Randomness

I have fallen a bit behind in blogging these days as things have been quite busy around here. Here are a few photos of what I have managed to squeeze in over the past few weeks...

A beautiful sunrise over the Indian River Friday morning.

Osprey

An Osprey on a post near my home...what are you lookin' at???

Red-shouldered Hawk

One of the many Red-shouldered Hawks that hang out near my work. I don't usually take my camera to work...I'd be too tempted to go take pictures of the birds...but I did Wednesday as the plane carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour was going to be flying over head. I happened to pick the wrong side of the building to look for it and missed it.  Oh well, at least this hawk flew up next to me:)

Red Knot

This was one of the seven Red Knots that were foraging in the surf along the Atlantic when we made a visit to Jetty Park.

Laughing Gull

Did this Laughing Gull really catch a fish of its own...or did the gull confiscate it from a tern....

While in Lakeland a few weeks ago, I took a sunrise walk at Circle B Reserve. It is such a beautiful place to visit.

While we mostly saw waders and a few hawks, there were plenty of these spiders around. I was glad I didn't accidentally walk into on of these webs!

I saw this young male White-tailed Deer along the side of the road heading out to Moccasin Island on Friday. I'm thinking it might be the same one I saw and posted photos of on 9/8/12 as it was in the same location. Usually by this time of the morning you don't see the deer wandering near this road. I ave to wonder if something may be wrong with this fellow. We stopped a little ways up the road to watch him and take a few photos. He didn't seem to acknowledge our vehicle, but I figured with the first click of the shutter he would take notice, but he didn't seem to hear anything. Out of curiosity, I whistled to see if the deer would respond and it did not.

I know I'm really focused when I'm hungry...maybe that was the case.

Finally when we drove right past him, he looked at us, but did not run. I hope this beautiful boy is okay.

Great Egret

Not much happening at the wetlands. We did have fun watching a pair of Crested Caracara, but I'll save that for my next post.

American Bittern

We found this well hidden Bittern doing its best to blend right in.

Well, this has nothing to do with birds,but...a pair of Donkeys have appeared near our highway exit...we couldn't resist a visit. They are so sweet!!!

Have a great weekend!

Sandwiches on the Beach

This past weekend I went to Jetty Park a little after sunrise and got a chance to enjoy a few Sandwiches on the beach. 

One of the first birds I spotted as I made my way to the beach was a Magnificent Frigatebird circling the sky above the inlet. This is the second one I've seen over the past week as I also saw one near the Sebastian Inlet. Numerous Ospreys and a few Black Vultures were also soaring the skies. 

I was most excited to see a few Sandwich Terns that were standing proudly among the Royals.

Sandwich Terns are handsome looking, medium sized terns.

This Laughing Gull discovered a healthy-looking breakfast in the surf; a washed up bone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Great Balls of Fire

We headed out of the house a little before 5:30 am yesterday morning to watch the launch of a Delta rocket. We landed at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, where there was a lot going on to keep us entertained during the three hour delay.

A pre-sunrise walk on the jetty.

A cruise ship coming into port.

                                                           
                                                           The sunrise from the beach.

A Skimmer skimming the shoreline.

Terns touching down.

A Laughing Gull soaring the skies.

A small crab putting up a fight.

Finally, the Delta rocket launching!

Jetty Park

My son and I made an impromptu trip to Jetty Park late Friday afternoon hoping to catch the launch of a Delta rocket, as well as, of course, some birds. We were able to manage alittle bit of both!  Jetty Park is located in Cape Canaveral and is home to a beautiful beach, a very large fishing pier, and a campground. We walked to jetty first, catching sight of some fishing Brown Pelicans, Royal Terns, and a few gulls. We then headed up the beach to see a flock of gulls. Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls were there in large numbers.

Laughing Gull
Jetty Park

Ring-billed Gull
Jetty Park

This guy was bracing himself for the very large gusts of wind that were whipping sand across the beach. I realized with only one minute to spare that it was nearly launch time. I was thankful we didn't miss it as this was the third attempt at launch.

We next ventured to the boardwalk, scanning the growth for some song birds. There were several Mockingbirds singing. The sun was beginning to set as we saw two Gray Catbirds playing in the hardwoods. We also saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Gray Catbird
Jetty Park

We then headed back to the beach and I was very glad we did as a very large mixed flock was settling in for the evening. The highlight for me was watching the Black Skimmers.

Black Skimmers
Jetty Park

Black Skimmers

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull