Labor Day weekend was hot as usual. I headed out Saturday morning to the Florida Botanical Gardens to see if there were any flowers left that hadn’t wilted. There were a few still blooming. The gardens were almost empty of birds. Only a few osprey hanging around.
Red bellied woodpecker has a big nut. I think he was hiding it in the hole.
Pileated woodpecker on a utility pole. These birds have done a lot of damage to the poles there. You can see where they try to patch them up but the woodpeckers just move and create new holes.
A lone female wood duck. I found her in a small pond behind the old butterfly garden.
Red bellied woodpecker and easter phoebe were sitting in the same tree. I could hear the phoebe singing from across the lake.
Wild monk parakeet hanging on a pole. There’s a small flock that always seem to be around the gardens.
I finally made it over to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo after trying the weekend before and getting deterred by a huge crowd coming for an event. This Saturday morning it was quiet. I could even hear that phoebe singing all morning. There wasn’t anything unusual there. But still, it was a nice morning out and I got a good 2 hour walk in.