Big white and pink things at Circle B Bar Reserve.

On June 11, 2012June 12, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography14 Comments

When I first got down to the end of Marsh Rabbit Run trail, this is what I saw in the marsh in front of me. Mostly wood storks, great egrets and a few great blue herons.

To the left, the corner of the marsh had even more birds with a few spoonbills thrown in.

Everyone was busy either feeding or preening. I didn’t notice that white pelican in the middle until I got home and cropped this picture.

Spoonbill showing me his “spoon” bill.

The marsh was full. It’s been a long time since there were so many wading birds at the reserve.

Spoonbill trying to find a spot to land.

I thought this would be my last trip to Circle B Bar Reserve for the summer. It gets so hot there and the wildlife activity slows down in the hottest months. I usually start spending more time along the coast trying to get a sea breeze. I didn’t think I would find too much but was hoping for a stray spring migrating bird hanging around. When I got down to the end of the trail and saw the marsh filled with wading birds I thought it was worth the 45 minute drive over. The water levels around the area had been really low due to the lack of rain and I guess all of the waders in the area came here since there was still a fair amount of water in the marsh. Most of the smaller marsh ponds here have already dried up. It was nice to see all of the big white and pink birds hanging out together. And no, this wasn’t my last trip for the summer. Two days later I heard there were new late baby sandhill cranes in the park so back I went the next weekend. More on those later.

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A flash of pink.

On April 16, 2012April 17, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography19 Comments

“Hey, this is my spot.” Said one spoony to the other.

Snowy egret walking by.

There must be some good bugs in that water.

This one stopped to scratch.

Nice spoony pose. This one looks like a juvenile due to the lack of color detail in his face.

I hadn’t seen any spoonbills in a while. On a recent trip to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, we found a small marsh with a few of them feeding. There were also a lot of egrets and storks feeding but the spoonbills were the most fun. Most of them were really bright pink so they must be in their breeding feathers. There were a few with no facial color so I’m thinking those are juveniles maybe born last summer. We watched them feed and fight over the best spots for a while before heading on.

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Spoonbill and an owl at Kapok Park

On January 30, 2012January 30, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography12 Comments

: Great horned owl sitting on an egg.

There are tons of birds at Kapok Park. I can hear them. Finding them and getting their pictures are a whole different thing. Late on a Sunday afternoon I decided to head out for a walk but I think I wasn’t really in the mood. The easiest thing to find was a lone spoonbill staying very busy feeding in the water right below the boardwalk . She didn’t stop for a second. Just kept swinging her beak back and forth in the water. I watched her for a while, taking tons of pictures. Before I left I stopped by the owl’s nest. She was sitting there like she has been for several weeks now. Since this trip I have heard the owl baby has been born so I’m on a mission to get some owl baby pictures. Check back later for those.

P.S. I think the reason I was in a funky mood that afternoon was because my little Spikey, a 6 year old cockatiel, had spent a day in the vet hospital. She was egg bound. When I got home from work Thursday night, she was not her usual self so I ran her to the overnight animal hospital. They kept her overnight and early the next morning I moved her to a bird specialist in north Tampa. She stayed there all day Friday and laid a very large egg. Almost the size of a ping pong ball. Her eggs before were the size of a jelly bean. When I went to pick her up Friday night, she laid another one while I was there. She’s been getting lots of medicine and is doing fine now but there will always be that risk again. They gave her hormone shots to stop the egg laying but that is only temporary.

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