check on what might be the attraction.  I smelled it before I saw it...a dead' possum lying on its back with its guts spilling out.  The scavengers left when they heard me.
     So, plan A:  scoop it up with a shovel, bag it and drop it in our trash can to await Thursday removal.  Or, plan B:  dig a hole and bury it.  Plan A seemed the best choice. While I was scooping and bagging their intended meal at least six large birds circled in the vicinity.  The 'feathered telegraph' works very well.

A place in the sun

A PLACE IN THE SUN TO REFLECT

TO GROW

TO DEBATE

TO HANG OUT AT LOW TIDE

TO CHASE THE NEXT MEAL

Waiting, floating and flying

A Northern Pintail (duck) family hanging out in Merrit Island NWR

Pied-billed Grebe blending in.  Lake Woodruff WR

  Red-shouldered Hawk. On the wing in Lake Woodruff WR

Flight time

Lift-off

Coming in for a landing

Oops!!

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Our first 2013 trip to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge offered us plenty of roseate spoonbill action.  The 'bills and their cousin the ibis were working hard at finding lunch in a coastal swamp alongside Bio Lab Road.  We spent the first 2-miles of the 3+ mile drive watching the frequent activity of osprey and great blue heron.  Then, we hit a marshy area and a large group of 'bills, ibis, wood storks and a few egret sucking up mud bugs and whatever else tastes good.  All was well until a noise spooked the group and madcap flight ensued.

Dead squirrel in the middle of the lawn

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Not too much happening in OB.  But once in a while we get a bit of excitement.  We have lots of squirrels in the neighborhood. The gang seems to play tag, zip up trees and limbs and tightrope walk across all sorts of overhead wires.  
     It was misty this morning.  Rocky (named after a famous Saturday morning cartoon character) was zipping along and (apparently) decided to jump to another wire...which he/they do all the time.  Of course, you want to make sure you don't touch both wires at the same time or...ZAP.  One moment you're a high wire artist thinking about all the nuts you've got stored up and the next you're toast....literally.
   We were surfing the 'net when Lydia heard what sounded like like a transformer blowing just as the lights went out.  This has happened enough times that we know the location of the culprit.  This time, though, I didn't have to walk far as a neighbor was standing outside her house talking to another neighbor about the body in the grass.  Case solved.  And the Florida Power & Light crew were nice enough to remove the scorched critter after they finished repairs.