A quiet day for birds in early September. A woodpecker, a great horned owl and a quick peek at a hummingbird.
Lots of squirrels around. The one in the bottom shot had a big bot fly bite on his side.
I found the real “Peter Cottontail” on the trail.
Creepy spiders just in time for Halloween.
I think this woodpecker was working on a nest.
Flowers and bugs at the Botanical Gardens in Largo, Florida in July.
Red bellied woodpecker
Carolina chickadees
Yellow crowned night heron
My favorite little titmouses.
A young mockingbird
Northern parula
Osprey flyby
Juvenile little blue heron in a sea of green and purple.
Curious baby great horned owls from high up in a pine tree.
A few birds in June at Chesnut Park.
My favorite little titmouse coming to check me out.
My next favorite blue-gray gnatcatchers. They would be my favorite but they are so annoying the way they don’t sit still for a second.
Other usual birds at the park: white eyed vireo, cardinal, eastern phoebe, female red winged blackbird and the always present red bellied woodpecker.
It’s hard to ignore the cute squirrels.
Stuff at Chesnut Park in early January.
I saw this red bellied woodpecker up in a tree right on the lake at Crescent Lake Park in downtown St. Petersburg. It looks like his beak is curled up. He seemed to be working on a nest. He looked healthy. I guess as long as he can get the bugs with his tongue, he’s okay.
Another woodpecker across the lake.
An interesting find at Crescent Lake Park.
A very young titmouse. His beak isn’t fully developed and he does not have that touch of peach color on him yet.
Baby moorhens were near the dock with Mom.
The usual deer near my parking spot in the back of the park.
A red bellied woodpecker looking around.
A small gator under the dock.
We recently had a yellow crowned night heron on our dock. He didn’t fly away when I went out to take his picture. I didn’t get too close to the dock though.
Of course, the mallard came cruising up to see if I had a handout.
A red bellied woodpecker has been a regular in our backyard.
I saw this squirrel resting in our tree. When I got closer he didn’t move. I was beginning to wonder if he was still alive. I got pretty close and he turned and looked at me. I left him alone and after a while, he got up and left.
These bloom all year here.
Another wasp nest in the palm tree.
I saw this weird glow outside right before dark and ran outside to take pictures of the clouds. The rain had stopped and the sun was trying to peak through before going down.
The mallards always show up when you are on the dock. Even in the dark.
A few things from the backyard recently.
I always see red bellied woodpeckers up in the trees at the zoo.
Everyone loves the little meerkat “clowns”.
The marabou stork is back on the nest. Last spring she had 2 babies. She doesn’t look too happy about having to sit there for weeks.
The front of an Okapi.
The back of an Okapi.
“There’s a piece straw hanging in front of my eye. Maybe I can reach it with my tongue” says the giraffe.
A hooded merganser snoozing over the manatee pool.
Injured manatees recouping at the zoo manatee hospital.
He seemed so serious in the first picture so I asked him to smile.
A few funny things at Lowry Park zoo.
One of the “I get no respect” birds. Blue jays are pretty even though they are annoying.
That lunch looks yummy.
Female house sparrow getting a bite.
Keeping an eye on me.
The couple.
I don’t see woodpeckers at feeders often. They like what ever is in this feeder.
Red bellied woodpeckers were everywhere.
And the usual titmouse.
I’m still figuring this one out. I first thought it was a prairie warbler or a white eyed vireo. I was hoping it was the female summer tanager that had been spotted there recently but they don’t have the white underneath. Any ideas?
I thought I was catching him in the act.
Later, I was told this was the squirrel feeder.
I didn’t want to give away the secret but these guys have done a great job. In a strip mall that backs up to some woods with a creek running through it, there’s a Wild Birds Unlimited store. They have deck out back and they have put up bird feeders and nest boxes all around. They have built this great little oasis near one of the busiest intersections in town.They must have only been getting the most common birds at first. Then someone spotted a summer tanager recently. The store owner told me people have been lining up to get pictures. He couldn’t believe people were coming all the way from Orlando to see this bird. He was very friendly and we talked for a few minutes about the different birds he was seeing. I hope all of this birding traffic has helped his business. I’ll be back to visit him (especially since there’s a great little cafe with amazing deserts a few doors down).
I was sitting quietly on a bench waiting for the rufous hummingbirds to come back and this towhee came out from the bushes and started digging around for snacks in the ground.
He got pretty close to me but I was afraid he would get spooked if I raised my camera. He stayed right there as I took this picture.
This hawk was sitting in a tree close to the bench and right after I snapped this he took off. I heard him screaming and a kingfisher screaming close by.
I ran into the window blind that looks over a little pond and the hawk was chasing the kingfisher around the pond. I couldn’t get a good picture of the chase through the glass but was able to shoot the kingfisher sitting on a bird house in front of the window.
I headed to the other end of the gardens and heard the red headed woodpeckers calling close by.
They were banging away on the trees.
Something in this hole had his interest.
I saw three adults but I heard there were more there.
Zooming over my head.
This juvenile was all alone nearby. I’m not sure how long it takes for them to get their full red head.
A red bellied woodpecker with a big nut in his beak. Taken right into the sun.
A few of the birds I saw on my recent trip to Bok Tower Gardens. I saw several rufous hummingbirds flying around but could not get a shot of them in the shade. They did not sit still the entire hour I was watching them. They would fly high over the trees and then come back 10 minutes later. I guess that’s a good reason for another trip over there.
Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday 
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