A new bird that looks like an old bird

Posted on March 23, 2021 by dinajohnston

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.

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

Posted on January 16, 2021 by dinajohnston

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.

Mellow yellow on the trail

Posted on January 6, 2020 by dinajohnston

The usual herons along the trail.

A green heron sneaking around looking for food.

A house wren singing.

A coot getting friendly.

The yellow flowers always make the preserve look pretty in the fall.

The view from the blind.

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Foggy start to the morning

Posted on March 18, 2019 by dinajohnston

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.

Posted on December 31, 2018 by dinajohnston

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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On the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve

Posted on May 8, 2017 by dinajohnston

Great egrets and spoonbills were in the air and in the muck.

Bittern, limpkin, anhinga and wood stork on the trail.

A house wren hiding in the bushes.

Coot with cool feet.

A kingfisher actually sitting still.

Purple gallinule eating something yucky.

Lots of activity in late March at Circle B Bar Reserve but nothing unusual.

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More fowl than fish.

Posted on February 1, 2016 by dinajohnston

One of the two black neck swans at the lake.

Posing for pictures.

The red-headed duck is back for the winter.

He was hanging around the ring neck ducks. I haven’t seen a female one with him.

He’s a handsome one. I hate that he doesn’t have a mate.

There’s a handful of white pelicans that hang out at this lake during the winter. They stick together and don’t come running for a handout when people come to feed the ducks.

Such a pretty face.

Settling down for an afternoon nap.

Coots have cool feet.

I’ve been stopping by Lake Morton in Lakeland after my walk at Circle B Bar Reserve lately. Since it’s only 10 minutes away, it’s a quick walk around the lake before I head back to Tampa. The small lake is full of fowl! Ducks, geese, swans, white pelicans, coots, ibis, great blue herons and lots of different gulls.

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The lazy hike at Lake Apopka

Posted on January 25, 2016 by dinajohnston

Pied grebes were floating everywhere.

There were a handful of glossy ibis.

The lake was full of coots down from the north for the winter.

This guy was right over my car. I took this hanging out the window.

“Stop lady, don’t drive into the lake” said the great blue heron.

The black bellied whistlers near the end of the drive stayed far out in the marsh.

This lady anhinga had a big gulp.

These big guys were all along the drive. I stopped the car and got out to take these but they were actually across the water.

There’s a lake north of Orlando that has a driving trail along the north shore. I decided to take my sister up there when she was here over the holidays. It was a good way to get out with doing a lot of walking. She had foot surgery recently so she wasn’t up for a long walk. We drove an hour and a half on the Saturday after Christmas to get there early that morning. At first there wasn’t too many cars there but the closer to lunch it got, the more cars were on the drive. I did see a few more birds than the ones above but only got distant blurry shots of a northern harrier, several bald eagles, a merlin and lots of tiny birds far out in the marsh.

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Duck action at Lake Morton

Posted on January 18, 2016 by dinajohnston

An unusual looking hybrid. Looks like a cross between a mallard and a muscovy duck.

A baby mallard in December!

A coot and a gull fighting over bread that someone threw in the lake.

Duck butts!

A lone female bufflehead. Not a common duck here.

A ring neck duck taking a bath.

Drying off.

~~I cannot figure out what kind of duck this is. Is it a hybrid of some sort? I’ve only seen one at the lake. That pink beak and the pink legs are amazing as well as the eyes.~~

I found out today that this is a Coscoroba swan. It is the smallest of all swans and comes from South America. The city of Lakeland bought a pair for the lake last January. At this point there is only one at the lake.

There are so many different ducks at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland. They are known for having swans on the lake but there are a lot more ducks there and so many different ones. It’s fun just to walk around and look at all the duck action going on.

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