Early Morning

I'm posting this almost a week after the pictures were taken.  Why one asks?  Well there's really no good reason other than, I'm just lazy.  Truth is, I didn't think of posting any of the pictures.  Not that they were bad or anything, but just because I didn't think of it.

It was early on Tuesday October 15, 2013.  The weather was overcast and it had rained in the late night hours.  The grass was still wet when I went out and filled the platform feeder with our usual mixture of seed.  The Blue Jays were out and very loud.  The sounds from the woods were almost spring-like; a twitter here and a chip and chirp there.  I was loving the moment.

As usual the Northern Cardinals were the first to the feeder; first the male, then the female.  I marvel at the politeness of this pair.  They are seldom at the feeder together and when they are they give one another plenty of room.  A few Mourning Doves appeared but they kept their distance, sitting on a branch near, but far enough away from the feeder as to not bring any attention to themselves.    Then the Tufted Titmice arrived!

They almost seemed to change the atmosphere around the area behind our apartment.  It suddenly seemed alive with movement.  A glimpse of yellow here and a flash of red there.  The bushes moved to the left, then right, then to the left again.  There were birds everywhere!

The Titmice seemed to control the tempo.  They'd fly in, grab a seed, wasting little time on the feeder, and again fly off to a spot deep into the woods.  This went on for about an hour.  A quick visit by a Red Bellied Woodpecker, who seemed to be in a hurry also, taking one or two trips to the feeder only to disappear for good.

Suddenly, all was quiet.  I checked the skies for some kind of raptor.  There was none to be found.  Nor were there many sounds either.   I really don't know what caused the stoppage of nature, but it was quiet.  Really quiet!

Regardless, I got a few good shots.  I would have loved more, but one takes what one gets at times like these.

Nirvana!

There is a place near Orlando, Florida that is truly a natural paradise.  I found it totally by accident, surfing the internet, looking for places to go birding.  The information was sketchy at best, a brief and somewhat negative mention in a Florida birders photography blog.  Paraphrased it said that the blogger had very little success seeing any birds.  He'd been there three times and only had minor success once.
Regardless of this review, I decided to make my way to the "Circle B Bar Reserve" in Lakeland, Florida.

The weatherman stated that it was going to be a hot day, a VERY hot day.  The temperature was slated to be around 92 degrees and it would feel like 107 degrees!  This didn't make the decision to drive over fifty miles one way any easier, especially with the less than positive review.  I left for the reserve at 9:30am.  I had all my gear, my hat and my sunscreen and was ready for whatever the day threw at me!

I arrived, without incident at 10:20am, making very good time and seeing very little traffic.  As I drove slowly through the winding road just inside the gate of the reserve, I was reminded of what I imagined northern Florida looked like in the early 1950's.  The oak trees were very large and laden with Spanish Moss.  I expected at any moment to round a curve and see a Southern mansion in the distance.  There were many small parking lots in which to park, but I chose the furthest one from the gate, for no particular reason.  Note:  This would become a very bad decision later in the day.

The reserve was huge; 1200 plus acres.  The winding driveway was approximately 1.5 miles from the entrance gate, maybe further.   I gathered what equipment I thought I would need, slathered myself with sunscreen, (God Bless the person that invented SPF 150), and started off on my journey.

Just to the right of where I parked there was a trail.  Looking to the left I saw the end.  I decided to head to the right, (I'm great with context clues).  I had walked about 20 yards when I saw a huge Butterfly Bush bush.  On and around it were, I could only estimate, about 3000 Zebra butterflies!  I stopped, took a few pictures, which was an easy enough task, and then started on down the trail.

I hadn't walked very far when I came upon a woman carrying a Nikon camera, walking towards me.  I stopped her and asked her "Anything interesting down there", pointing down the path?  She said that it was a very bad day to be there.  In fact, she indicated that it was the worst day she'd ever had at the reserve.  She said she saw a hawk, (she showed me a picture, clearly a Red Tailed and clearly out of focus), and little else.  She said she'd heard a few, of what she thought were "Limpkins" and some alligators, but nothing else she could identify.  I thanked her for her information and continued on down the trail.

Taking my wife's advice, I walked slow.  Very slow.  There were few bird sounds to hear, but there were lots of dragonflies and grasshoppers of all shapes, sizes and colors.  I took a few pictures of various insects and then continued on.

It was hot.  Really hot!  I think the birds knew this too.  There weren't many to be seen.  I heard an Osprey in the distance, along with an occasional cry from a Piliated Woodpecker.  I stopped at the first body of water I found to take some shots of a Great Blue Heron standing in pretty deep water, with only his head showing.  He certainly wasn't as hot as I.

I walked for what seemed like an hour.  The road was gravel and it looked like it had only been traveled by vehicle.  There was an occasional shoe print, but it looked as though they were not from today.  The first sign of good birding was a water retention pond with a drainage overflow pipe running under the road.  I actually heard the water before I saw it.  There were lots of shrubs, (more like scrubs), just off the side of the road, so seeing it was out of the question from my vantage point.  After I cleared the scrubs numerous water birds took to the air.  I saw a Little Blue Heron, a Snowy Egret and a few American Coots take to the air, flying back into the marsh to what they thought was safety.

I walked and walked.  The view didn't change, nor did the heat, (save getting hotter)!  There was another overflow from one side of the road to the other about what I would consider a half a mile or so from the first one.  As I stood on the inflow pipe on the right side of the road, I saw no bird life.  There was a very small alligator hiding in the grass, so I took his/her picture.  Suddenly there was a noise from within the pipe directly below my feet!  At that same moment, out floated what I think was an immature Greater Scaup.  I think it was as surprised as I!  It paddled away as fast as it could, but my shutter was faster.  I got some good shots of it!

The day progressed pretty much as described above for the next two and a half hours.  I think the highlight of the day was seeing a Red Shouldered Hawk, (I wondered if it was the same bird that the lady saw earlier in the day and misidentified
)?

All in all, it was an awesome day of birding and shooting.  Most of my photographs were of butterflies and dragonflies, but there were also many good bird shots as well.  I'm heading back there as soon as physically possible!  I can't wait until the weather cools!  Walking all those roads in 70 degree weather would please both myself and the wildlife!!

Note:  Anyone that wants to visit the Circle B Bar Reserve, the address is as follows:
4399 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland, Florida 33803.

First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of Summer, June 22, 2013.  The weather forecast was for no rain, so I got up early and planned a day of backyard photography.  The truth is however that that was to happen after I went to the store, started dinner and took the dogs for a long walk.  I think I've found a new way to be more productive on my days off.  Getting up early gives you not only a new perspective on the day, (seemingly more hours), but it also allows for errands and fun.

I finally got out the door with bird seed in hand about 12:30pm.  It was hot, about 90 degrees when I got out back.  The sun was beating down on my favorite standing spot, and I guess the birds were happy with me sweating out there, because almost immediately they started coming to the feeder.

First the Blue Jays came.  They weren't very loud today but they were skittish for some reason.  A stop and go was all that they ever did, so there weren't many opportunities for photographs of them.  The next bird to the feeder was one of my favorites, the Red Bellied Woodpecker.  Today one of the adults, (I think Mom), brought their newest fledgling along.  The baby wasn't keen on landing on the feeder at first, probably because of all the traffic.  The Mourning Doves were pretty pushy today and they didn't back down until Mom RBW had had enough and put them in their place.

As I stated the traffic was pretty heavy out there and most all the bushes, trees and shrubs had movement.  To my left, something caught my eye.  A Monarch Butterfly was searching for the milkweed plants that I planted out there last summer.  It flitted here and there, finally landing on one and to my surprise started depositing her eggs!  Though this is a rare photo opportunity I was more interested in the avian activity on and around the feeder.

Right above the Monarch the sapling moved.  Then a bird, too quick to identify flew down to the ground.  Now without bragging, I'm pretty savvy in bird identification.  The shorebirds and warblers give me trouble, but most all of the regulars are easily identified.  This bird was the exception.  It had brown tail feathers and a "flycatcher-like" head.  My first guess, and probably my last, was a baby Brown Thrasher, but I really wouldn't put any cash on the guess?

The Carolina Wrens were out and about and as loud as usual.  I finally caught one signing high in a scrub to my right.  It's not a great picture, but the fact that you can identify the bird even though I was shooting directly into the bright mid-day sky was a plus.

I counted six squirrels today, only one on the feeder at the time however, so it was a very polite day also.  I will wait until around 7pm and go back out for some more shots, but it's been a while so I thought I would post some of this mornings jaunt.

Back Out Back Again

Howdy!

Today I got up with the good intentions of going out back early to get some awesome pictures as the sun rose and the birds fed.  Good intentions sometimes don't happen.  For one reason or another, it took me until after 4:30pm to grab my camera and head out back for some photo-ops.

It's really a good thing that the birds in my backyard don't hold grudges, as I heard them yelling this morning at around 7:00am for food.  I'm sure that they are not pleased with me and my laziness.  However, you wouldn't have known it by the way that they came almost immediately when the food hit the feeder.

They were mostly the usual guests, but it being Springtime, one could always hope to see a surprise visitor every now and then.


The Red Bellied Woodpecker, (Woody as we call him), came first.  He's polite and usually only takes one or two peanuts before flying off to eat them in a near by pine tree.  Then the Blue Jays came.  There were both parents and fledglings, (probably by now an inappropriate term as they fledged about a week ago), and they were hungry.  They challenged the squirrel and the Mourning Doves for the food, which is unusual for them.

The surprise visitor was a newly fledged Greater Mockingbird.  This little guy's eyes haven't yet changed to the golden hue of it's parents yet, and it still has a mottled chest, much like a Wood Thrush.  This will change in the next week or so, but today he/she was there, on the feeder, picking through the seeds for what I can only assume were little bugs.  I saw him/her take no seeds.


A young raccoon made an appearance also.  They're cute but I'm always cautious of them in the daylight.  This one loves peanuts and was chased away twice so I could get some pics.

It was a great day.  Tomorrow I'll again get up early.  Perhaps I can talk myself into going out back for a while before breakfast!

Blue Jay Babies Galore!

Hi everyone!

Today was a great day, out back.  A great day that is, if you like Blue Jays.  They were everywhere!  Well, at least it seemed like it.  They flew in almost immediately after the seed hit the feeder.  The Red Bellied Woodpecker made a brief appearance also, but it was mostly a Blue Jay day.

I believe that there's nothing more refreshing than hearing a baby bird calling for it's parent, looking for food.  Though it's nothing close to a melodic melody, the want and desire demonstrated by the loud and continual calling, chortling and chipping, conjures up, (for me) and total desire for food and a bird that will do well in the world.  This is the sound I put with the beginning of spring.

Here is the cutest baby that I saw today.  Like I said, it seemed they were everywhere!  Mom and Dad were never very far away and it looks like in a few days he will be on his own.  I hope he sticks around.  He already has a personality.

Spring Has Sprung...

.....or so my wife says.  She must be right however, either that or she can communicate with all the birds and have informed them that it's time to sing and dance and make babies!

In my downstairs travels there are many times when I don't see much.  In fact, that's more likely than not.  The neat thing however is that when I do see a lot of opportunities to get some good pictures they are everywhere!  My biggest problem at those times is not, "will I get a good picture?", it's more "where do I point my camera first?, who's the subject that I don't have a good photograph of?, or which one do I want to take photographs of first?"  Today was that sort of day!

Today's adventure started out at 9:30am.  I got up around 8:00am, stumbled around for about thirty minutes, made some coffee, got the bird food ready to take downstairs, took a shower, got dressed and headed downstairs to see who would like their picture taken?  I heard numerous different birds as I spilled the food on our platform feeder; Red Winged Blackbirds, a Red Bellied Woodpecker, a Northern Cardinal, and a few that I think were Titmice.

Secured into my usual spot, I waited.  It wasn't long until the Red Winged Blackbirds were dotting the oak tree directly in front of me, making their usual trills and whistles.  A few stopped on the feeder for a quick bite, then as quickly as they came, they left.  The next visitor was the Northern Cardinal.  I am always so pleased when the male comes to the feeder.  He's become very used to my presence and he isn't anywhere as shy as he used to be.

I got a quick glimpse of a shadow on the ground and suddenly, all was silent.  It was deafening!  In one moment there were approximately 100 or so birds sitting in front of me, stock still and not making a sound, when a few seconds before their songs filled the trees and surrounding area.  I scanned the sky for the shadow maker and never did find it.  After a wait of about 40 minutes, I gave up and came inside.

At about 2:00pm I again decided to try my photographic luck, so outback I went.  I'd noticed as I was getting up to get a second batch of birdseed ready that there was a raccoon on the feeder.  Note:  Though raccoons are pretty cool animals, this activity will put a damper on my bird feeding/picture taking excursion.

When I got downstairs the raccoon politely relinquished the bird feeder and moseyed off into the woods, following the stream to who knows where?  It was quiet; very quiet.  I did see some movement in the bushes to my right, and caught a quick glimpse of a Common Yellowthroat, but he never came out for his photo op!  As I stood there I wondered just how long it would be before an opportunity presented itself?  Thankfully I didn't have to wait long.

As if a switch was clicked, the chipping, chirping and chortling started.  It seemed louder than ever before.  A Gray Catbird came to the feeder for a quick bite, (I think a pumpkin seed), and then left to not return.  The Red Bellied Woodpecker came almost out of nowhere, grabbed a peanut and flew to his usual tree knot to pound it open.  This activity happened three times and every time it was, land, get a peanut and fly away.

My usual backyard birds were, all in all, very cooperative today.  Here are a few photographs.  Enjoy...

Backyard Awesomeness!

Nirvana!!  That's what describes today's backyard bird shoot.

I got up and was out back by 7:30am.  This time of the morning seemed to be a good time to put myself in position to get good photographs.  So there I stood.  Five minutes went by; nothing.  Ten minutes; more nothing.  At about the fifteen minute mark a lone Male Cardinal started singing in the distance.  Shortly thereafter a flock of about ten Red Winged Blackbirds flew in.  Though there were more females than males, the woods finally started to sound like it was coming alive.  As time went on there were more chips, chortles and squawks.  I recognized some and some were familiar but undistinguishable by me.  There was nothing to shoot, yet.

The feeder was full of food.  The usual mix was there and in addition I put some crumbled stale potato chips, finely crushed.  As time went on the bushes seemed to come alive.  I truly didn't know where to look.  Squirrels played to my left and a Catbird 'meowed' to my right.  I focused on the feeder.  Surely someone would land soon, wouldn't they?

The scrub to the right of where I was standing is a mix of various plants, most could be found if one were to leave their yard unmowed and unattended for say, a year or so.  The bushes grow to the height of about five to ten feet.  The undergrowth is sparse.  I suspect that this is because each plant has to fight for it's right to the available sunshine, growing quickly at first then bushing out as it reaches the proper lighting.  The birds don't seem to mind this.  In fact, they rather enjoy being able to fly under and hop quickly from branch to branch, near the ground without many branches in their way to obstruct them.

Movement to the right caught my eye.  It was a small bird.  I was thinking at first a Gray Catbird, but dismissed it as too large.  My next thought was that it was some kind of Warbler.  I could only catch a glimpse here and there of the bird and I was getting discouraged as identification seemed impossible.
I panned the camera to the right.  The bird moved.  More to the left this time.  The bird moved again.  This little bird was fast; faster than most.  I finally got a quick look at the wing pattern.  Stripes.  I saw some stripes.  The bird was clearly a Warbler of some kind, of this I was sure.

I'm not very knowledgable on each of the Warblers that inhabit the Orlando area, and I'm even worse at the seasonal visitors.  Clearly I need to brush up on them.  The peek-a-boo game continued for about thirty minutes.  In all of that time, there I was trying to catch more than a half second glimpse of a rather small brownish, grayish something.  Then it happened.  Whether the bird got tired of playing with me or just thought that the old guy deserved a break for all the peering and watching he was doing, out it popped into the open.  I moved the lens into position and I was staring at an empty branch.  ARGH!!!
I did get a brief look however.  I tried to commit what I'd seen to memory; black stripes on the face from the beak to the throat, finch-like bill, some white on the wing bars.  Not bad for a half second look, I thought.  However I was no closer to figuring out what bird it was.  This aggravation went on for about another twenty minutes.  In that time I again caught brief glimpses of this little bird, but nothing that would get me any closer to either a picture or an identification.

My attention was drawn quickly to the bird feeder where two Red Winged Blackbirds were creating a loud bird squabble.  As I spun the camera around in hopes of catching some of the action.  No luck.  The noise was the last part of the fight and they were both off in different directions to continue doing was Red Winged Blackbirds do.  As I glanced to the bushes again on my right, there it was, sitting in the shade, but at least it was out in the open.  I set the dials for the shot, focused the camera and held down the shutter button.  After two clicks the bird was gone.  Surely I'd gotten the shot.  I had to have.  I was right on it.  Wasn't I???

There's a word for immediately looking at your pictures after you take them to make sure you got the shot, (it escapes me now), but its amateurish and I don't do it.  However, this time is different.  I had to see this bird.  Clicking back three photographs seemed like the right spot to start.  There I found a picture of an empty branch.  Did I go far enough back?  The next picture was the same branch.  I know I took a picture of the bird.  It was there when I pushed the button.  In the third picture there was a bird.  Well I think it was a bird?  It sort of looked like what I would imagine a bird would look like for the first two seconds in a blender!  BLUR!!  ALL BLUR!!!   ARRRRRRRGH!!!!

After a short temper tantrum, (said under my breath and what I said I'm not proud of),  I again went back to observing the woods.  There it was again.  Farther away this time, but in the sunlight, then out of the sunlight, then in the sunlight.  This is getting old, I thought.  It's playing with me.

Another small bird flew into the tree directly in front of me and lighted on a branch right over my head. I knew this bird; a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher.  It seemed he was faster than my nemesis but he was out in the open.  There was nowhere for him to hide.  After a series of shots I had him.  No need to look at those!  A quick glance to my right took my breath away.  There he was sitting on a twig not ten feet from me.  I set the camera and again held down the button.  You're not getting away this time, I said under my breath.  Then he was gone.

This scenario happened three times today, all at different times and all with different birds.  After a quick search in my handy dandy bird book, (Sibley), the bird was identified as a House Wren.  The second bird was a Prairie Warbler and the third was a Common Yellowthroat.

The beauty of it was that they all turned out to be "lifers" for me, (birds that were on my life list that I hadn't seen yet with my own two eyes).   What a day!!  I'm so happy that they were there and I was too!!  The photographs aren't the best I've seen, but they will allow you to identify the birds as I did.

Enjoy!!

Sometimes Only A Few Birds

Howdy!

Today was an interesting day attempting to take photographs out back.  I was initially greeted by silence, complete silence.  No bird songs.  No birds flitting from tree to tree.  No birds moving here and there in the undergrowth.  Nothing.  This lasted for about ten minutes.  Let me also inform you that ten minutes waiting for anything is a long time.  Especially when that "anything" is something that happens in a split second and lasts about that long.

At first it was a chip here and a chip there, then slowly as if each and every bird knew the plan and were watching, sound started to come from the left, then the right, then it seemed from every direction.  Just when I thought that things were back to normal, it stopped again.  Silence.  Deafening silence.   I panned the area looking for anything that could cause seemingly hundreds of birds to suddenly get quiet.  Then, as if on queue, here he came, as silent as the air around him.

For a feral cat, he was a beauty.  Calico by color and a tiger by attitude.  It was if he owned the copse.  The birds clearly knew him and his reputation.  Even the Blue Jays in the area watched in silence, (something that they seldom do), as he walked purposefully to an area under my bird feeder.  I made a "phishing" sound to let him know I was there.  It didn't seem to bother him.  In fact, he barely even seemed to care.  Oh sure, he looked at me, but it was as if to say, "This is my woods and for the time being, I'll let you stay".

When he stopped under the feeder the woods again came alive.  It was as if by some indistinguishable head nod or blink or flick of the ear, all the birds suddenly knew it wasn't them he was after.  They were right.  He wanted the few bits of kibble, (cat food) that I mix into the birdseed daily.  He seemed to also know that only a few birds ate kibble and the rest wound up on the copse floor, almost calling his name.

He didn't stay long and as purposefully as he came, he went.  I'd never seen him before.  The wife said that he's been around for a while, but this was our first encounter.  He was a polite gentleman and he certainly can stay as long as he doesn't bother any of my feathered friends.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr. Confidence, (Mr. C).

Garden Wars

This is a very serious post.  Okay, not so much, but it's pretty serious for the participants that I observed yesterday.  It's the classic struggle of predator versus prey.  Now please don't be upset by the fact that the prey in this instance is beautiful.  Many beautiful creatures die on a daily basis so that others can live.

The predator in this instance is a anole, (more commonly incorrectly identified as a chameleon or "Fraggle").  The prey is a beautiful Viceroy butterfly, (more commonly and again incorrectly identified as a "Monarch").

As I stood out back, watching the feeder in my usual state of anticipation, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a movement in the bushes to my right.  There, posed on a small twig, recently cut by the maintenance workers here at the apartment, an anole.  I almost didn't see him.  He was brown; very, very brown.  He tried to blend in with the twig, but in his overzealousness overshot the color and blended in more with the ground, which he was no where near, perched atop this twig.  He didn't seem to mind, because on a leaf close by was the object of his attention; a Viceroy butterfly.

As he watched, not moving, the butterfly flitted up and down and all around, seemingly to almost tease the anole.  Yet, he didn't move.  It was as if he knew something.  It was as if he knew that in time, he would be close enough to capture this delightful prize for lunch.

The butterfly seemed to be oblivious to the anole.  First he flitted close, then quickly away, then back again, almost lighting on his head.  I watched in anticipation wishing that the butterfly would just fly away.  He was so beautiful!  However, I then immediately felt sorry for the anole.  He was probably hungry and needed to gnosh a bit.

This scenario went on for about an hour.  Luckily for the butterfly another victim wandered into the lair of the anole and was quickly snatched and eaten.  He then moved on.  To him, this was just another day of hunting.  To me, a wonderful lesson in patience.  "Good things come to he who waits."


Or so they say...

The First Post of 2013

Hello people!

This year I'm going to try and be more diligent in posting to this blog.  I thought I did a pretty good job last year, but looking back there were large gaps in the posts and that's probably why only two of you follow me, (and one is my sister).  Going forward I will do my best to post at least once every couple of weeks.

This being the first post of the new year, it's only fitting that it was a GREAT day in the backyard birding extravaganza!!  First, a yellow variant, (who knew) House Finch graced my feeder and actually came back twice for some millet.  I took his picture then ran upstairs to research what I'd captured!?!  I was really surprised and delighted.  Add another lifer to my list!

I went back out almost immediately and found that the birds were, as the day moved on, getting less and less cooperative.  There were the usual visitors; Red Winged Blackbirds, (mostly females), and Northern Cardinals, (two pair) and a Mourning Dove or three, but there were also Catbirds and quite a few Warblers in the bushes and trees that surround my feeder.

The avian population was in full force and even the fauna was out and about today.  I think it's because it wasn't very hot and the wind was blowing.  That seems to stir things up a bit here.  Regardless of the reason, there were squirrels and raccoons on the feeder today, in the daylight, eating and having a good old time!



Tomorrow I'm setting up my lighting equipment and I'll try to capture some in flight landings on the feeder.  Stay tuned!