The nesting season is in full force. It seems like there are babies everywhere. We picked one day recently to check on bald eagle nests and found a total of 6 new eaglets in 4 nesting sites! It appears that they are all well on their way to growing into young adults.
Two Juvenile Bald Eagles in Their Nest
There are also many sandhill crane babies around. The colts started appearing several weeks ago and we continue to see youngsters of all sizes. Most owls have grown and left their nests, and many songbirds are building nests or feeding chicks. It’s a busy time that will continue for another couple of months.
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to join a group of photographers on an outing sponsored by a local camera store and the Tamron lens company. We went to Fort DeSoto State Park in St. Petersburg before sunrise to take some photos of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Last year, the bridge was updated with new lighting, and it is beautiful. Unfortunately, clouds spoiled the sunrise, but the bridge was stunning anyway.
The bridge crosses Tampa Bay on interstate 275 right before the bay flows into the Gulf of America. The bridge is over 4 miles long and is tall enough to allow cruise ships and huge cargo ships to pass underneath.
Wow! When I looked at the date on my last post, I couldn’t believe it’s been 6 weeks!! There has been plenty going on to keep us busy. But 6 weeks? Shame on me.
During my hiatus from the website, I had the opportunity to get out a few times with the camera and capture some new subjects. I’ll cover those journeys in the next couple of posts.
I also made the leap to a new Canon camera body. After months of research and trial, I finally jumped aboard the new mirrorless camera train. I won’t get into all the technical details, only to say that technology has made some amazing advances in modern cameras. The focusing on the new camera is incredible. It can actually zero in on the eye of an animal and track the animal while it’s moving! Unfortunately, as with all new things, it has so many settings that it will take a while to learn all the capabilities and customize it to my liking. But the good news is I am able to use all of my current lenses with a simple adapter and it works great!
Here are a couple of shots of a red-shouldered hawk from my first time in the field with the new camera. More to come.
Red-shouldered Hawk with a Ruffled Feather on the End of a Branch
Our favorite male painted bunting has been coming to our caged millet feeder since early November. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t see him several times. A couple of weeks ago he surprised us by bringing a buddy to the feeder. Two male painted buntings on the feeder at the same time is quite a sight! The second bunting is now a regular visitor. Hopefully they’ll spread the word and we can attract a female before they head north for the summer.
Male Painted Bunting on the Ground Looking for Grass Seeds
For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
Tis the season for our northern visitors. I’m not talking about the mass migration of “snowbirds”. I’m talking about waterfowl. We have huge numbers of ducks just about everywhere. One small lake behind Costco has become the winter home for ring-necked ducks and lesser scaup. They look very similar. The main differentiating feature is the bill. The ring-necked duck ironically has a white ring on their blue-gray bill while the scaup’s bill is completely light blue. The males’ heads have an iridescence element that changes color in different light. At times their heads have a purple shimmer and other times they shine with a dark green look.
Male Lesser Scaup Duck with a Purple Head Looking Back
The ducks like the Costco lake because it has a good crop of snails which they devour quickly. If we’re near one of the snail beds, the birds are easy to approach and photograph.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
The young great horned owls are growing quickly. Last week we checked in on our favorite family and they are still doing great. On Friday we visited an eagle nest for the first time in several months and to our surprise, the eagles had been displaced by great horned owls. In fact, their lone owlet is close to leaving the nest. I’ll post updates as the youngsters grow up.
Great Horned Owl Female with Her Chick on the Nest
Last week I had the pleasure of joining a group of some of the top birders in Manatee County, Florida for a field trip to Port Manatee. The trip was hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers due to a number of highly restricted areas. The fields and ponds consist of silt dredged from the shipping canals in Tampa Bay. The silt must be drained before it can be used for fill dirt, so it doesn’t settle at the building site. It’s a very interesting process that creates several small shallow lakes. But the silt can be dangerous. It looks dried and cracked but just under the surface it is still wet and behaves like quicksand.
There are many species of ducks and shore birds that are attracted to the ponds. Ducks we saw included lesser scaup, redheads, ruddy ducks, buffleheads, northern shovelers, green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, ring-necked ducks, hooded mergansers and red-breasted mergansers.
We also saw several varieties of shore birds, but my favorite was an American avocet. It was my first time seeing an avocet. They are close relatives to the black-necked stilt. Like the stilts, they have very long legs and long bills to slide through the water sifting for small shrimp and snails. Most of the birds were beyond the range for good photos but just seeing so many different species made it a great day. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my good friend Art Nadelman for getting us connected with the group.
Two American Avocets Walking through Shallow Water
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
Yesterday turned out to be a great day to capture some photos of a female great horned owl guarding her nest. Great horned owls usually find the absolute worst spot in a tree for a successful photograph. It seems like they always want to sit on the darkest branches facing away from the sun amongst the sticks and Spanish moss which means lousy photo opportunities. But yesterday we caught a break. A female was sitting outside her nest filled with two new chicks watching over the area. Best of all, she was out in the open with good lighting!
Great Horned Owl Female Resting on a Branch by Her Nest
We watched her and her mate all summer but lost track of them a couple of months ago. Two weeks ago, we were trying to locate them and heard a call coming from a tree but simply couldn’t find them. As it turns out, she was calling from her nest which was located in a crotch of a pine tree and covered with Spanish moss. She was completely hidden from view. What a joy to finally see her and her two new babies.
I mentioned in my previous post that we found a very large flock of green-winged teal ducks on Thursday. Finding the green-wings completes the “teal trifecta” for me for 2021. There are 3 species of teal in North America – blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon. Two weeks ago we found a cinnamon teal which is a rare sight this far east. There were blue-winged teal with the cinnamon teal. We see the blue-wings frequently. Although green-winged teal are fairly common in this area, they’re often tucked away on ponds or marshes that are inaccessible except by boat.
Male Green-winged Teal Watches Across the Water
These were the first green-winged teal I’ve seen in over 30 years. They are beautiful little ducks. I’m hoping to get back out and attempt to get closer to them. If I’m successful, you’ll see the results right here.
One of my favorite places for nature photography in this area is Myakka River State Park in eastern Sarasota county. It is a huge park consisting of 37,000 acres with the Myakka River cutting through the center. Along the way, the river is dammed creating a large lake and vast wetlands. There is a wide variety of wildlife in the park. It’s common to see deer, eagles, ducks, spoonbills, wading birds, turkeys and plenty of alligators.
Black-necked Stilt Flying Low Across the Calm Water
This past week was another great visit. In addition to seeing most of the wildlife listed above, we also came across a large flock of green-winged teal. More to follow in a separate post.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
I spent the last two days photographing a pair of bald eagles with their two new chicks. The nest is in the open, so photo opportunities are amazing. The parents stay busy. We watched them hunt for fish and today they brought back a whistling duck. When they’re not feeding the chicks, they fly off to grab clumps of Spanish moss to line the nest. Like people parents, they occasionally get to rest, sitting atop one of the trees next to the nest.
Bald Eagle Chick in the Nest
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to photograph a cinnamon teal. It’s a bird I have never seen in the wild. Cinnamon teal are seldom spotted east of the Mississippi River so finding one here in Florida was a real treat! They are beautiful birds, especially in flight where you can see their light blue wing patches and green speculums. Unfortunately, this cinnamon teal was feeding on a grass bed in the middle of a small lake which made photographing a challenge. These images are heavily cropped which sacrifices detail.
Cinnamon Teal Male Chewing Grass on a Pond
Cinnamon teal like to feed by skimming for plants right under the surface so most of the time their head is under water. When they come up for a breath, it’s only for a moment before they shove their head back down again to return to feeding. Thank goodness for digital cameras because I couldn’t afford the film and processing to capture this bird!
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
