The Rookery ~ Part 3

As you can see, this post is all about the Great Egret, in all its snow-white glory! To be honest, I'm rather annoyed with myself and my amateur ways with the camera, plus the fact that I arrived at the rookery too late in the day and the light was too harsh. Clearly these photos are lacking in color/light correct-ness…but you get the idea. The birds and hatchlings were impressive…

Preening even in the nursery…Looks like a wedding gown...

…Appears to be several expectant parents…

These nestlings appear to be checking themselves over…"Long neck, check!" "Long legs, check!"…
This was the best shot I got of the great egret babes...

Yep, we're okay…so, Mum! Hungry!

None of the hatchlings would cooperate for a photo shoot, but still…
Gotta love the fluff 'n fuzz!

…Lots of parents in the egret department...

The Rookery - Part 2

…But first, I have to announce that the swallow-tail kites are back for the summer! I've seen 3, but no photos yet…always seen soaring high overhead...

Ok, being able to see the spoonbills and their hatchlings may have been the icing on the cake for my visit to the St. Augustine rookery, but "the cake" would be getting home, cropping photos, and discovering that I'd been looking at a reddish egret - white morph, without realizing it! Easy to ID due to the pink base of the black bill...

Update: This is actually a snowy egret, darn it! I was corrected by someone on Facebook when I posted the photo there…I Googled images of the snowy and sure enough, this is most likely a snowy with breeding colors, though the pink can also be red or orange…the bill size makes me think snowy...

…There were a few little blue herons…this one has bright blue eggs in the nest in front of it...

…And there were some snowy egrets…these appeared to be two adults...

I was excited to see a few cattle egrets, but couldn't get any good photos…was esp. excited to be able to see them in breeding plumage at a closer range...

…More to come!

At the Rookery ~ Part 1

Happy Mother's Day! In honor of the occasion, I'm posting the first in a series of photos taken Thurs. I had a mostly wonderful visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm…not really a farm…well they do seem to raise gators but…it's more like a zoo…and while I admit it was kinda cool to see an albino gator….

I must make the disclaimer that I do NOT advocate such a set-up in the least. It seemed that there were too many gators in too small of spaces, a sad situation…plus some exotic birds in cages, much to my dismay…..

BUT, I was there to see the rookery, listed on the Great Florida Birding Trail…in one area there is a small swampy-looking "pond" for smaller gators to swim around in, with a small loop boardwalk for visitors. All around this secured pond were trees, covered in nesting water birds…the birds love this spot due to the gators…what predator would dare venture in for a tasty egg or hatchling?! Yep, none. Unless it had a death wish...

Today's post is all about the most exciting discovery, the roseate spoonbills! Not a lifer, but my first closeup look at one, for sure...

The star of the bird nerd world was this pretty mama…she had not ONE…

…Not TWO…

…Not THREE….but FOUR chicks! Can you see the 4th at her feet? I sure hope he didn't get smushed! And what is he doing down there below the others? 

Ooph! Meal Time….

There were a few other spoonbills at the rookery, but not that many…

This one, as pale pink as it is, and having feathers yet on its head, would be an immature...

Another mama feeding a youngster….

A spoonbill flying in to the rookery.

Stay tuned for more species from this visit….

A Redstart That Doesn't Stop

I've been charmed today, to be watching an American redstart flitting all over the backyard parameter. They technically winter in S Florida, but can "over-winter" in Florida (probably doesn't trust that the frigid weather north is over with…) and so I'm guessing this cute little fellow is in fact passing by as it heads north. I'd love to say it's a lifer, but alas, I've seen redstarts in S Dakota. Never got good photos there, either. Oy.

I also saw, very briefly, an all pale-yellow bird today, but it was extremely aloof and so I'm not sure what it was. I do know it was not a palm or pine warbler, so I'm hoping it was a female summer tanager, or another newbie... Fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed...

The redstart flitted all over, among trees and shrubs, as it does...

….Other exciting news, we now have not one, but two female painted buntings visiting the feeders! Actually the one on the left has a good amount of pretty yellow so am wondering if it's an imm. male. Either way, here's hoping a mature male shows up one of these days…..

…I was also lucky to witness a female red-bellied woodpecker, apparently, "sunning" on the fence. She sat with wings fanned out like this for several minutes. After 3 days of rain, including a couple nasty storms, I can't say as I blame her. The weather's super nice today…great day to be a bird.

Bye Bye Ms. Bunting…Bring Yer Man Next Time!

Oh happy day! Just a few minutes ago, I spied (with my little eye) a soft green bird in the back yard…at a feeder, then on the ground…It was raining and as usual the pics were taken thru glass, but I could tell this little missy was two-tone green! I posted her to a bird ID page on Facebook and it was confirmed…a female Painted Bunting!! A lifer, oh yay! Hope springs that I'll see a male…if not here, I am planning a road trip w/ a friend next week, to a couple birding spots, including a painted bunting "cluster" area.

A Lucky Ducky Lifer

Our rambling RV'er friends returned to their favorite campground recently, and after a pleasant lunch, hubby headed off to work while I hung out awhile…the three of us enjoyed some relaxation at the beach, needless to say…

While lounging like lazy lizards, we noticed a dark duck shape come bopping along from the north...

….I had to get the photos home and cropped and looked up in a guide book to know that this was a lone female black scoter! Not only a lifer, but she was a bit off course…apparently they are rare but not unheard of this far south of the Georgia coastline…

After several moments, along came two males, cruising south behind the female! This is my second scoter, having seen the white-winged scoter some years ago on the N. Calif. coast. 

*   *    *   *

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or cottage)…

…the brown thrasher has been making an occasional appearance…

This No. cardinal recently showed up, touting an exceptionally bright fiery red...

An indigo bunting showed up, just when I was lamenting the possibility of not seeing any again…he seemed interested in the bottle brush blossoms...

The squirrels continue to do their acrobatics to reach the blossoms at the end of skinny, flexible branches...

…As do the No. mockingbirds…the blossoms look like a vampire sucked the life out of them…deflated and faded red…

I'm tickled that I continue to see a grey catbird occasionally…managed to get slightly better photos than before.

The anoles are back out, green ones and brown ones…there's always one who claims the top of this sprinkler for an outlook post.

Birding Bonanza

The past few days I've been seeing more "new" birds at the feeders, or under them…! Friday I dropped hubby at the park and went here and there in the general area of Flagler and Ormond Beaches, my first real birding outing since moving to NE Florida, away from the Atlantic shoreline. Not far away, but…

First, let's see what I've found close to home…starting with the most exciting visitor(s)! 

Imagine my shock and excitement to see an indigo bunting, a lifer!!

It puttered around the ground below the feeders for quite awhile…I saw the lone bunting two days in a row, then nothing for a few days, and then...

A trio of indigo buntings! After this sighting, a few days ago, there's been nothing since, but they are a summer resident of Florida…

At least one No. mockingbird has become brave enough to check out the feeders…this is a first…I think he really wants suet but seems awkward at the suet feeder...

I took photos of this small dove because it was clearly so much smaller than the mourning dove…turns out it's the common ground-dove, a lifer! It isn't so common in the US actually (see your bird guide)...

Here's a comparison shot of a mourning dove (top) and the ground-dove (bottom)…

I spent some time outside hoping I could catch a brave bird or two w/o the glass window between us…and got two iffy shots of what turns out to be the palm warbler…the birds and squirrels love the bottle brush flowers (boo-boo)! The palm warbler only winters in FL so I'm no doubt only getting a fleeting look at them…they summer much further north in Canada...

I was lucky to catch a brown thrasher at a feeder a few days ago! This is my 2nd sighting of them...

A Carolina wren was bold enough to climb up the screening on our back porch, perching briefly on the light under the awning...

A couple pale Amer. goldfinches visited recently…they've been pretty scarce this year...

Here's a squirrel caught in the act of ravaging my lovely bottle brush tree…they like to snap the entire blossom off; there's dozens on the ground, grrrr!

So, Friday about 8:00 am I began my birding outing…this is a view of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Gamble Rogers State Park…as lovely as this is….

The only bird I saw was this No. cardinal….humph!

So, I moved on south to No. Peninsula Salt Marsh...

Since I wasn't supposed to walk out towards the marsh, I had to take distant photos, starting with this one of a killdeer...

…And an immature bald eagle…

…And a great blue heron…

….A lesser yellowlegs…(or greater? both winter here)…

…Hmm, a black-bellied plover? Feel free to correct me...

After the salt marsh, I headed back north a bit…while passing the N Peninsula, on the W side of A1A, I spotted a Florida scrub jay (!!!) way up on the power line! A lifer! They are known to inhabit that area so I will have to make an effort to find one closer up...

I proceeded to a really nice boardwalk that leads over the Intracoastal marshes and oyster beds towards the open waterway…

And found this tri-colored heron (1st for 2014) fishing….

…and another one…

…As well as this snowy egret, that kept flapping its wings but didn't take off...

Walking back towards the parking lot, I scared a pileated woodpecker from a dead tree by the boardwalk…scared myself too! Had to take a long-distance shot once it landed again…

While walking on a dirt path under the hammock, I looked up through the foliage in time to see an osprey flying over, with a fish in its talons…I grumbled about missing that shot…a bit later I looked up as I walked under a dead tree... 

Directly above me, 30 feet max., I discovered the same osprey having its brunch...

Ah yea, sushi! Mmmm….

…For some reason, the fish needed to be given the stink eye…

The light was too harsh to get a great shot but it was a pretty cool experience…except for when a mature gentleman came along walking his dog and I pointed the osprey out to him…and he replied, "But isn't that a bald eagle?" Uh….no. It's not the first time someone tried to tell me that maybe an osprey was an eagle. Wishful thinking!

I then moved on to a town park with a nice foot path, partly along the west side of the Intracoastal...

I took a short walk to see what was about…a great egret was perched on a bare tree on the opposite side….

On my way back, an osprey flew over….

And joined the egret, giving it a visual lesson about hierarchy...

Despite the poor or lack of photos, it has been a pretty nice birding week!