Circle B Bar Ranch

Had an awesome trip out to Circle B Bar Ranch in Polk County with David and Amy. If you didn't GOYB and join us, here's what you missed (click to enlarge):

 We came across the least shy Limpkin I've ever encountered, he totally wanted me to take his picture.

Here he is, eating his snail.

Did I mention how much he wanted me to take his picture?

 One seriously photogenic bird.

I am adding this picture to my book, already wrote his section while I was watching him.

This was the cutest little bitty gator, not more than maybe 2-3 feet. He was smiling. Probably because his mom was close by and he was hoping that she would feed him that tasty looking fat chick with the camera.

 This was a green heron. Not a perfect photo, but I liked the pose.

Same green heron, different pose.

 A young osprey was watching us.

A tricolor heron.

The colors were amazing out there today. The rain has really greened things up. I did stop on the way home to pick up a Thermacell as the bugs were getting pretty nasty out there. With all the standing water we have now, I suspect the mosquitos will be brutal soon.

Anyway, if you didn't GOYB and you us, you missed a great walk, amazing scenery, and super company. Come out and join us for our walk next week. Remember, you can see pictures of cool stuff on the internet, but you can only experience it if you GOYB and join us for a walk!

Women in the Outdoors Event at Quail Creek

Had an awesome day at Quail Creek teaching beginning birding and leading trips. It was great meeting people and we are already planning to go back next year. Here is what you missed if you didn't come out for the event! (Click pictures to enlarge.)

This is crazy. In my entire life, I have seen exactly two hummingbird nests. And in both cases, the nest was directly over my booth at a festival (the last time was at Enchanted Forest). It was so moving being able to share this with our students and other WITO folks.

 The mom was still in the building process, she flew in and out all day, to the great delight of everyone, but especially the photographers. I wasn't able to get a great picture, but I did get good looks at her.

Two domestic duckies.

This picture made me laugh. It looks like an album cover. Ducky and the Ducketts Live from Quail Creek!

More duckies.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the event. David and I had a great time teaching, and we hope we got a few converts to the amazing world of birding!

Remember to check the events list here, I've got lots more cool stuff planned for over the summer. Hope you can join me on an outing soon.

Remember you can look at pictures on the internet, or you can experience all the amazing things that nature has to offer in real life. Trust me when I say, real life is WAY better!

Wakodahatchee and Green Cay

Had an AMAZING trip out to Wakodahatchee and Green Cay this weekend, where we met up with a bunch of folks from Space Coast Audubon. There were tons of extremely photogenic breeding birds. If you didn't GOYB, you missed a LOT this week, including: (as always, click photos to enlarge)

 A great egret. The little white tufts by her tail are babies.

 A glossy ibis incubating eggs.

 A tri-color heron incubating eggs.

 A mom with her young anhingas.

 A young anhinga testing out is dramatic pose.

This has long been my nemesis bird. I've been trying to get a (good) picture of a female red-wing black bird for years. I think I finally succeeded here!

A mom and dad wood stork with their babies.

 "Hey, shoot my left profile!"

 "Actually, shoot my right. Wait, who am I kidding, I've beautiful from either side!"

 A male red-wing black bird. He was kind of ticked off at me and I couldn't figure out why...

 ...till I looked down and saw his nest right below the boardwalk with babies in it!

A really terrible picture of one of my favorite birds, the black and white warbler.

 This scene made me laugh. Something about it reminded me of the roadrunner and coyote cartoons. I just don't think that gator is going to catch the wood stork, but I also don't think the wood stork wanted to take any chances.

Check out his feet, very cool pink and black, very long toes.

I'd totally have a beer with this bird.

I love this series of pictures. To me, this one looks like it was done in a Sears photo studio...

... then the red wing blackbird turned to me and said, "Hey, I'm tired of the serious poses, let me do one smiling!" Even his eyes look happy. This could be one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

 Bees have taken over one of the nest boxes! I guess everyone has to live somewhere.

This is another picture that tells a story. A story of a great blue heron who has decided to take up bird watching. Here he gets his life purple martins.

 The great blue heron birder closer up.

 This is just a great egret, but I liked the color in this picture.

 So many stories out there today."My dead snag! You can't has it!"

Another dramatic Sears portrait studio photo of a purple galinule.

 "Yes dear, I'm still wildly impressed by your big puffed up chest." {sigh... men}

This is embarrassing... I've been photographing coots for over a decade, it's on of the first birds I ever shot. And in all those years, I have NEVER noticed that red shield before I took this picture!

 A strangely ragged looking anhinga. I'm thinking it's a mom taking a break from her youngun.

One of the first things Bill Meyer taught me about birding was the difference between diving and dabbling ducks. Here are a couple of dabblers.

This is a wicked cool example of camouflage. How many birds do you see here? There are two!

It was an insanely amazing day out there. Remember, you can see pictures on line, but you can only really experience this if you GOYB and join us for a walk!

Last Manatee Watch and Goodwin

Despite the very warm temperature, we were surprised to see 2 manatee today. Very cool. After the manatee survey, we headed over to Goodwin for a walk. As always, Goodwin came though with lots of cool stuff. If you didn't GOYB, here's what you missed:

Apparently, there were a ton of fish in this little area, every time this cormorant dove, he came up with another nom. I counted about 6 just in the few minutes I watched him.

 These were 2 turtles with lots of slime and mud on their backs. I think they were red bellied sliders.

Click on this picture to zoom it and take a look at his feet. They are pretty neat looking, they don't look like they should be strong enough to support him.

There were a LOT of gators out there today. This is a young one, probably about a year old.

I didn't realize till I was editing the picture that there were 2 here!

This is a black crowned night heron coming in for a landing.

This picture made me laugh. The meadowlark was singing his little heart out and begging me to take his picture. I love this pose.

 Evil, invasive bubblegum snail eggs. We did see a snail kite carrying a snail, don't remember if it was a local one or one of the exotics.

More gators - this is another picture where I didn't realize there were 2 gators there till I was editing it.

Heather wants to know what this picture is. If you know, please tell us. She was guessing by the smell that it is in the camphor family.

One last shot of a black crowned night heron. Something about his look amuses me, he looks like he would be saying, "Lar-de-dar, just sittin' on my stick.... lar-de-dar..."

So why weren't you out there with us? Were you home sitting on your stick saying lar-de-dar? Remember, you can see cool stuff like gators and turtles and birds (oh my!) on the internet, but you can only experience them if you GOYB and join us! We got some cool outings coming up, make sure you check back and join us!

Samson Island

Had a great time leading trips out on Samson Island today. Saw a few birds, lots of neat plants, and met some great people. Here is a short video I shot of the hight lights:

Another Manatee-free Manatee Watch

Well, despite the cooler temperatures, we had another manatee-free manatee watch today. But it was still nice to get out, and on our way out of the park we got great looks at a snipe:

What was kind of odd is that he just sat there, snipes are not know for being posers.  Maybe just cold or something.

My last manatee watch for the year is in two weeks. Next Saturday,  I will be leading walks on Samson Island. Come out and join me! Remember, you can see cool pictures on the internet, but you can only truly experience cool stuff if you GOYB and join us!