Checking on the nests at Honeymoon Island

Posted on March 27, 2018 by dinajohnston

True to its name, the Osprey Trail on Honeymoon Island is known for having a lot of Osprey along the trail. There are many nests along the trail and when I was there in late January, the osprey were working on refreshing the old ones.

Both eagles were sitting in a tree near the nest which was a bad sign. They were sitting on eggs earlier so something must have happened to cause them to abandon the nest. They might try again. It was still early.

Towhees, catbirds and yellow rumped warblers were all along the trail.

Lots of vultures here.

New growth in some of the prescribed burn areas.

This guy walked right in front of me on the trail.

I hadn’t been to Honeymoon Island since last spring. I wanted to see if the osprey were nesting yet. Honeymoon Island is a barrier island north of Clearwater Beach. In the 1940’s the island was a place known for people to spend their honeymoon in the cottages on the island. Once World War 2 started people stopped coming to the island and later the cottages were torn down.

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Bok Tower Gardens birds

Posted on February 19, 2018 by dinajohnston

I see towhees here pretty regularly.

This was only my 2nd time to see bobwhites out in the wild. They were really fast crossing the trail and heading into the bushes. The 2nd one is an older juvenile.

A cardinal with a mouth full.

I think this is a pine warbler with a mouthful.

Downy woodpeckers are common everywhere but they are so cute.

The hummingbirds were very active when I first got to the gardens right at 8am when they open. By 9am they had all disappeared.

Birds from my trip to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales in late December.

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The parking lot at Red Rock.

Posted on January 25, 2018 by dinajohnston

The view driving into Red Rock Amphitheater Park and walking up from the parking lot.

Birds in the parking lot. A towhee, magpies and a first for me was the western scrub jay on the left. He was very skittish.

After leaving the amphitheater we walked around the park for a while. We took a short trail right off the parking lot. Even from the parking area, the views were amazing.

SkyWatch Friday

Birds at Bok Tower Gardens

Posted on November 3, 2014 by dinajohnston

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.

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