Lots of deer in early January.
Lots of squirrels but that bottom looks a little rough.
Lots of little birds but nothing new.
Red shoulder hawks hiding along the trails.
Eagles flying far away across the lake. Both an adult and a juvenile.
Found these two ducks at a quiet end of a pond. I’m thinking they are pets that got dumped here. Someone left food in a small plastic container. I just hope they know enough to stay away from the gators.
The parks are full of white eyed vireos and phoebes right now.
“Common” yellowthroats are pretty common as well.
Doves get no respect even though they have pretty pink feet.
Limpkin eating a snail.
These are actually pretty cool bees, although I wouldn’t want to disturb that nest.
Gators and lizards.
Muhly grass in bloom.
Linking to Wednesday Around the World
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.
Summer tanagers were posing for the crowd.
Black and white warbler with a bug.
Redstart hiding in the shadows.
Blue gray gnatcatchers eating bugs.
A rare yellow billed cuckoo was the star of the day. I had seen one once before at Circle B Bar Reserve but there were many birders there that had their first sighting of one. He was high up in the tree but everyone was able to get a good shot.
The one of many palm warblers that hang out here in the winter.
White eyed vireos will be common to spot this winter.
I was told the two above were Nashville warblers. Can anyone confirm?
A brief glimpse of a Tennessee warbler.
My first Philadelphia Vireo. He was hanging around the cuckoo.
“We got fall out!” was the term used on the bird forums. Fort Desoto Park was covered in birds that had stopped for a rest on their way south for the winter in early October. I got to the park around 8am and many people already looking up in the oak trees at the picnic area. I spent several hours taking tons of pictures and had “warbler neck” from staring straight up into the trees for so long. A nap after lunch got rid of that. It’s not often you get a day where you can stand under a tree and see so many different birds.
A white eyed vireo.
A juvenile night heron, born in early spring. He looks grumpy.
Probably cause he’s trying to sleep and it’s sunny outside and the parrots are noisy.
His parent looks even grumpier.
A female anhinga looking over her shoulder.
A juvenile little blue heron. He’ll be all blue after his first year.
An osprey in a tree right on the trail.
A great egret giving me a typical Florida pose.
I found another juvenile night heron along the river bank. This one looks a little bit older than the one picture above. His feathers are starting to turn gray.
Largo Nature Preserve is a small park. It’s square-shaped park. One side has a golf course, one side has a neighborhood, one has a model airplane field and the other is the parking lot coming off a busy road. It’s rare to see something unusual there but the bigger birds that hang out there let you get pretty close. Especially along the boardwalk. Most of them won’t move if you walk by them while they are standing on the railing. Night herons nest here so the babies grow up sleeping in the trees that are only a few feet away from the boardwalk.
Black and white warblers don’t sit still for a minute. They like to hang upside down on the tree and usually stay close to the trunk.
The one Ruby throated hummingbird I’ve seen so far this spring.
I think this is a female black and white warbler. The black is not as pronounced in the female as the male.
Another white eyed vireo. The most common bird at the park this spring.
Birds of a feather….
I caught Jim chimping. Making sure he got a good shot of that pigeon.
The park was packed in early April with birders coming to see the birds that had flown in for spring migration. It was nice of them all to stop over for a rest so we could all spend a full Saturday morning waiting for them to stand still for a second. It’s always fun running into people you see once a year and catch up with what’s been going on in the bird world.
All above are white eyed vireos. Fairly common during migration.
All of these are of a hooded warbler. The park was filled with these bright yellow birds with black hoods. They were not shy and would not freak out and fly into the bushes. They remained on the trail as long as no one got too close.
I saw one prairie warbler at the park.
A single yellow throated warbler. I don’t see these too often.
It poured the last Friday in March. I never get that lucky. Usually, it pours early in the week and by the time I get out to the parks, the birds are gone. This time I got up early on Saturday and headed down to Fort Desoto. Not a big fall out but still enough birds to keep everyone entertained. I think there was possibly more people than birds though. I’m hoping this is only the first fall out for spring migration this year. It’s still early.
