What a sweet day this was! Not only did I have my great friend Carol riding with me but the weather also felt like we were back in Florida And, And, the birding was incredible! My only regret for the day is that it had to come to an end but, hey, that's okay - because this new day is what goals, anticipation, adventures and excitements are made of.....so it's all good.
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| We arrived at Ackerman Park a bit early and took the opportunity to enjoy the view. We watched this pair of Brown-headed Cowbird (both female) consume their breakfast before turning our attention to another.... |
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| a young male Red-winged Blackbird, which up until a few minutes ago thought it was another specie.....goes to show how much I still have to learn and grow along the way. |
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| Ducks! There were so many ducks to look at and it really made my day. |
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| It also provided me with more opportunity to reinforce what I knew and refresh what I had forgotten. |
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| So seldom do I see those beautiful ducks - I truly enjoy watching them. |
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| Then we moved a bit down the street and parked across the entrance to the Celery Fields and there I was blessed with a Savannah Sparrow sitting on top of the wooden railing - how sweet is that! |
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| Oh Boy! I just wanted to go and climb that hill while the song in my mind played "Climb every mountain....." |
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| I missed what flew overhead to disrupt the peace that the Glossy Ibis had been enjoying. |
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| It's a snake-eat-snake world out there. |
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| Simple yet sophisticated looking.....a black dress with a splash of color. |
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| Some of our fine looking birding folks in our group - close to 30. |
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| Sweet, more ducks! I have to make a correction here because the Northern Shoveler that I labeled as "female" is actually a male, just not in adult breeding plumage. My identification material shows the female as having a brown-streaked body with a spatula-shaped bill that is gray on top and orange along the opening....that should have been my clue right there. |
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| The male Northern shoveler in it's feathered glory. |
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| The Green-winged Teal is not too shabby either with its colorful feathers - standing there by a Killdeer. |
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| A bit further was the entrance to the Myakka State Park....I can really feel myself coming alive when I am surrounded by so many trees....my soul says: "I'm home". |
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| On the backside of the Myakka State park is a boardwalk where many species can be observed. The kestrel was observing us. |
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| Glossy Ibis.....feeling an itch to tell this guy...... |
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| well, what can I say.....signs are made to ????? you fill in the blank. |
And so this makes for a perfect day - almost 80 species went on my list for that day and out of that only 1 warbler....the famous Palm.
