Harn's Marsh in Lehich Acres with the Caloosa Bird Club

Before I begin today I want to express my gratitude to all of you who follow my blog on a regular basis, it brought a huge smile when I realized that the 100,000 views rolled over, so Thank You All, I could not have done it without YOU!

 Now, without much further adoo, let's move on to today's expedition.

It had been a couple of weeks since I went out with the bird club and several months since I visited Harn's Marsh - it was with great anticipation that we started our bird outing today. Come along and see what we feasted our eyes on .....

I love the big expanse of land and water and the peace that this space provides, don't you?

Harn's Marsh wouldn't be Harn's Marsh without all the Black and Turkey Vultures greeting us at the beginning.

The Boat-tailed Grackles wanted to make it more personal too.

Several Glossy Ibis can be seen around the Marsh.

And the Sandhill Cranes! Oh My!

We got a huge treat when they started their dance rituals while calling one another.

The Savannah Sparrows are always fun to watch too - up one minute and down the next.

The Gray-headed Swamp hen are alive and well.

More Crane action.

Harn's Marsh has a trail that loops around and if you have the energy you can easily walk it - all 4 miles of it. As a group, we signed up and had special permission to drive around but as you can see we all get out of our cars and spend time observing what takes place.

Another bunch - just how beautiful are they?

They granted me a group photo, thank you!

Other than large Crane, some tiny butterflies were observed as well - a Barred Sulphur is seen here.

My favorite: a bright yellow happy flower :)

Did you know that birders are great listeners?

How about an American Bittern - always hiding - but this time one of our members spotted it.

You can see how they can easily be missed.

A Limpkin - a regular at the Marsh.

More great spaces.

Looking for a Spotted Sandpiper - instead we spotted a Hooded Merganser and several Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

A Greater Yellowlegs sat long enough for me to capture it, the Lesser not so much.

Another Hooded - sweet!

Our last sweet bunch - Least Sandpipers! When you get a chance, make sure to visit Harn's Marsh - it will provide you with priceless time filled with beautiful creatures - big and small.

 

Harn's Marsh

I was happy to have the opportunity to revisit Harns Marsh, it had been a couple of months since my last visit - it's a lot quieter today but still quite an enjoyable place to be.

How fun to discover a couple fuzzy Least Bittern!

Several Limpkins were seen and some were feeding their little ones - apple snail are their Wheaties!

A Cattle Egret in breeding plumage - very lovely.

A Gray-headed Swamphen is photographed here, we later saw another adult with a young one.

The Marsh - such a vast expanse and always lovely to see - in that lone tree was a....

Snail Kite.

One family of Sandhill Crane.

A Tricolored Heron on a mission.

These eggs are the future Apple Snail which is food for the Limpkin and Snail Kite.

After leaving the Marsh, we were fortunate to come upon this pair of Bobwhite - I think they are the coolest quails!

 They didn't serenade us but the view was spectacular!

Harn's Marsh with the Caloosa Bird Club

Today turned out to be one of those Florida days - perfectly blue sky and warm sunshine - the type of days that is usually associated with Florida. We left early to arrive at Harn's Marsh with the sunrise, many bird folks beat us to it.

Come along and see some of the highlights of the day....

If I had embedded sound within this photo you would have heard the Limpkins calling.

This one was busy looking for apple snails.

A Tern whizzed on by several times - the sun hitting the bill and making it look like a Royal Tern but with closer study it was obvious that we were looking at a Caspian Tern - a bit bigger with a brighter 'reddish' bill.

Several coots, grebes and ducks were observed - these Ring-necked were particularly sharp looking.

In the distance, a pair of Sandhill Cranes were busy getting their nest in order.

A scope provided us with the perfect tool to observed them without disturbing them.

A Gray-headed Swamphen - aka Purple Swamphen - was in front of us playing peek-a-boo within the reeds. This Swamphen resembles a huge Purple Gallinule  with a reddish bill, frontal shield, iris and legs.

I wish I had a better photo to show you the difference between this Purple Gallinule and the Gray-headed Swamphen - however if you look closely you can see one of the difference being the legs and toes are bright yellow

One of several Savannah Sparrows.

American Wigeon in flight

Some happy yellow flowers - well, at least, that's how it makes me feel.

A Crested Caracara - one of my favorites.

More Sandhill Cranes - several were seen through the 4 mile loop - I never tire of watching them.....a great time for all. My E-Bird List for today.