No, I didn't die, didn't move to where internet doesn't exist.... A combination of busy life, needing to pick priorities, and dealing with some big decisions meant I've hardly done any birding or blogging for a long time. Actually, checking my last post date, it's been exactly 6 months to the day.
Our family went to Florida to vacation for a week with good friends of ours. It was a great time together spent playing lots of games, swimming in the different pools, walking and talking and just spending time together. We rented a huge house together at a gated community in Palm Coast where the grounds had lots of little lakes. The house we were in was right across the road from the ocean. Between walking the grounds and the beach, there were lots of birds to be seen.
I'm not going to give a narrative on my various encounters, but just give a sampling of all the different birds I saw. It's been three months since we were there so I don't remember too many specifics anymore. I added eight birds to my life list including the following:
Anhinga
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Glaucous Gull
Northern Gannet
Palm Warbler
White Ibis
Wood Stork
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| Anhinga (pronounced An-heena) doing its submerged swim. |
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| Anhinga sunning |
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Belted Kingfisher in flight. |
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| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in morning sunlight. |
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| Brown Pelican coasting. |
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| Brown Pelican diving. |
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| curious Carolina Wren |
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| pair of Common Gallinule |
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| Common Grackle - Down... then... |
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| ... Up. |
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| Eastern Phoebe |
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| Eastern Phoebe |
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Although it was big, I believe this is still a common Eastern Gray Squirrel.
(not big enough for the Eastern Fox Squirrel and has a white tummy) |
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| Forster's Tern in flight. |
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| Forster's Tern |
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| Forster's Tern |
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| Glaucous Gull - they are big! |
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| Gray Catbird |
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| Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage. |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron - I believe a second year bird. |
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| Great Egret |
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| male Greater Scaup |
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| male and female Greater Scaups |
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| Laughing Gull |
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| Little Blue Heron and Anhinga. |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Mixed seabirds. |
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| Northern Gannet |
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| Northern Mockingbird |
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| Osprey |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk with Little Blue Heron prey. |
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| Osprey looking on. |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk was not impressed and chased the Osprey off. |
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| Red-shoulder Hawk and Osprey |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk drying off.... Must have gotten wet catching the heron. |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
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| Palm Warbler |
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| Pied-billed Grebe |
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| Royal Tern |
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| Royal Terns |
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| Ruddy Turnstone |
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| Sanderlings |
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| Sanderlings |
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Snowy Egret in early morning light. |
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| White Ibis and Snowy Egret |
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| White Ibis |
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| White Ibis |
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| Willet |
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| Willet |
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| Willet |
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| Willet |
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| Willet landing |
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| Endangered Wood Stork |
Hopefully my next post will not take six months to do. I have a few pictures waiting in the queue, so hopefully that will keep me primed and back into posting again.
Until then...
Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!
Brian, great to see a new post from you. Excellent series of birds... The Northern Gannet is a surprise for me... I did not really think they were seen in Florida but obviously they are! The Red shouldered Hawk eating the Little Blue Heron was pretty shocking to see as well. Florida is always a great place to bird (and vacation)... ;-p
ReplyDeleteFunny, just yesterday I was wondering when you would do a post.
ReplyDeleteWow!! Those are amazing photos!! I especially like the shorebird pictures, and... well, the rest! Just fantastic!
Whaaat? You'd never seen a Palm Warbler?? Are they not in Ontario? We have tonnes of them here!