Early morning spoony flyover.
American bittern hiding in the alligator flag plant.
Here comes a sandhill crane couple.
Anhinga with a fish.
Typical Florida shot. Snowy egret in the trees.
This is a juvenile something. I’m thinking an indigo bunting. There had been bunting sightings in the area but I didn’t see any adults. Any ideas?
Phoebe high up in a tree with a snack.
Bye, bye.
The usual stuff at Circle B Bar Reserve.
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I had heard there were a few avocets in a field near Cockroach Bay. Since I still haven’t seen these birds, I figured I would drive the almost hour trip to try to find them. The field was covered with thousands of birds. There was only access to view the field on one side which faces directly into the sun. The rest of the field was fenced off. I looked for an hour and did not find the avocets. Most of the birds were least terns with a few sanderlings, plovers and starlings thrown in. Oh well, maybe one day.
I did see a belted kingfisher flying over a lake off in the distance.
This guy was sitting on the side of the road. I’m not sure if he was checking out a snack. He eventually flew off. I think this is a juvenile red shoulder hawk.
I was leaving the area to head back to town and saw a pair of sandhill cranes on the side of the road. Of course, I pull over and snapped a few pictures.
I love their “heart” heads.
Cows were chewing near the side of the road. I pulled off hoping to get the “cattle egret sitting on the back of the cow” shot. Not this time.
Another cow got curious and came close to the fence. He started to creep me out a little and I was going to jump back in my car but he turned around.
A brown cow farther back looked up with grass hanging out of his mouth.
#47 also had grass hanging out of his mouth.
You know it’s a slow day when I get excited about taking pictures of cows.
Heading home, I had to drive back over the Sunshine Skyway bridge. A quick stop at the rest area and I was home in less than an hour.
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I can’t believe I saw this family way out in the marsh off Alligator Alley trail.
Mom was feeding the baby something. The baby couldn’t have been more than a day old. I think there was another egg on the nest. I could see the mom turning the egg. I have since heard the 2nd one was born and the family of four is doing well.
These are all extremely cropped since they were so far out. It’s amazing how they survive with all of those alligators in the marsh. The parents must do a good job of keeping them away from the nest. As soon as the 2nd baby is born, the family is on the move. Usually heading up on the trails.
This is the first baby born this spring at the reserve. I was leaving the reserve and saw them across the street wandering in someone’s yard.
I think he sees me.
“What are these big things for?” he says, looking at his feet.
I guess his break was over. Time to get up and look for bugs.
Still checking out those big feet.
Looks like mom has a bug.
Still keeping an eye on his feet. They looked okay and he was walking on them. Maybe he is just curious as they get bigger.
It’s always a good visit at Circle B Bar Reserve when you see 2 sandhill crane families. Even though things are getting quiet at the reserve, there are still lots of babies being born.
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I had read that there was a new sandhill crane family at Circle B Bar Reserve. As soon as I walked out on the trail, I saw them slowly making their way towards me. The little babies were so cute. One was much younger than the other. Maybe by a few days.
The smaller one was all wet. They must have been in the marsh.
He looked tired and plopped down for a rest while the parents and older sibling were looking for food. Maybe he was just tired since he was younger.
The oldest sibling stayed close the parent and was getting fed a few bugs.
They looks so funny, all wet.
The parents started cruising down the trail and closer into the marsh. I started taking pictures of a flock of vultures close by that were eating a turtle.
I looked over a few minutes later and noticed both babies were down in marsh and it looked like they were playing. The above and below were extremely cropped.
After a while I realized the older baby was hitting the younger one on the head with his beak. He was pulling out fuzz. At that point I realized that the older one was attacking the younger one. I stood there at a loss of what to do. I took a few steps closer into the marsh but the parents came towards me and seemed to be guarding what was going on down there. Do I risk getting eaten by an alligator or poked in the head by a parent sandhill crane? The family started to move on and I thought maybe the little one would be okay, maybe the older one was just play fighting a little too hard.
We headed down the trail and a few hours later, we stopped by that same area and the entire family was gone. We thought they must have kept going and that the baby was okay. Later that night I had read on the Circle B Bar Facebook group that someone had seen the little one alone on the trail. The parents and older sibling had eventually left him behind. A ranger was called and she rescued the baby and took it to a bird rehab facility. The baby did not survive. Apparently this is common in sandhill crane families like it is in other birds such as eagles and hawks. I have seen a mother snowy egret drop the youngest of her 3 babies into the alligator pond at Gatorland so I shouldn’t be shocked but it is still sad.
If you need some cheering up after that, check out Jess’s blog. She was recently able to get pictures of a sandhill crane coming out of the egg. So cute!
You could hear this sandhill crane calling from all over the park. He was yelling all morning. Maybe he was calling for his mate.
An injured whooping crane. One of these days I’m going to head to central Florida to look for the wild whooping cranes that winter there.
This very young spoonbill was not afraid of the tourist. He was right over the boardwalk.
Flamingos having a disagreement.
Are they a couple? The caracara on the left is missing a wing and two of his right toes.
Barred owls make the cutest faces.
This fulvous whistling duck had a bad right leg. He was limping around.
My first American wigeon.
Wood ducks were hanging around all over the park.
There’s a huge variety of birds at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. Birds that you would see in the wild from all over Florida. Most of these birds are injured in some way and have found a home here. We went up there to see the manatees that hang out in the river that runs through the park but there are so many great birds there as well. I might have to get back up there later in the springs to check out the sandhill crane, swan and duck babies.
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It was a foggy morning at Circle B Bar Reserve when I headed out on the trail in late January. The above tree is usually filled with birds. Not a one in sight.
Almost as thick as pea soup. It was very humid even though it didn’t feel warm.
It looked like Alligator Alley trail was the foggiest. People were still heading down the trail in the fog.
You can really see the spider webs on a day like this.
A tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. A tree full of vultures across the marsh.
Female red-winged blackbirds along the trail.
“Run Forrest Run!” says the black bellied whistling duck across the marsh in the fog.
I didn’t realize how the sides of the trails were full of spider webs.
A sandhill crane out in the marsh. This is where they nested two years ago in March but they were just cruising by the morning I was there.
The sun was finally starting to peek through after an hour. It turned out to be a nice day even though I felt like I was walking around in a shower. Everything was wet from the fog and humidity. When I left Tampa earlier that morning the sun was coming up bright. The farther into central Florida I got, the worse the fog got. At first I was crushed that the sun wasn’t out but it was kind of cool walking around in the fog. The reserve was full of people like it usually is in the winter so it wasn’t like I was alone. By 10am there were traffic jams on the trails.
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It was weird to see the family casually walking down the trail together. Just like a normal family out for a morning walk.
After strolling a short distance, they stopped and started looking for bugs.
Junior was finding bugs on his own but still getting bugs from the parents.
Strolling across the trail, he looks so grown up.
They started cruising down the trail again. I had to keep getting up and running farther back so I could fit them in with my zoom lens. All of a sudden, Junior started to run and flap.
He was practicing his take offs.
It was funny to watch him do his little burst of practice flying. He did it twice while walking down the trail.
A few seconds later, it was back to finding bugs.
And getting bugs from Mom.
They started strolling down the trail again so I got up and walked around the rest of the park.
Usually I get to Circle B Bar Reserve and think it’s going to take me all morning to find something specific I’m looking for or not at all. I got lucky on this morning. As soon as I walked out of the parking lot and a little ways down the trail I saw them walking towards me. This sandhill crane family only had one baby. I’m not sure if this is the family that started with two and lost one. I had also heard another couple only had one baby so this could be that family as well. I didn’t see another family with two that day but they could be somewhere else in the park. It was such a treat to spend a half hour sitting on the trail and watching this family go about their daily lives. Junior got really excited when he started flapping. By now he’s probably flying. It would be a great thing to see him getting that first lift off but my time getting out there is limited to Saturday mornings so I’m sure I’ll miss it. Maybe one day I can see a sandhill crane taking his first flight.
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More shots of the sandhill crane babies from my early March trip to Circle B Bar Reserve. Sitting on the trail for almost an hour, watching them walking around looking for food, I took way too many pictures. After a while one of the babies plopped down and was trying to nap. It was a quick 3 minute nap since the parents kept moving and the baby hopped back up and kept up with the family.
I start to head out on the trails and I see three figures walking towards me from far away.
The baby starts flying towards me. I’d like to think he was excited to see me and said “Hey, there’s Dina. I’m going to give her a big hug.” I think he was just testing his wings. He didn’t get very far.
I sat down on the grass and watched them continue towards me. I finally had to get up and move back. I didn’t want them to walk up to me and poke me with that big beak. It was funny to see them cruising along the trail together. At this point they were close to the intersection of Rabbit Marsh Run and Heron Hideout. Several people were watching them walk the trail.
The baby was watching the parent and trying to imitate it pulling grasshoppers off the brush.
Yea, Mom got a big bug.
He kept looking for bugs but I didn’t see him find any on his own. He still kept being fed by the parents.
This was an amazing experience. Just to sit there and watch them walking around picking up grasshoppers. The baby kept close to the parents. Several people were sitting next to me and we were all clicking away. They seemed to be putting on a good show. The “Leave It To Beaver Crane Show.” The baby is about 13 weeks old at this point. There were two babies born but only one survived. It was great watching this little guy grow up.
My goal for my recent trip to Circle B was to find the baby sandhill cranes that had eluded us the weekend before. As soon as I walked out on the trail, I saw the family far out in the middle of marsh.
The family was moving quickly towards the tree line away from the trail. Both babies were there but I could only get a few quick pictures of one before they were gone in the tall grass.
Hairy or downy woodpecker?
Palm warblers were everywhere that morning.
Yellowlegs walking by a handful of blue winged teals. I love the purple tint on the teal on the far right. They were keeping an eye on the shorebird.
Typical Florida great blue heron picture. He was sitting high up in a tree on Alligator Alley. He has this determined look on his face.
Early in the morning the sun was coming through the famous dead trees at the beginning of Marsh Rabbit Run trail. These trees usually have black bellied whistling ducks, woodpeckers or egrets sitting on them. This morning they were empty.
Just a few shots of a recent trip out to the reserve to look for the sandhill crane babies. This was taken several weeks ago so they are probably pretty big by now. I was glad I caught a few seconds of them before they headed out.
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