Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Tag: Audubon

  • Bobolinks

    Bobolinks

    Each spring and fall the migration brings an amazing variety of birds through the area. Like their human counterparts, several choose to make Florida their winter home. But many are only passing through on their way to more southern destinations.

    One species that spends a brief period here is the bobolink. They are related to blackbirds and travel in large flocks. It’s not unusual to see 100-200 birds in a group. They are seed and insect eaters and most often can be found in open grassy areas where there are plenty of insects and seed pods present. The males are easily identified by their black and white bodies with a large buff colored patch on the back of their heads. We were fortunate to come upon a large group that made a brief stop at the Celery Fields in Sarasota last month.

    Juvenile Male Bobolink Eating Ragweed Seeds
    Juvenile Male Bobolink Eating Ragweed Seeds

    The links below provide more information about bobolinks.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • The Celery Fields

    The Celery Fields

    An area in eastern Sarasota County that was once farmland, was purchased by Sarasota County in 1995 and eventually transformed into a park. The area was known for growing celery and is comprised of ditches and wetlands. Today it is a popular destination for birders, walkers, and runners. There is a manmade hill in the center of the park that provides a nice challenge for fitness enthusiasts. The Sarasota Audubon Society has a small nature center on site, and they offer tours and educational services through a network of volunteers.

    Black Necked Stilt Chick Walking Through Water
    Black-necked Stilt Chick Walking through the Water

    But for us, the main attraction is the habitat. The park has a series of flooded marshes, lakes, creeks, and grasslands. The great habitat means a lot of birds. It’s also a hotspot during the spring and fall migrations and attracts not only the birds, but bird enthusiast from all around the world. There have been almost 250 bird species reported at the Celery Fields.

    Great Egret Flies By To Left In Morning Sun
    Great Egret Flies by to the Left in the Morning Sun

    For more information about the Celery Fields, please visit the links below.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Go Green

    Go Green

    One of the most striking birds that we see around here is the nanday parakeet. Their colors are absolutely amazing. On the neon green bodies is an entire palette of blue and purple accents. They also look like they’re wearing orange and yellow socks.

    Unfortunately, despite their beauty, nandays are annoying because of their constant squawking which can get extremely loud. They can also quickly wipe out feeders.

    Nanday Parakeet Perched On Cedar Tree
    Nanday Parakeet Perched on a Cedar Tree

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Wintering Waterfowl

    Wintering Waterfowl

    It started off being a rather quiet year for waterfowl. No matter where we went in December and early January, the numbers seemed down from years past. But the last couple of weeks have changed everything. Not only have the number of ducks improved, but we found a couple of species that we hadn’t seen in our travels. Most notably is the northern pintail. We located a small nature preserve near Tampa Bay that the ducks liked. In addition to the pintails, we found northern shovelers, widgeons, and plenty of teal, including my favorite, a green-winged teal. Hopefully they’ll stick around for a few more weeks.

    Northern Pintail Male Flying By
    Male Northern Pintail Flying By

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Baby Owls

    Baby Owls

    Many owls now have little owlets. We visited a nest in west Bradenton recently and there were two new little great horned owls. There are a few other spots that we will check over the next few weeks. It’s always fun to see the little owls because they’re cute and curious.

    Owlets Snuggling In Nest
    Great Horned Owlets Snuggling in Their Nest

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • More Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

    More Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

    Last week ended with a fantastic day photographing scissor-tailed flycatchers. These migrants travel all the way around the Gulf of America from Oklahoma and Texas to spend the winter here. They like open areas like farmland. We found them around the strawberry fields southeast of Tampa.

    They are beautiful birds that are fun to watch as they fly from perches to snag insects out the air. Their long-forked tails make them incredibly agile. They can twist and turn performing quite a show when chasing bugs.

    Over the past couple of years there have been numerous sightings even though they remain quite rare in this area.

    Scissor Tailed Flycatcher With Long Tail Sitting In Tree
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher with a Long Tail Sitting in a Tree

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Marsh Birds

    Marsh Birds

    The area marshes have become vacation destinations for many migratory birds. Again, this year we have been so fortunate to see yellow-headed blackbirds and bronzed cowbirds, among the many species enjoying their temporary stays.

    Another bird that has managed to work its way into the area from the southeastern part of the state is the grey-headed swamp hen. It’s a relative to the brilliant-colored purple gallinule. The swamp hens are also very colorful. They are actually native to Asia but found their way to south Florida about 30 years ago.

    Grey Headed Swamphen Looking Out From Reeds
    Grey-headed Swamphen Looking Out from the Reeds

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Reddish Egret

    Reddish Egret

    One bird that has become a favorite of photographers is a reddish egret. They are acrobatic feeders. There is one that people search for at Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg. If you find a group of people in the tidal flats, you can generally figure that a reddish egret is the focus of their attention. They typically favor the pools along the beaches created by the receding tide where fish get trapped.

    Recently we found one that was fishing shallow inland waters. He was alongside a large flock of white pelicans.

    Reddish Egret Watching For Fish
    Reddish Egret Watching for Fish

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Shore Birds

    Shore Birds

    During one of our recent visits to Fort DeSoto State Park in St. Petersburg, we saw several types of shore birds. Some live in this area all year while a few are just temporary residents until returning to distant nesting grounds. The whimbrel is one of the birds that migrates here from way up north along the arctic waters.

    Whimbrel Walking Along Water Edge
    Whimbrel Walking Along the Edge of the Water

    Another shore bird that travels long distances between their winter getaways and their arctic nesting homes is the Ruddy Turnstone. An interesting fact about turnstones is that there are only 2 species of turnstones in the world, and both live in North America.

    Ruddy Turnstone With Worm
    Ruddy Turnstone with a Small Worm

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • More Buntings

    More Buntings

    We visited one of the local nature preserves a few days ago just to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. To our surprise, we found a bunch of indigo buntings along with a single male painted bunting. We thought maybe they had started their journey north for the summer but to our delight, they’re still here. We were even able to get some shots of males that have finished their molting into full color.

    Indigo Bunting Male On Branch
    Male Indigo Bunting on the End of a Branch

    Our backyard painted buntings are also still here. Yesterday we saw multiple males and the lone female at the feeder. We keep hoping that they’ll decide to forego the northern travel and stay here for nesting season! They have been so fun to watch over the past 6 months.

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Burrowing Owls on The Move

    Burrowing Owls on The Move

    One of my favorite birds to photograph is the burrowing owl. They are absolutely adorable. The past few years we’ve had to travel 90 minutes to Cape Coral, FL to find them. The city of Cape Coral has become a sanctuary city for the owls.

    Burrowing Owl Stretching Right Wing
    Burrowing Owl Stretching His Right Wing

    But this year, thanks to a tip from fellow photographers and bird watchers, we were able to find a nesting pair much closer to home. It was exciting to see these little birds of prey move north. Unfortunately, loss of habitat has reduced their population over the years to the point of being threatened or even endangered in certain areas.

    Burrowing Owl On Ground By Nest
    Burrowing Owl on the Ground By His Nest

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Baby Birds Everywhere

    Baby Birds Everywhere

    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.

    Bald Eagle Juveniles Resting In Nest
    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.

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