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Florida Birds Sept 2022

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9-29-22  I have made it home after evacuating for Hurricane Ian. The water out of the bay was sucked dry by the hurricane and deposited down south!

Ibis, Snowy, and Egrets have come to snatch up little fish or crustations left behind. See video below:

9-28-2022 While the Hurricane Ian rages outside, I have been trying to catch up with my photos. My “dongle”s which allowed me to send the phots from the computer chip to my laptop had both failed. I had to download from the camera directly to the laptop, this took hours to do, rather than the 15 minutes. I had ordered a new dongle but it had not arrived before I had to vacate. Here are some of the photos.

Downey woodpecker. As I sat in my kayak he landed right 20 feet from me.
One of three pile driving rigs here.
Dorsal fin of the dolphin that had a fishing net stuck to it. It looks like someone shot it.
Carley the hunting dog that barks when dolphin come by.
The little piglet Curley is growing up!
Pelican on the wing.
Sandpiper.
Cormorants in the shade. Sun behind the clouds.
Cormorant.
Tri-color.
Tri-color has white under!
Three of five Egrets, the Tri-color, and the Little Blue on the oyster bar.
Tri-color
Snowy Egret
And under here.......
Juvenile Little Blue, no blue feathers yet!
Adult Little Blue.
Ibis with a crab!
The female Anhinga I see every day.
Great Blue Heron
Royal Tern
Royal Tern diving.
Off he goes with his fish.
Osprey
Little Green.
Ducks on the wing.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Juvenile Night Heron.

September 18, 2022    – Another nice day, one dolphin and several manatees were sighted today!

Osprey at the top of a mast.
Brown Pelican in the mangroves by my place.
Royal Tern fishing for breakfast.
Snowey Egret at Maximo Marina.
Little Greem looking for bugs to eat.
Tri-color Heron
It has been a month since I had seen a Tri-color.
Juvenile Little Blue, still has a few white baby feathers.
Young male Mallard - his green feahers on his head have not all come in yet.
Female
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Black Crowned Night Heron, it has been many months since I had seen him.
Showing off his black crown.
Egret
Egret, Snowy and two Ducks at the dam.
Egret at the marina, the Egret and a Snowy seem to pal around together.
Female Anhinga hiding in her usual spot.
Snout of one of the manatees I saw today.
Another manatee.

Sept 17, 2022  – We had over 5 inches of rain last night, my rain gauge only has capacity for 5 inches and it overflowed. Today was nice out, in the low 70’s. Not many birds though.

This juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron wss in my path going down to the water as I came back. When I disturbed him, he flew up to my neighbor's deck!
Female Anhinga.
Anhinga drying his feathers.
Little Green Heron on the pipeline.
Egret
Osprey

September 16, 2022 – A nice cooler day.  Again I got a good photo of my nemesis, the Kingfisher! YAY!

Kingfisher
Cardinal
You will have to use your imagination, the manatee was here!
I am a trained thermographer, by FLIR so this was of interest to me. Some of the boats have this FLIR camera, it is a $22,000 camera so they can see at night! The boat owner said that he can see as well at night as he can during the day!

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Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican right over my head!
Little Green Heron
Female Anhinga
Ducks
Ibis
Snowy
Egret

September 15, 2022  –  A break in the weather! 70’s this morning!

The Kingfisher hovering - ready to dive and try for a fish!
Kingfisher, he missed this time.
Blue Jay at the feeder.
Willet
Willet with a breakfast of crab.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Little Blue Heron
Female Anhinga
Snowy
Brown Pelican
Ibis
Two Osprey!

September 14, 2022 – A nice day this morning. I got some nice photos of an Osprey and of a Yellow Crowned Night Heron having breakfast of a crab.

Osprey on the wing.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron found breakfast, a crab.
Down the hatch.
Juvenile Night Heron
Snowy posing for me.
Female Anhinga
Egret
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Willet
Piping Plover
Royal Tern
Two Kingfishers!

September 7, 2022  – An adventure every day!
1. I paddled further north on Bear Creek than I had ever been, but was stopped after a half mile by a 24 inch tree that had fallen across the creek. I could have portaged around it, but there was no easy way to get out of my kayak to do that.
2. I saw a momma dolphin and a baby, and also a manatee today.
3. I finally got better photos of the Kingfisher!

Kingfisher!
The fast flyer is off!
Manatee snout, nature John had touched him, but the manatee did not like that.
Nature John lives along Bear Creek.
Flowers along Bear Creek
Vegetation over the upper Bear Creek.
Huge leaves along the creek (some 4 feet wide.)
A dragon fly called a Four-spotted Pennant
Momma dolphin next door to Allan's home
Baby dolphin;s dorsal fin.
The section from 65th to 64th was the new section, I had to go over the pipeline, over the dam, and over the "goat" to proceed up that 1/2 mile. The creek walls on either side were about 20 feet high!
This is the "goat" that collects debris that I had to go over, Little Green is using it to fish off from.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Little Blue.
This is the first male Mallard I have seen, he was on the upper reach.
Ibis
Osprey
Pirate ship

Dolphin day today Sept 5, 2022, as well as jacks (fish) making a splash, birds, and flowers.

Pelican
I have to give this female Anhinga a name, she lives in this mangrove bush and I see her every morning.
A lady feeds these ducks on this seawall.
Egret in a tree.
Osprey, they, like the hawks, like to look at their feet a lot.
This is the first time I have seen an Osprey on top of a Christmas tree! (Norfork Island Pine)
A Little Blue, he almost has all of his blue feathers now!
Little Blue with a snack.
And another snack!
Flowers on my trek.
Manatee snout.
Dolphin chasing fish for breakfast.
M photographing - making a movie of the dolphin racing around.
J looking on.
This couple live on their sailboat moored out in Boca Ciega Bay, she works, so he brings her to shore every morning.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
I do not think he is fully a Yellow Crowned, but maybe a mix of Yellow Crowned and Black Crowned? Or maybe a juvenile Yellow Crowned.
Juvenile Little Green.
Adult Little Green
Gull (remember, there is no such thing as a "seagull", they all have names such as Laughing Gull).
Snowy with a nice mise-en-scène

Sept 4, 2022   Pelican day!

A Gull sitting on the Pelican's head hoping the Pelican will drop something! The Pelican can do nothing about it.
Three Cormorants and a Duck?
Cormorant taking off.
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue Heron and a Snowy at the dam.
Male Cardinal.
Female Cardinal.
Female Grackle
Bougainvillea
Blue Jay
Harmless black snake (he eats bugs, not venomous)
Use your imagination, dolphin? Manatee? It rocked my kayak!
Adult Little Green Heron.
Juvenile Little Green.
ibis ready to mate.
Laughing Gull.
Gull on the wing.
Snowy

I had visitors out on the water today.

And a watcher from shore.
A dolphin made a huge splash, I only got the result.
Ducks
Little blue, still has not got all of his blue feathers yet.
Breakfast!
A Little Green looking for his breakfast.
A Snowy Egret.
A Snowy Egret on the wing (black beak, yellow feet)
Egret on the wing, yellow beak, black feet.
Osprey
Eggs of a Channeled Whelk
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August Birds of Florida

8-31-2022
Kayaking near Lady Pearl I saw a number of manatees!  It is a long video but it shows what I see. The big flat part is their tail as they dive. This is my duck, my companion on the kayak, he is always looking out for me! 🙂

Body of the manatee.
Dorsal fin of a dolphin nearby.
Little Green
Juvenile Little Green, still has his baby feathers sticking up!
Ibis on a powerline.
Great Blue up river on the dam.
Snowy
Snowy have a black beak and yellow feet!
Flock of thirteen ducks which I see regularly.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Juvenile Yellow Crowned, the yellow is not all in yet.
Egret by the dam.

Kayaking 8-28-2022

Dolphin sighting.
Sea Grape berries are starting to turn purple, when they are all purple they can be turned into jelly.
Brown Pelican
Taking off
On the wing
Laughing Gull
A Great Blue came and sat in the nest the Great Blue's had abandoned!
Female Anhinga
Osprey
Snowy Egret
Ducks
Duck on the wing
Cormorant, first one I have seen in two months.
My nemesis, the Kingfisher sat on her branch long enough to let me get her photo!!
It turned out that she was looking down at what I think was her mate down below! He flew before I saw him.
My friend's pig is growing! Look at that belly!!
This is one of several pile caps, so funny!
The wild conures know where the bird feeders are.
"Nature John" he calls himself.
Scott and his wife off for a "coffee" run.
Water hyacynth, a weed in fresh water, it does not survive in salt water though.
Sandwich Tern (the yellow on the tip of his beak looks like mustard, which is where he gets his name).
Anhinga
She looks bedraggled having just come out of the water!
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Snowy
Snowy getting breakfast of the critters on the seawall.
Short-tailed Hawk
Little Blue Juvenile.
Little Green
A pair of juvenile Little Green Herons.
Egret
Ibis

After my bout with COVID I am back in the pink.

The first time in months that I have seen a Tri-Color!
Female Anhinga.
Snowy Egret.
Snowy
Yellow feet = Snowy
Sandwich Tern
Short-tailed Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
Laughing Gull
Great Blue Heron
Egret
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Little Green.
Juvenile Little Green
Osprey
Female
Male
Bob and his new Kayak.
Someone with three new kayaks being towed by a sailboat.
One of many manatees. I spent an hour watching and photographing manatees on Sunday.
Usually all you see of manatees is their nose coming up for air.
This huge manatee came up and looked around!
The tail of a manatee.
You will have to use your imagination on this one, my lens will not focus on anything closer than 10 feet. This is a photo of the mother manatee on the right, to the left is the baby and to the right out of the photo was junior. All three came right up to within a foot of my kayak, then dove right under it! The baby later came up to the right side of the kayak for a closer look, twice!!
On the top is one manatee, the middle is a huge manatee, and a third manatee is nuzzling the big one.
A guy on the ship Lady Pearl watching the manatees.
Lady Di came along and saw some of the manatees and dolphin.
A photo of a spider web about 30 feet inland from my kayak, I took the same photo with my P900 (this was with my D300). In the photo with the P900 you could not see the individual threads in the web. That is why I like my 15 year old D300. As I have said before, I have been very hard on this camera, I have had it in the oven twice to dry it out after a dunking, but it still goes on. a good review of it is at https://www.photographytalk.com/nikon-d300-review I have learned that spiders will roll up their web and then eat it. It then be used again!
A dolphin coming almost right at me.
At least five dolphins last Sunday.
A female Cardinal.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron, its new all blue feathers have not come in yet.
Egret watching for breakfast to swim by.
Egret with a Little Green on a concrete wall.
Detail of the Little Green.
Where did that long neck come from? He folds it up!
Osprey watching.
Female Osprey on the right (she has a "V" shaped set of brown feathers at her chest) and a male Osprey on the left. I have never seen two Osprey so close together before! They usually are reclusive.
Osprey diving for his breakfast.
The usual stance of the Osprey.
Portrait of a Snowy Egret.
Egret on the left, a Snowy Egret on the right, a good depiction of the relative size.
Female Anhinga.
The female Anhinga has a grey or buff neck and black with white trim the rest,
Ibis with a crab for breakfast.
Juvenile Ibis, his grey neck feathers will be replaced with white ones as he molts.
Older Ibis, his red growth under his chin (the wattle) signifies that he is ready to mate.
This photo shows the range of my lens, this is at 600mm and the same bird is at the right above taken at 150mm.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Neck above is extended, this photo has his neck folded down.
Two hawks, the one on the left is all dark brown, the one on the right has a pure white brest.
Hawk on the wing.
Little Snowy on the left, Great Blue Heron on the right. Another good representation of the relative size.
It looks like the Great Blue is waiting for a fish from the boat, but the Great blue is several hundred feet away and the boat is close.
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July Birds of Florida

More July photos, no changes to the weather.

Brown Pelican.
Black Skimmer
White Chested Hawk
Oyster Catcher
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron with breakfast of crab.
Egret on the wing.
Snowy
Great Blue Heron
Osprey with breakfast.
Duckling that comes to my kayak looking for a handout.
Little Green Heron
Photo of a Little Green Heron taken by Jim with his cell phone. The Little Green had landed right beside him.
Female Anhinga, she sits in the same mangrove bush every day.
Male Anhinga.

The dolphin was going back and forth chasing fish just in front of me, I hoped that he would not get any closer or I would be going for a swim!

July 3 to 10, weather about 84° every day with breezes ranging from none to 7 mph. People said that they did not want daily updates, so I decided to do this weekly.

A boat under the bridge with no identification?
Dolphin seen every few days. They chase fish for breakfast.
A friend's hunting dog, a very nice friendly dog.
Looks like the Gray Kingbird.
Anhinga
White-tailed Hawk. He was in the Great Blue Heron's abandoned nest this morning.
Brown Pelican
Mom and three new ducklings.
Ibis
Juvenile Ibis
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Snowy Egret
Egret
Egrets are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build.
Osprey
Juvenile Little Green Heron
I have seen the Black Skimmer multiple times, but when he passed15 feet in front of me doing 30 miles an hour, all I got was blurry mangrove!
Great Blue Heron

Saturday, July 2, 2022. Warm 80°, light breeze, sunny, water with one to two inch waves..

Dawn
Mother and baby dolphins.
Another dolphin, I also saw a manatee, but no photo.
Juvenile Little Green Heron, three babies and a parent were out running around on the docks and boats.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in the shadows at dawn.
Very young Night Heron.
Another juvenile, just a hint of light feathers on his forehead, he may become a Yellow Crown, will not know until he grows up if he will be Yellow Crown or Black Crown.
Little Blue Heron, his baby white feathers are falling out and his adult blue feathers are coming in.
Snowy
Ducks on the wing.
Three Amigo's still together.
No Ibis at the oyster bar, just up a tree.
Dove
Osprey on mast.
Laughing Gull.
Anhinga in the mangroves.
Brown Pelican
My most recent stalk of bananas, 128 so far.

Friday, July 1, 2022. 89°, light breeze, 4 inch chop out of the SE. Sunny day.

Dawn
Yellow Crowned Night Heron at dawn on the oyster bar.
Ibis shaking the crab to fling off its arms. The secondary eyelid is closed to protect its eyes, humans have the remainder of that secondary eyelid, but it no longer functions.
Osprey on top of a mast.
Adult Little Green, there are three or more juveniles running all around too!
Brown Pelican
He has got one eye on me!
Black Skimmer, the water has cleared up and he is skimming everywhere, I saw him three times, but too far away most of the time.
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June Florida Birds

Thursday June 30, 2022. 78°, summy, light breeze.

Sun is up (actually this rock called earth is rotating!)
One of three dolphins Allan saw at hid dock.
Boss Raven
A Cormorant! He came right up out of the water near Allan's dock!
Short-tailed Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk, light morph.
Black Skimmer! There is too much wood and stuff in the water for him to skim!
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Adult
Duck
Egret
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Ibis honoring the 4th of July..a little early.
With wattle!
Jyvenile Ibis
Juvenile Ibis, when he molts his new feathers will come in white.
Great Blue Heron
Pelican in flight
Workers re-roofing a house.

Wednesday, June 29, 2022. 82°, 81% humidity. Sunny, light breeze. The oyster bar was exposed for the first time in quite a while, so three Ibis and two Oyster Catchers took advantage of it. I took a lot of photos! I got photos of 12 species of birds, not including the sparrows, gulls, crows, and ravens.

Dawn
Ibis with breakfast of crab. While I was there they ate a dozen crabs!!
Juvenile Ibis.
Two Oyster Catchers were there eating oysters!
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Duck, mom with three chicks were in the shadow eating the spilled bird food from the bird feeder!
Osprey
Juvenile Little Green on the railing.
Black Skimmer, the water was full of forest floor debris from the 6 inches of rain runnoff so he could not fish.
Egret, Great Blue and a Black Skimmer!!
Juvenile Little Blue.
Juvenile Brown Pelocan
Brown Pelican
Short-tailed Haw being chased by the crows.k

Monday, June 27, 2022. 75° to start 85° upon return, sunny, light breeze.

Dawn
Short-tailed Hawk, again chased by the crows.
Cormorant flying by.
Three juvenile Ducks are growing up!
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Black Crowned Night Heron on the dam, multi-colored trash behind him on the "GOAT", trash barricade a friend had erected. https://www.watergoat.org
Egret on the dam.
Anhinga in the same mangrove as yesterday.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Ibis high up in a tree.
Juvenile Little Green Heron.
Adult Little Green Heron (darker).
This shows how little the Little Green Heron is, beside a kayak.

Sunday June 26, sunny, 82°.

Dawn, a few light clouds. Dust from Africa is turning the sunrise yellow, the dust also includes nutrients that land here and in the Amazon and may affect red tide organisms here!
Ibis flying over.
Short -tailed Hawk,
Juvenile Little Blue
This shows you how little the Little Blue is, that is a fishing rod behind him.
Snowy a football field away.
Male Anhinga
Baby ducks are growing up!
Older photo I took of an Osprey amd lunch.
Brown Pelican, there were four Pelicans around this morning, including the one with the hook in his chest. It does not bother him and he is flying and eating well, so the Seabird Sanctuary says to leave him alone, the hook will dissolve in a while.
Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron.
Juvenile Little Green Heron.
Ann and Sammy.
Scott has up a new flag!
One of two possums running around.
My bananas are not ripe yet.
Another stalk is just starting.
Snails growing on a mangrove stem. These are the snails who's eggs are so tiny they made it past the water filters in the reverse osmosis plant and the snails clogged up the works. The Tampa Bay plant became fully operational in early 2008. It was originally scheduled to open in 2006. The largest seawater desalination facility in the US, it produces an initial 25 million gallons per day (mgd) of drinking water, to help reduce the growing demand on the area’s aquifers. The plant now provides 10% of the region’s drinking water supply.
The spider web was interesting it was like a dome with these egg casings over it.

June 25, 2022. Saturday, 78°, not much breeze, sunny after the sun cleared the clouds.

Dawn
Great Blue Heron before dawn.
Little Green Heron at dawn.
Anhinga a long way away.
Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron.
Laughing Gull on the wing
Snowy Egret
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Duck
Two Pelicans
Pelican has a fish hook in his chest, he has been trying to get it out.
Osprey on top of a mast.
Osprey on the wing.

June 24, 2022. Friday, 84° 6 to 8 mph wind, 3 inch chop, water temp 90°. Sunny.

Dawn
Ibis on the wing.
Juvenile Ibis
Yellow Crowned Night heron with breakfast.
Little Blue Heron
Duck
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Anhinga
Brown Pelicans
Black Skimmer
Great Blue Heron
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Pelican with fishhook

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June Bird Photos

Thursday June 23, 2022. 82°, mostly sunny and humid. Light breeze.

Dawn
Ibis flying over.
Short-tailed Hawk.
Snowy
Juvenile Night Heron (possibly Black Crowned)
Great Blue Heron hiding.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Duck
Juvenile Little Green Hero, check out the tuffs of feathers on the top of his head!
Brown Pelican on the wing.
Osprey

Wednesday, June 22, 2022, cloudy, humid, 80°. No breeze.

American Crow
Black Crowned Night Heron
Male
Female
Juvenile growing up.
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Brown Pelican
Black Skimmer
Female Anhinga
Great Blue Heron

Monday, June 20, 2022. Clear, humid, 84°.Light breeze. Dolphin started the day!

Dawn
Allan got this photo of the dolphin 15 feet in front of me jumping out of the water!!!!
Black bird.
Blue Jay.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Egret
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Snowy
Ducks
Great Blue Heron
Little Green Heron
Breakfast
Two Juveniles sparing.
Osprey

Sunday, June 19, 2022. FATHERS DAY. Mostly clear, light breeze made a chop that made it hard to get some photos, humid.

Every morning I stop to say hi to Kevin's dogs Elvis and Vegas. Kevin sent this photo to me of Elvis on his first kayak ride!!
Raven chasing Great Blue. The Raven chased him all across the sky, I guess for sport, not to protect his nest or anything like that. The Crows and Ravens are chasing out all of our birds except for the Ducks and Little Green Herons.
Great Blue Heron hiding under the dock.
Juvenile Little Green Heron.
Brown Pelican
Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Saturday, June 18, 2022. Mostly clear, light breeze, humid. 

Duck.
Dawn
Juvenile Little Green Heron.
Adult Little Green Heron.
Snowy Egret
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Osprey
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Black Skimmer
Black Skimmer flew right beside me, the camera did not have time to focus!

June 17, 2022, light wind 82° humid.

Sunrise
Short-tailed Hawk
Osprey
Anhinga

Thursday, June 16, 2022. 82°, no wind, sun came from behind the clouds by 8 AM. Hot, humid weather! I got photos of 11 species and saw five others: Anhinga’s flying over, a Black Skimmer flying by, Doves, Gulls, and an Osprey!

Dawn is 6:38 here.
Ibis - taken before the sun cleared the clouds.
Pelican just out of the water.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Snowy Egret
Duck
Two of four juvenile Little Green Herons out this morning. playing on the boat hoists like a jungle gym.
Short-tailed Hawk hiding in the mangroves.
Oyster Catcher.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue Heron
Egret

Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 84°, no wind, sunny, very humid. Water temperature 91°, same is in the pool!

Osprey
Egret with mating plumage.
Egret landing on the dam.
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Detail of Great Blue
Male Duck
Mom and three Ducklings.
Juvenile Little Blue
Juvenile Little Green
Love the scraggly feathers on top of the head of the juvenile Little Green Heron.
Gull found breakfast as big as he is!
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Ibis on the oyster bar waiting for the tide to go out.
Fisherman came on their bikes.
Young boy was an expert at throwing the net!
He caught a mullet!
And another fish.

Monday June 13, 2022, 79°, clouds moved away and it was nice. It was a day for babies! Almost all my photos today were of Juveniles.

A cloudy start at dawn.
Common Grackle, a glossy blackbird. Larger than a jay, smaller than a crow.
A Hawk.
Great Blue Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Three Amigos.
Egret
Little Green Heron.
Juvenile Little Green
Juvenile.
One of three juveniles running around.
Adult Little Green.
Adult Little Green fishing.
Osprey on the wing.
Juvenile Ibis.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Even younger juvenile Little Blue Heron.

Sunday, June 12, 2022, 79°, cloudy at first, but the clouds moved away. A beautiful day but bumpy with 7 mph wind out of the SE and 4-5 inch waves.

Dawn
Ibis at dawn.
Osprey tucked into the mangroves.
Pelican on a piling.
One of three Juvenile Little Green Herons treating the boat lifts as their jungle gym.
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Duckling
Snowy
Anhinga hiding in the mangroves.

June 10, 2022, Friday, 80°, 3 mph breeze, partly cloudy, thunderstorms building all across Florida.

Dawn
Female Anhinga
Short-tailed Hawk
Great Blue Heron
Juvenile Little Green Heron.
Two Juvenile Little Green Herons
The Little Green Herons have picked this tiny patch of mangroves beside Captain Mark's boat to have their nest and produce the above babies!
Egret
Osprey

June 8, 2022, 78° no wind, clear sunny sky.

Dawn.
I saw six dolphins this morning!!
Spanish Bayonet Yucca Aloifoli
House Sparrows are plentiful.
Pelican overhead.
Ibis on the wing.
Little Green Heron
Great Blue Heron being chased by a crow.
The Great Blue nest which was abandoned I believe was abandoned due to the crow infestation we have here. The crows chase every bird around and had taken over the nest the Great Blue Herons had built.
Greta Blue Heron
The Great Blue did not stay long, the crow chased him away again.
Juvenile Duck.
Female Anhinga at dawn.
Mom with three ducklings.
Adult Little Blue Heron.
Male Anhinga in the mangroves.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Juvenile Little Blue with a bug for breakfast.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron on the submerged oyster bed.
Detail.
Osprey
Short-tailed Hawk, he looked a lot like an Osprey from afar, but he is quite different.

June 6, 2022, Monday, 75° sunshine, water flat. a little breeze.

Sunrise...it looked like heaven to me!
An Anhinga at dawn.
Another Anhinga, still asleep.
A juvenile Little Green.
The juvenile has his baby fuzz still on top of his head.
Baby duckling.
More ducklings, the ducklings are so soft that the laser in the camera used for focusing does not work.
Mom and three ducklings.
Egret and ducks at the dam.
Great Blue Heron.
Osprey
Osprey checking his feet?
Osprey watching me carefully.
Juvenile Ibis (all of his while feathers have not come in - they come in during his molting period).
Juvenile Ibis (all of his while feathers have not come in - they come in during his molting period).
Juvenile Little Blue (all of his blue feathers have not come in - they come in during his molting period).
An even younger Little Blue (none of his blue feathers have come in - they come in during his molting period).
Detail of the juvenile Little Blue.
Detail of the Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron checking out his plumage.
Plumage all correct, now to call the ladies.
Or maybe a famale calling the guys? I do not know.

Sunday, June 5, 2022. The tropical storm went south of us, I got 1/4 ich of rain and lots of clouds. Today is beautiful, calm water, 72°, sunny.

Sun peeking over the mangroves, mangroves to the left, banana trees to the right.
Sun reflection on flat water.
Anhinga hiding in the mangroves.
Another Anhinga.
Doves in a flock of six.
Duckling
Male Mallard
King of his little mountain.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Snowy Egret.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Juvenile Little Blue with a water creature for breakfast.
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Female Osprey (dark feathers on chest)
Male Osprey

Thursday June 2, 2022, water ripples, 73°, no clouds.

Oyster Catcher on the oyster bar.
Little Blue Heron
Detail of the Little Blue.
Little Green Heron
Little Green Heron
Little Green Heron
Ibis looking for grub.
Duck leading the way up to the dam.
Two black headed Ducks.
Two ducklings.
Duckling.
Duckling in the water lettuce.
Mother Duck flapping her wings.
Ducklings in the lettuce.
Two ducklings, one in the shadow.
Snowy
Snowy Egret
Snowy on the dam.
Egret on the dam.
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue Heron
#1 in series of a Brown Pelican recovering from scooping up fish.
#2 The Brown Pelican slowly raises his head allowing the water to escape.
#3 Still raising his head.
#4 He has a bunch of fish in his pouch.
#5 He raises his head allowing the fish to slide down into his stomach.
#^ His pouch slowly deflates.
Off he goes in search of more food!
Allan;s photo of a dolphin, I saw the same do;phin later but did not get a photo. Thanks Allan.

June 1, 2022 Wednesday water calm 74° no clouds. Seven inches of rain in the past two days, storms in the evenings.

The water was flat with a lot of water lettuce all over. Water lettuce is a fresh water plant that is washed down from the upper reaches of Bear Creek.
Water lettuce sometimes covers ponds, but it will soon die in the salt water.
Big catfish caught by Chuck on the Lady Pearl.
Osprey on guard, watching for a fish for breakfast.
Snowy Egret fishing.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned going after a fish.
Black Crowned Night Heron.
Black Crowned hiding in the mangroves.
Egret and blue sky.
Egret
Anhinga on the dock.
Mom with nine ducklings.
Three Ducklings.
More ducklings.
Brown Pelican
Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Categories
Daily Blog

Bird Photos May 2022

Monday May 30 – Memorial Day. 74° light breeze kicking  up 4 to 6 inch waves. Quite bumpy in the bay.

Dawn
Two dolphins.
Allan sent over his photo of two dolphins.
The nose of a manatee.
A Mocking Bird.
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican at rest.
Juvenile Little Green Heron
Look at that fuzzy top of his head! A juvenile Little Green Heron.
Osprey at the north end of the island.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue and a Duck way up the Bear Creek.
Snowy fishing.
Snowy Egret.
Snowy with a snack.
Snowy
Little Blue Heron
Little Blue
Ibis up in a longleaf pine.
Ibis, unfortunately I clipped off the black tips of his wings.
Female Anhinga in the mangroves.
Female Millard Duck.
Juvenile

Ducklings following momma.

May 29, 2022, 70°. absolute calm most of the trip. A great day for dolphins!!

Before sunrise, clouds on the very horizon, cloudless otherwise.l
Sun glancing off of the glass.
Dolphis all around me! One sounded like it did a leap, but it was behind me, what a huge splash!!
A mother and her baby!
Mother and baby again.
Lots of dolphins!!
Osprey
Osprey
Snowy struking.
Snowy with a snack.
Snowy on the hunt.
Snowy with breakfast.
Snowy
Ducklings, they have very sharp toenails and can climb on slippery rocks.
Mother and four ducklings.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Little Green Heron.
Little Green Heron
A little Green Heron fishing.
Little Green Heron
Gret Blue Heron
Great Blue
Great Blue

May 28, 2022, 75°, no wind at first, 5 to 8 mph on return – out of the west.

Dawn
Mullet swimming in a school.
Sea grape, they say the fruit makes good jelly.
Red Mangrove with seeds almost ready to drop.
Conures on the wing.
Little Green
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Detail of Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Ducks are growing up.
Ducklings picking sea creatures off the sea wall.
Snowy
Snowy
Great Blue Heron in the mangroves.
Regal looking Osprey.
Egret striking at a fish.
Egret
Egret
Egret in the mangroves.

May 26, 2022, 77°, sun and clouds. Wind picked up to 10 mph and 4 inch waves.

Dawn
I keep seeing coconuts floating, now I see why!
Yellow floats with silt barrier used during construction, but what construction?
Ibis with pouch still.
Another Ibis.
Ibis
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Detail of Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Little Green Heron.
Egret
Egret fishing
Egret
Ducklings
Allan sent over this photo of a Great Blue sitting on his dock!
The Great Blue was still there when I came by!
The wind was flipping up his feathers!
That feather must have been annoying!
Osprey right overhead! They were enjoying all the wind we are getting.
I love how his feet just tangle his talons right together.
Categories
Daily

Bird Photos May 2022

Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 75° beautiful day. Another day with the manatees! I had not brought my phone, so no photos (my camera only focuses about 10 feet away, he was 12 inches from my lens), but a manatee came up and put his nose on the side of my kayak!! I petted him, gave him a scratch. He slid under my kayak and ribbed his back on the underside! I was glad he did not push too hard and dump me! Then he played with the handle on the stern that hangs down, tossing it around. Then he came back for more petting and a little scratch!!!!!
What an amazing time!!!

The nose of the manatee!
Dawn
Blue Jay
Egret on the wing.
Egret on the dam.
Baby duck.
Duck enjoying his bath.
Juvenile Ducks.
These three do not have an adult with them.
Great Blue Heron.
Great blue with the owl that is there to "scare off" birds. The owl is ignored.
Detail of Great Blue Heron.
Osprey on the wing.
Osprey
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned with breakfast.
Yellow Crowned in my path.
Yellow Crowned Heron

Monday, May 23, 2022, 77° cloudy at start, cleared up later, but photos are still not so sharp due to lack of light.

Cloud cover.
Galinule (or Swamp Hen).
Manatee! One of four all in one spot!
Manatee with head out of the water!
Manatee
Manatee right beside ne!
Osprey on the wing.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Black Crowned Night Heron.
Egret on the wing.
Egret
Egret
Little Green Herom.
Little Green Heron fishing.
Snowy
Snowy fishing.
Duck
Ducks still growing.
Female Duck.
Junior
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron

Friday, May 20, 2022, 75° clear sky at 6:45 when I went out, fully clouded over with thunder and lightning to the south as I returned at 7:15. Short run this morning!

Thunderstorms on the way, short paddle today.
Allan took photos of two manatees this morning.
The ISP was having problems, but it was not my connection, I was getting over 200 Mbps!
The moon before the clouds came rolling in.
Sunrise, before the storm.
The sun made it look like fire!
Two Oyster Catchers on the oyster bar - looking south with the slate gray sky in that direction.
The two Oyster Catchers.
The local Hawk. I think it is a Red Shouldered Hawk.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in my path as I left.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron as I caught up to him later.

Thursday May 19, 2022, 75° mostly sunny, NO wind.

Moon htis morning.
Dawn
Sun reflecting off of windows and then off the water.
Galinule
Galinule
Blue Jay
Sparrow
Manatee nose.
Manatee tail.
Manatee back.
One of two Oyster Catchers on the oyster bed.
Osprey with moon.
Great Blue
Little Green with breakfast.
Little Green.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron, adult
Juvenile Yellow Crown Night Heron.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron
Juvenile Little Blue
Ibis in s tree.
Ibis still with his wattle.
Juvenile Duck.
Duck
Bird of another type flying around..
Allan saw two dolphins circling his dock getting breakfast!

Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 74°, no wind, quite still.

Dawn
Moon just before dawn.
Oyster Catcher on the oyster bar!
Oyster Catcher mate, with breakfast!
Pair of Oyster Catchers.
Three Spotted Sandpipers on the oyster bar.
Three little guys!
Snowy Ehret.
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Crow with his breakfast.
Dove
Ibis on the oyster bar.
This White Ibis is showing all the characteristics of breeding season. There is a bright red gular sac (or wattle) at his chin. His bill is also blacker at the end. This sac is only visible for 10 days or so in mating season so it was a pretty lucky find.
Great Blue Heron.
Detail of Great Blue.
Little Green Heron.
Adult Little Blue Heron.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron looking up at the adult above.
Detail of Juvenile Little Blue.
Two baby ducks, no longer with the flock.
The third baby Duck without a keeper.

Monday May 16, 2022, 72° water temp 72°, no wind at atart, 4 mph at end. Sunny.

Dawn
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Snowy
Snowy with breakfast.
Snowy fishing.
Little Green in the dark.
Juvenile Little Blue.
Great Blue by the abandoned nest.
Great Blue Heron

Sunday May 15, 2022, 72°, little wind, sunny after the sun cleared the clouds.

The sun is up, but not clear of the clouds yet.
The moon was almost full last night, so I got out my Nikon Coolpix P900 and took a photo of it. My D300 does not work to get a sharp photo of the moon, but the Coolpix does.
I think that they have nets in those bags.
The Hawk in the mangroves, a Blue Jay was pestering him!
Crows
An Egret on the oyster bar.
An Osprey.
The Ducklings.
Little Blue
Yellow Crowned Night Heron, there were 8 out this morning!
Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Night Heron
Adult and Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Great Blue Heron.
Great Blue
Spider web
Squirrel
Cal's pet pig! Three months old.

Saturday, May 14, 2022. 70° no wind, lots of sun.

Dawn
A large manatee.
;Blue Jay at someone's bird feeder.
Hawk up in the mangroves.
A very large Hawk.
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, these guys are making nests in any opening they can find!
The Swallow above is no larger than the Great Blue Heron's right foot!
Little Blue Heron with his long mane feathers.
Little Blue fishing.
Little Blue.
Another Little Blue.
And another Little Blue!
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned #2
Yellow Crowned looking at me.
Detail of Yellow Crowned night Heron.
Duck standing on the bulbous bow protrusion of a power boat..
The ducklings are growing up!
Second set.
One flock.
Ducks on the wing

Friday May 13, 2022. It started out with a few clouds, then the clouds closed in. A light breeze 70°.

Cross a black cat, walk under a ladder or break a mirror, western culture has any number of great ways to bring about bad luck, but few are as curious as Friday the 13th. Deeply rooted in misfortune, the fabled day of disaster comes around once or twice a year to spook us into submission. There’s even a name for the irrational dread of the date: paraskevidekatriaphobia — which in itself is a specialised form of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13. Friday the 13th is a universally acknowledged day of bad luck.

The most commonly held theory of the origin can be traced back to a Norse myth about 12 gods holding a dinner party. at Valhalla. While the group initially intended to feast in the fabled halls, the event was interrupted by a 13th uninvited guest, the God of Mischief, Loki. According to legend, Loki tricked Höðrm the blind God of Winter into shooting his brother Baldr, the God of Summer with a magical spear tipped with mistletoe. The murder cast an awful shadow over the land and brought a fresh sentiment along with the number 13, which represented the unwanted 13th guest.

“Balder died and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day, but not for me today!

Dawn
Photo of the dolphin (one of three) heading south.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron with his breakfast of crab!!
Another Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Brown Pelican
Female Duck
Great Blue Heron landing at my launch site!
He decided to go down to the water.
Great Blue Heron.
Close up of Great Blue Heron on the wing.

Thursday May 12, 64° sunny, beautiful day.

Dawn
So many mullet were jumping I decided to try to get a photo, and here it is!
And another mullet jumping! It seems that no one knows why they jump, I think that they must have a floatation sac they are refilling...but who knows??
And another mullet!
A dolphin came to Allan's dock and he got some great shotos of it!
Dolphin chasing his breakfast.
Pelican at dawn flying overhead.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in searc of breakfast.
Detail of Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned.
One of four Yellow Crowned I saw this morning.
Osprey
Dove
Great Blue Heron
Egret Preening.
The ducklings are growing up. The two on the left have joined the rest of the flock/
The first Cormorant I have seen in a while!
Detail of the Cormorant.

Wednesday May 11, 2022 – 64° sweatshirt weather! Light breeze, sunny.

Dawn
Yellow Crowned Night Heron looking quizzical!
Yellow Crowned.
I saw 6 Yellow Crowned Night Herons this morning.
Spotted Sandpiper.
Osprey
Little Blue Heron.
Little Blue.
Juvenile Ibis
Adult and Juvenile Ibis
Laughing Gull.
Great Blue Heron.
Great Blue.
Ducks
Duck
Three Cormorants flying over.

May 9, 2022, 72° – cooler, 5 mph breeze, sunny.

Dawn
Swallow, one of many building nests nearby.
Large Raven.
Doves on the oyster bar.
Osprey carrying a huge fish!
Egret flying by.
Two Canada Geese flying by.
Ibis up in the mangroves.
Ibis

May 8, 2022, 74° slight breeze, sunny.

Pelicans on their daily overflight.
Osprey watching..
Dad, mom, and three ducklings.
Mom and three ducklings...photobombed by a Tri-colored Heron I did not see!
More ducklings.
Two caretakers and eight ducklings.
Great Blue displaying.
G.reat Blue Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned
Yellow Crowned
Forth Yellow Crowned Night Heron I saw this morning.
Monarch Butterfly in my garden - one of several.
Monarch Butterfly on milkweed.

May 6, 2022. 74° some clouds, slight breeze out of the SE.

Dawn - some clouds.
Detail of the Great Blue Heron.
Fancy top of pilings.
Eight ducklings.
Yearling assigned to take care of ducklings.
Osprey on his branch.
Juvenile Little Blue.

Cinco de Mayo 2022.  74° no wind, a light breeze.
Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

Dawn
A Blue Jay showed up!
A Spotter Sandpiper.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Little Green Heron.
Detail of the Little Green Heron.
Little Green Heron on the oysters growing on the seawall.
Little Blue Heron searching for breakfast.
Little Blue detail.
Little Blue fishing.
Male Duck
Mom and three ducklings.
Male Duck
Mom and three ducklings,
Great Blue Heron "hiding".
Great Blue Heron.
Great Egret
Great Egret

Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Another beautiful day, 74° light winds, sunny.

The route I ususally take, 3 miles paddling.
About dawn.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron in the path I use to launch my kayak.
Juvenile Little Blue
Little Blue with breakfast of crab.
Little Blue Heron
Juvenile Little Blue.
Spotted Sandpiper.
Osprey
Osprey on his perch.
Great Blue Heron.

Monday May 2, 2022. 72° no wind, sunny.

Dawn
Juvenile Little Blue.
At dawn this dove, a Little Blue, and a Yellow Crowned Night Heron were at the oyster bar.
A little Green Heron flitting around.
Little Green climbing along the oysters on the seawall.
Female Duck.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Spotted Sandpiper
Juvenile Little Blue. He has taken to stand on our trimmed mangroves where he finds lizards and stuff to eat.
Juvenile Ibis, has not lost all of his brown feathers yet. He will be all white in a year or so.

Sunday May 1, 2022. 72°, no wind to start, light breeze upon return.

Dawn
Spotted Sandpiper
Osprey standing guard.
Little Green Heron.
Detail of Little Green
Snowy eating clam for breakfast.
Profile of Snowy, known by its yellow feet..
Great Blue Heron
Detail of Great Blue.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron.
Detail of Little Blue.
Gallinule
Three baby ducks left.
Black Crowned Night Heron.
Detail of Black Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron.