Month: February 2012

Possum Branch Preserve

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography18 Comments

“Look at my big fish!”

Another view. I did not see him swallow this. He sat there for a few minutes and then flew off. I’m sure at some point he got it down.

The red winged blackbirds were being very noisy. I kept trying to tell them to be quiet so I could enjoy my morning. They would not listen.

Pied grebe floating close by. I have never noticed the black stripe on their beak before.

Sparrow – this is either a swamp, grasshopper or savannah. All of them were listed as being seen in this spot. The other birders there argued over which one it was. I’m thinking savannah since it looks like he has a little yellow around his head.

I turn around to start to leave and see a kildeer on the trail. I snapped the picture before he took off. When he took off, another one flew off with him.

Cute little Florida rat (alligator snack).

 

I thought I’d head back to Possum Branch to look for the green tailed towhee. I found him right after Christmas  but hadn’t been back to this little preserve since then. No sight of the towhee in the almost two hours I was there but I have read others have sighted him since then. That tiny little preserve on the corner of a very busy intersection is amazing. As soon as I walked in, I spot the great blue heron pulling something out of the water. I thought “This was totally worth stopping here even if I don’t see anything else.” There were sparrows flitting all around the bushes and lots of usual grackles and blackbirds. The canal that runs along the preserve had lesser scaup but they’ll be gone soon. I was surprised to see the kildeer there. I don’t see them often. I spotted 5 alligators in the two small ponds. Now I hear there’s a clapper rail there so another trip will be soon.

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Safety Harbor fishing pier – Skywatch Friday

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography12 Comments
Hardly anyone on the pier. It was such a beautiful day. Where was everyone?
The day started out cloudy. But then the sun started peeking out.
Such a perfect view!
Surprise! A rare horned grebe floats up to the pier.
The manatees are back early this year. They usually don't show up at this pier until late March. In the summer, you can always see manatees around the pier.
Hey lady, gimmi a kiss!
Safety Harbor, a small little part of the Tampa bay area, is one of my favorite pit stops. Actually, the fishing pier is. The town sits on the water in  the upper Tampa bay, north of all 3 bridges (Gandy, Howard Franklin and Courtney Campbell) that cross the bay from Pinellas County to Hillsborough County. Unless there is an event going on at the little marina, I can always find a good parking spot and it’s free. Most of the time there are pelicans and shorebirds flying around or digging around in the sand. In the warm months you can always see manatees swimming around the pier.  When the time changes and it’s light outside after work, I sometimes stop by for a quick walk along the pier just to de-stress.  Usually just to take a deep breath before heading to do battle at the grocery store. On a recent Saturday morning I stopped there on the way home from checking on the baby owls. It turned out to be a perfect morning.
 
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More of the baby owls

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments
"Oh look, that girl's back. How long is she gonna stand there and stare at us this time?"
“Moooom, I’m hungry.”
"Mom, I see you up there. Come down here and feed me."
"You birds be quiet down there. I'm napping."
"Everyone be quiet, Dad's napping as well."
“Maybe she can’t see us behind all this moss.”
A week later,  I paid another visit to the baby owls. I think they are 3-4 weeks old at this point. Now they are big enough that Mom doesn’t sit in the nest with them as much. She was sitting a couple of branches up from the nest. The babies could see her. It looked like they kept looking up at her. Dad was one tree over and up a little higher. Both parent slept the entire time I was there. Soon they’ll be outgrowing that nest spot and will be sitting on their own branches. I’m going to try and check back again in another week.

Owl babies

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments
"All these photographers staring at us is boring."
"Hey, is that one doing a dance?"
"Naw, he's just got ants in his pants."
"I'm going back to sleep." Maybe they'll all leave."
"You two stop making fun of all those people. They just think you're cute."

My 2nd baby sighting of the year is a pair of baby owls. (The first was baby night herons, story coming tomorrow). I think they’re about 3 weeks old at this point. There’s a small park not to far from my home and work that I hit pretty often. The first two spring seasons I was there, the owl had one baby. Then last spring the owls didn’t stay and nest so it was a let-down. Then I heard the owl couple was back.  Several weeks I visited and there was always an owl sitting on the old nest. I was holding my breath when I had read a baby had been born. I headed out a couple of days later and for two hours all I saw was a tiny bit of white fuzz from behind the parent.  This past Saturday, I headed out early and was hoping to see the baby. To my excitement, not only was the baby so big now he was highly visible, there were two of them. I don’t know if this is the same couple from the last couple of years. If so, why didn’t they nest last spring? And was this their first time having twins? Hopefully, I can get back there each weekend until they are all grown up. The last picture is of the other parent, who was sitting high in a tree close by.