Looking high up – Skywatch Friday

On January 8, 2015December 30, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography15 Comments

The great blue heron couple are already on the nest. She must be on eggs since there is now always one of them sitting on the nest. This was early December so we should be able to see any babies by mid-January. Last year they had two babies but only one survived.

After a while, she stood up to stretch.

She’s either turning over the eggs or fixing that stick that was poking her.

I found an eagle preening himself high up in the tree.

Through the moss, he stayed there for a while and then flew off.

While I was watching the great blue heron nest, the eagle flew back with something in his talons.

He was heading for a nest with some padding.

Later I saw this bird flying high up. It’s not a red shoulder hawk or a cooper’s hawk. It looks like a northern harrier from my Stokes Birding guide. If so, it’s a first for me. Or he could be a merlin. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Another angle. He took off and this was the last shot I got.

Another beautiful morning at Circle B Bar Reserve.

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My first pintail

On January 7, 2015December 30, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I had read there was a Northern pintail floating around a small pond near my office. I had to wait until the weekend to get there since I was working late that week. The pond sits in front of a church. I pulled in and thought “I’ll need to walk around the pond and still probably not find it.” Sometimes you get lucky. I walked a few feet from my car and there was the pintail. There were two of them there. They were dubbed Mary and Joseph at first but then the female was thought to be a juvenile male so it was a male and his son? One of them stayed hiding under a tree and the other one started floating around the pond and showing off. I snapped a few shots and left but not before shooting the usual “Take my picture too” mallard that came by.

Backyard in November

On January 5, 2015January 6, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

An ibis sits on our dock.

We see the hooded merganser couple almost every day. Most of the time they stay in the middle of the channel but occasionally I’ll peak out the window and they are right in front of our dock.

I was out in the backyard taking this picture. He was keeping an eye on me. If I took one step more away from the house, he would have gone swimming down the channel.

The neighborhood osprey tugging on his fish.

He would take a bite and then look around, repeating this the entire time he was eating.

The house sparrows were already fixing up the nest in our dock.

Taken through the bedroom window, the neighborhood kingfisher was watching me as he was trying to gulp down his fish.

Blooms in the yard in November.

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The famous but still alive scarred oystercatcher

On January 4, 2015December 30, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I was standing on the beach in mid-December when I saw this oystercatcher fly right in front of me.

He was coming in for a landing on the beach.

Screaming the entire time.

I think he was just yelling for his mate to come over and join him.

He was looking for a good spot to look for food.

Which happened to be right in front of me so I sat down on the sand and watched for a few minutes.

He was picking through the seaweed and shells on the beach. I noticed the ring around his leg.

Back in April 2013, this oystercatcher had fishing line wrapped around his leg. The leg was swollen and it took several days for the rangers to catch him and take the line off. He would have lost that leg or worse if he hadn’t been caught in time. He still has the scar and is easy to spot if you can see his leg. He still shows up occasionally with his mate.

Such a beautiful bird.

His mate was keeping an eye on me.

I sat for while and watched them look for food. They slowly made their way down the beach and I left. I’ll always be on the look out for him.

Looking for a bird at Fort DeSoto – Skywatch Friday

On January 1, 2015December 27, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography14 Comments

Not the bird I was looking for. This osprey right next to the boat ramp did not want me to steal his fish.

This could have been the bird I was looking for but as he got closer I realized it wasn’t a great cormorant but just an ordinary double crested cormorant. This one flew over my head and was full of fishing wire.

Downtown St. Petersburg from the boat ramp.

Still not the bird I was looking for, this spotted sandpiper was trying to hide in the weeds that had floated up on the beach.

No great cormorant on this side of the park. Only shorebirds and gulls.

Maybe he hitched a ride on one of these boats.

Back in mid-December I had heard there was a rare great cormorant hanging around the boat ramp at Fort Desoto. This would have been a first for me so I finally made it down to the park after work on the night before Thanksgiving. It had been raining for days and it was nice to see blue skies again. This was my first of 3 trips looking for this silly bird with no luck. Hopefully he will show up when I least expect it.

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