Tag: coot

A morning walk at Chesnut Park

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In mid-April I was out for a walk at Chesnut Park early in the morning. I parked my car and was walking towards the trail and these two ladies came cruising over the bridge and onto the trail I was heading for. I followed them to the boardwalk and they went into the woods.

I saw 2 young barred owls sitting in the same tree. The one on the far left kept his back to me the entire time. The one on the right was leaning over, almost upside down. I think that was how he was sleeping. I’m not sure how comfortable that is.

Mom was sleeping in a nearby tree.

A wintering coot that hadn’t left yet was eating some grass from the lake.

Looking out on one of the docks I caught sight of two baby wood ducks. They were swimming quickly towards the reeds.

Then I realized there was a family of wood ducks up against the reeds. They floated just outside the reeds for a while and then headed back into hiding.

The above was taken with my phone. This is where the baby ducks were hiding.

Tree swallows were flying around overhead.

A grackle was yelling at something, something they do often.

Dragonflies were everywhere.

The lake was calm and quiet.

Saturday's Critters

 

Looking for a distinguished gentleman

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

All of the usual winter ducks were still at Lake Belleview in Clearwater when I got to the lake in late March. It’s a small lake in the middle of a busy section of Clearwater. I don’t get here often and I’m always amazed at the variety of birds and ducks that hang out here in the winter. Out in the middle of the lake I could see redheads and coots swimming together. I was looking for the rare northern pintail duck that has been spotted here for a few weeks now.

As I walked around the lake I found a few redheads sleeping along the bank and on the water all under a big shade tree (the female is all brown, only the male has the red head).

I was watching the redhead floating around when I noticed the pintail swimming by so I found him pretty quickly.

I’ve only seen a pintail once, in late 2014, in St. Pete. He’s a beautiful duck and looks very distinguished. They breed in the most northern part of the US and mostly in Canada. They do migrate south for the winter into Florida but this is only the 2nd time I’ve heard of one being in our area. He stayed under the shade of the big tree the entire time I was there.

The usual moorhens were also there.

A few flybys included a great blue heron and a great egret.

One last snap before heading home. He was still hanging around at the end of May so I’m hoping he is okay.

Saturday's Critters

Winter ducks and a new bird

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

It was the week of Christmas and I was out for a walk at Roosevelt Wetlands. I wasn’t expecting to see too much. Fall migration was mostly over and the winter ducks may not have arrived yet but you never know. I first saw a coot. They look like common moorhens but they have a white beak instead of a red one. They are only visiting for the winter.

I found a lone female northern shoveler hanging out with some blue-winged teals.

The ring-neck ducks are common here in the winter and are a tight group.

Monarchs can be found here all year round.

A surprise painted bunting was hanging out by the back fence. This was the first time I have seen one at this park. He was shy and stayed hidden in the bushes most of the time I was there.

A yellow-rumped warbler was getting a snack.

Walking to the other end of the wetlands, just me and my shadow.

As I walked back towards my car the infamous male northern harrier flies right over me head. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t see him on this visit.

All of a sudden another bird flies toward him.  At first I thought it was a kestrel that had been flying by earlier.

When they passed each other I realized the other bird was a sharp-shinned hawk. They are not very common here and this was my first time seeing one. I wished I had paid more attention and gotten some better shots of him.

It was beautiful morning out.

Saturday's Critters

Pretty in pink at the wetlands

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography12 Comments

I had not been to the Roosevelt wetlands since May and by the end of October it was time for a trip back. The native muhly grass was blooming bright pink all over the trail.

The trail also had common sneezeweed blooming.

I’m not sure what this great blue heron was eating but it didn’t look yummy.

A coot came close to the edge of the pond.

I could only find a few wintering birds. A prairie warbler and a house wren.

I was scanning the pond for otters (which I didn’t find this day) and saw something dive down on the trail out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought it was a red shoulder hawk and almost didn’t pay attention but something made me look twice.

It was a northern harrier. It’s the first time I’ve seen one here at this wetlands and in Pinellas county. She stayed for a few seconds and flew off towards the landfill. I waited for a while but she didn’t come back.

Just me and my shadow on the overgrown trail.

I took the above with my phone. I love seeing the pink grass. It only turns pink in the fall here. We had it in front of our back screened porch in Tampa and I miss it. We don’t have a good full sunny spot to plant it in our townhome.

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A new bird that looks like an old bird

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I had heard of the gray headed swamphen that you could find down in south Florida but hadn’t heard until recently that they are moving into central Florida. This bird originates from southeast Asia. The audubon thinks that many escaped captivity from a zoo during Hurricane Andrew years ago. It looks a lot like the purple gallinule but has an all red nose and his legs are pink vs. the yellow legs on a purple gallinule. Two had been seen at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive so I headed over in late December.  The pair were easily seen right at the beginning of the drive. I pulled over and jumped out the car and walked over and spent a while watching them. It felt freezing this morning. I had a warm hoody on with sweats but had not brought my gloves since I didn’t think it would be that cold. I finally got back in the car and the temp read 39 degrees on my car. It had gotten colder since driving up from Tampa. What was I thinking?? Not prepared for this cold morning.

I managed to catch one of the swamphens catching a tiny fish. He walked over to the vegetation and ate his breakfast there.

He kept cruising back to the water, running off any other birds in his way including a grackle and a coot.

It was interesting to watch him pull up the vegetation with his foot and then use his foot to eat it. He used both feet to do this. I’m assuming he’s eating the seed pods in the water.  The couple were busy feeding for a while. They eventually ventured farther in the reeds and disappeared after an hour of feeding.

The morning did warm up and I was able to get out along the drive to enjoy the beautiful morning out. Just like the comical purple gallinules, the swamphen was fun to watch.

Swamphen on the left and a purple gallinule on the right. Subtle differences are the all red beak (the purple has a light blue spot on his head) and the legs are different colors.

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Pelicans, wood ducks and swans (Oh my!).

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Lake Morton in Lakeland is a good spot to find white pelicans in the winter besides Fort Desoto. There are a lot fewer at Lake Morton but you can usually get closer. They hang out on the brick retaining walls around the lake. Most of the time they are sleeping when I’m there but on a recent trip they were moving around a little. I think two of them were fighting over space on the floating pole.

A coot swimming by.

Wood ducks were napping up in the cypress trees and some were swimming around the lake.

There’s always turtles sitting on the cypress knees.

The city of Lakeland were selling swans in late October. When I was there they were in holding pens on the lake. I felt bad that they were leaving their home but there have been banner crops of babies over the last few years and the lake is over-run with swans. Swans were getting hit by cars and fighting with each other. Hopefully they’ll go to homes that have more room for them. If I had a small pond on my property I would buy a pair. The money goes back into the fund to feed the swans at this lake.

Foggy start to the morning

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Walking out on the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve, the fog was just starting to lift.

On the other side of the marsh, the sun was trying to break through.

Great blue herons in the fog.

A few critters along the trail. That big one always sleeps in that same spot across the ditch.

Lots of the usual birds along the trail.

A bright red flash of fall in the moss. It usually starts to look like fall around here in January.

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Rainy morning at Bear River Refuge.

On By dinajohnstonIn Vacation3 Comments

The only new thing I saw at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, just north of Salt Lake City, was a ring necked pheasant (the blurry photo above). We saw several from far away but they were very skittish and would dart under the bushes when they saw us drive nearby.

The scenery was beautiful with the mountains in the background. The refuge is a one-way 12 mile drive where the fresh water Bear River meets the northeast section of the Great Salt Lake. It should have been full of ducks and birds but two things were not in our favor. The long drought and a recent prescribed burn. We saw very few animals. Actually a third thing since this was the only day we say rain, it drizzled the entire time we were there. The sun peaked out quickly right before we were leaving.

The rental jeep was filthy due to the mud on the gravel drive. We stopped at a car wash before heading back to the hotel.

A big statue of an avocet in the nature center.

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