Baby critter season was in full swing.

I made it back to the ruby throated hummingbird nest at Chesnut Park just in time to catch Mom feeding the little babies in early May. Zooming in with my 600mm lens I could see 2 tiny beaks peeking out over the top of the nest. Mom was feeding the one on the left in the 2nd shot.

This is an uncropped shot with my camera. The nest is across the river and up in a tree. I’m not sure who the first person was that found this nest. Talk about a needle in a haystack. I guess the hummingbird buzzed by them on the trail and they followed it with their eyes to the other side and saw it land.

I didn’t stay long at the nest.  Walking along the boardwalk I spotted the usual birds, a limpkin and a male anhinga drying off his wings.

There’s always a lot of baby moorhens in the spring.

I was able to find the green frogs again since they were spending time near the small dock. An alligator was close by the frogs.

I ran into some friends on the back boardwalk and we were talking about how the 2nd raccoon family had moved from their original tree. I had not seen them yet and thought I would miss them.  As we were looking around for the owl we saw this baby raccoon stick his head out of a hole. I took the above with my phone.

The Mom had moved her 3 babies to a tree farther down the boardwalk. We only got a look at the one baby but could hear some noises coming from the tree. I heard a few weeks later the family was seen moving around the area, the babies all grown up.

A doe was watching us take pictures of the raccoon.

Looking up at the trees I could see the sun was up high and it was time to go home.

When I got back to my car the above were feeding right in front of the parking area.

Saturday's Critters

A two nest morning

I did not find this ruby throated hummingbird nest on my own. It became a well known nest once it was spotted and at first I heard there were tons of people there to get shots of it so I waited several weeks before going.

I took the above with my phone. The nest was off the trail and across the wide creek. It’s in the red star area. I brought my heavy 600mm lens and the first shot is heavily cropped. There had been several hummingbirds buzzing around the area and I guess some people watched them fly across the creek to the nest.

Just down from the hummingbird nest was a raccoon nest. This nest was easy to spot. The tree was almost up against the boardwalk and Mom would sleep hanging out of the hole as her babies got bigger.

I heard there were 3 babies in that hole but after waiting over an hour I only got a quick glimpse of one baby when Mom was moving around.

Mom came back outside the hole and entertained us for a few minutes before going back to sleep.

I made a quick lap around the park before leaving and saw one of the eagles in the usual spots.

Wading critters near the dock.

Saturday's Critters

 

The black masked bandits

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I know, raccoons are really just big rats with a black mask, but they are so cute. The babies are curious and always have an inquisitive look on their faces. On the weekend after Thanksgiving, I made my annual hike at Circle B Bar Reserve. Half way down the trail, I saw a mom with 3 little babies. They were right on the edge of the trail. Several people were standing back watching them. The babies were a little shy and stayed close mom. After a few minutes, the family headed off the trail and went on their way.

Saturday's Critters