The Usual Suspects.

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The usual suspects along the trail: pied grebe, sparrow, palm warbler, cardinal, snowy egret and a hawk that looks half asleep.

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This very handsome common yellowthroat was posing nicely for me.

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An osprey bringing home padding for the nest.

The usual things at Circle B Bar Reserve in early January.

SkyWatch Friday

Busy birds at Circle B Bar Reserve

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Seen out in the marsh: black crowned night heron, pied grebe, American bittern, glossy ibis and an anhinga.

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Saw the above Carolina wren hiding in a bush.

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A great egret playing with his meal.

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I saw this hawk on a branch right over the trail. I realized he was eating something. I think it was a praying mantis.

Lots of birds on the trails at Circle B Bar Reserve in early January.

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A walk after work

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The lake at Kapok Park are full of turtles. People feed them and they come close to the boardwalk.  Look at those fingernails!

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A cute grebe shying away.

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The red-winged blackbirds come close the boardwalk as well. Both a male and a female were posing for me.

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Moorhens were taking a bath.

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A rare sighting at this park. I found a lone purple gallinule under the boardwalk. I have never seen one here or even heard of one near the area.

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Great blue heron flyby.

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The big old trees at the park. It looks like one got blown over during a big storm. It looks like such a big strong tree. It’s hard to believe wind would knock that over.

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On the way home I stopped by downtown Safety Harbor and could just barely make out a juvenile eagle on the cell tower.

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Another tower close by had two babies (you can see only one in the picture). One of the parents was feeding them and the other parent was on a utility tower across the street.  I’ve been keeping an eye on these nests for a while, swinging by there on the way home from work. It’s great to see these eagles raising families in this busy neighborhood.

I stopped by Kapok Park on the way home from work recently and did a quick walk around the park. I was hoping to see signs of the great horned owls but they either didn’t nest there this year or already nested and left.

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A woodpecker and grebe walk into a bar…..

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No, seriously. A downy woodpecker and a pied grebe show up at the lake at the Largo Nature Preserve. I was taking pictures of the grebe when I heard a banging noise behind me. The downy woodpecker was only a few feet away but ignored me completely. I guess he knew I wasn’t going to climb over the boardwalk railing, walk through alligator infested water and yank him down off the tree.  He stayed there for a while and just kept banging on the tree.

Hanging out with a grebe

DSC_0302 DSC_0303 DSC_0305 DSC_0346 DSC_0347 DSC_0349 DSC_0350 DSC_0351Pied grebes are usually skittish.  They swim away fast or duck under water (hence the name duck?). This one was close to the boardwalk and didn’t take off when I walked by. I stopped and stood for a few minutes watching him and he just kept feeding in front of me. Although, he turned his head when he swallowed the fish.  He’s such a cute little duck.

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