Growing Tufts

It's that time of the year when I give all the local Ospreys' nests a second glance to see if there is an unusual protrusion of some feathery tufts.  Osprey nests are very prevalent in this area and are usually the nest of choice for Great  Horned Owls to over take. 

Mama Great Horned Owl

Each year, though, there is at least one pair of owls that picks a high profile place to raise their chicks. This year's location was in an oak tree just feet from an entrance to the local community college. As you can imagine,  this drew a significant amount of attention from a number of spectators, many of which lacked any knowledge of wildlife ethics. Luckily the college stepped in and roped off a perimeter around the tree. I tried to briefly stop by each week to catch a glimpse of the rapid growing owlets.

Great Horned Owlet
1/22/13

The first time I saw the two owlets they were already a few weeks old. Mama was standing watch from a tall pine across the parking lot.

Great Horned Owlet siblings
1/22/13

The next week the owlets had grown quite a bit. You could see the development of some tiny ear tufts.

Great Horned Owlet
1/27/13

Great Horned Owlet
1/27/13

Great Horned Owlet
2/9/13

Great Horned Owlet
2/14/13

Great Horned Owlets
2/14/13

My final visit was on a cold, windy Sunday afternoon. I arrived to find both owlets gone from their usual spot. Great Horned Owlets usually leave the nest after 6 or 7 seven weeks but do not master their flying skills until 10-12 weeks. One owlet had ventured to higher branch while the other had moved to neighboring tree. This owlet moved to the tree in the sun and was trying keep warm!

Great Horned Owlet
2/17/13

Last weekend was another reminder of just how quickly time flies..

...when you're havin' fun! Where has the time gone???

Happy birthday to my favorite little birding companion! 

Ring-billed Gulls

Slow day at the beach....

Immature Ring-billed Gull 

Adult nonbreeeding Ring-billed Gull

Adult breeding Ring-billed Gull

Adult breeding Ring-billed Gull

Falling from the Sky

I took a trip to the "Click" Ponds and Viera Wetlands this past week. Nothing overly exciting going on right now, but I did have fun watching some dive bombing birds. 

As I stood near this statuesque Great Blue Heron, a motion in the distance sky caught my eye...

It was a Bald Eagle falling from the sky toward a group of Coots. (Please pardon the extremely poor photos as the Eagle was on the opposite end of the pond). The fear among the birds in the pond was palpable. It seemed inevitable that one would soon be the dinner of this incoming Eagle.

Then the Eagle seemed to have a midair change of plans. It really wasn't in the mood for a Coot after all! 

I carried on to the next corner of the pond where over 2 dozen Forster's Terns were on a feeding frenzy. They had a similar dive bomb routine going on. 

Sometimes you just gotta shake things off!

This tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatcher landed near me as I walked along the fence.

The were lots of Double-crested Cormorants hanging out. This one appeared to be the youngest of the group.

This one was really shaken up over the whole Eagle incident and refused to take its eyes of the sky. The others thought it was overreacting. Seriously though, when was the last time you saw a Eagle flying off with a Cormorant?

There are tons of baby gators at the wetlands.

And a few big ones!

Going Bald

Good gosh, am I cute!

I'm starting to lose my what???

I guess bald is beautiful!

As juveniles, Wood Storks are bundles of soft white & brown cuteness. Their long bills are smooth and yellowish. By their 3 summer, things begin to change. One by one their fluffy feathers give way to their scaly replacements. By 4, the Wood Storks sweet, charming appearance has completely transformed into a prehistoric look!

Three Lakes WMA

I took a trip out to Three Lakes WMA a few weeks back on the MLK holiday weekend. It was my first visit to the area and definitely won't be my last. Three Lakes is located on the Kissimmee Prairie and is named for the three lakes that it borders. I parked in the small lot near the entrance and took a walk on the trail through the Palmettos. As I was returning to the parking area, I saw this male Eastern Bluebird land on a nesting box located just a few feet from the parking lot. 

Eastern Bluebird

The male scoped out the scene and gave the female the all clear signal. As the male kept an eye on things, the female appeared to be delivering a meal to the occupants of the box.

The pair stayed for a brief period then retreated back to a nearby tree.

Since I arrived midmorning, I knew my chances of seeing a Red-cockaded Woodpecker weren't so good, and I was right. I did see a Red-bellied Woodpecker as well as a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker searching for some sap.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

I got a bit of a cold shoulder from a Red-shouldered.

The drive to and from the area was also quite enjoyable. I saw quite a few raptors along the way, including this beautiful Eagle staked out near the road, just across the street from its nesting mate. I also saw two Crested Caracaras chasing one another.

 A link to more info on Three Lakes WMA......Three Lakes WMA

Not Your Typical...

American Robin.....On Sunday, I saw the normal winter mass of American Robins feeding on the Brazilian Pepper berries at the ponds. As I was scanning the mass, I noticed one particular Robin stood out from the group. It was this leucistic Robin whose very light coloring stood out against the dark leaves. This was the first time I've seen a Robin with this condition.

White Ibis...On Monday morning, the not so typically hued bird sightings continued. I was pulling out of a parking lot, 7-11 of all places, when a brightly colored bird among a group of White Ibis caught my eye. My view was somewhat obstructed and my first thought was what in the world is a Spoonbill doing foraging in the mulch???

I decided to go back and take a closer look. It turned out to be a "Pink" Ibis, a White Ibis with some Scarlet mixed in there somewhere. I had never seen one these before, but it turns out these are seen around Florida from time to time.

The Ibis with the lizard cracked me up. There was actually a little lizard tug-a-war going on between an adult and juvi before I took this photo,  but I didn't have my camera out of the bag yet.

Well, Tuesday came along and it was back to work and back to the normally hued birds!!!

Jetty Park 1/20/13

We went to Jetty Park early Sunday morning to see if the Razorbill reported Saturday afternoon was still around. I felt hopeful as we pulled up and saw a small crowd of people checking out some action in the channel. It turned out to be a submarine navigating its way out of the port, which was pretty cool to see, but not quite as cool as a Razorbill would have been...

Gulls never seem to let any birds (or people) eat in peace. If a bird is brave enough to return to the beach with its catch, they can be sure a hot pursuit is imminent. As we walked out on the jetty, we saw this Ring-billed Gull getting a taste of its own medicine as it was relentlessly tagged teamed  by a Great Black-backed Gull and immature Herring Gull (I think).

The Ring-billed Gull didn't seem intimidated and held on to its meal.  I lost sight of them after a few minutes, so I missed the final outcome.

I saw this Bonaparte's Gull floating close to the rocks along the jetty. These handsome birds look similar to the Laughing Gulls that heavily populate the area year round.

This Royal Tern didn't seem to the Sanderling that was foraging underneath him.

There is always a large group of Skimmers at Jetty Park. The flock can usually be seen resting on the beach. A few of the Skimmers decided it was feeding time, and put on quite a show as they skimmed back and forth along the beach.