Foggy and yellow

On January 10, 2022March 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I love going to Circle B Bar Reserve early in the morning when it’s foggy (as long as it burns off quickly). It makes the reserve look different than other days. You can see all of the spider webs across the marsh and it makes you realize just how many spiders there are out there.

Black bellied whistling ducks flying out across the marsh.

The bur marigolds were blooming in mid-November and the marsh was a blanket of yellow.

A few of the little critters flying around.

It was a quiet day for birds, except for some of the usuals including purple gallinules and swamp sparrows.

A quiet cold walk in January

On February 22, 2021March 5, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The cattails and the spider webs were showing up in the early morning sun at Possum Branch Preserve.

Bright pops of red in early January. It was finally starting to look like fall (only in central Florida does it look like fall right before spring).

Birds were scarce this Saturday morning. Other than the usual birds, I only saw a house wren and a thrasher.

Pelican fly by along the canal.

Two coots have taken up residents for the winter in the main pond.

This guy didn’t look that big (taken with my zoom lens).

When I got around the other side of the pond and saw him spread out, he looked much bigger.

Beauty in the fog

On February 22, 2018January 11, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

While the flowers are hidden in the fog, you can really see the spider webs.

The fog was pretty thick during my trip to Circle B Bar Reserve in late December. It usually burns off by 10 am but this particular morning it was still around when I left at noon.

At least you can still spot the gators on the trail.

SkyWatch Friday

A foggy morning at Circle B Bar Reserve

On April 27, 2017April 27, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

The reserve was covered in fog when I first walked out on the trails in early March. I could hear the sandhill cranes calling out but could not see them very well.

After the fog lifted, I saw several on my walk.

Spider webs blanketed the trails.

The usual residents.

A bittern close to the trail.

It can look dark and foggy early in the morning but it doesn’t stay that way long in early spring in central Florida.

SkyWatch Friday

In the fog – Skywatch Friday

On February 20, 2014February 23, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography20 Comments

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.

Check out more sky pictures at Skywatch Friday