Circle B Bar Preserve with the Caloosa Bird Club

I've been waiting for this moment for some time now and I'm so glad it's finally here. And it seemed to be very fitting to start the day with an owl considering how the day ended yesterday (you'll just have to scroll down to the previous post to see what I'm talking about). So, come along with me and see what the day brought...

A Barred Owl - what a beauty!

It sets the day and leads us to the trail.

And the trail took us to the next surprise....

A Wood Duck on top of a deal Palm tree.

A family of Sandhill Cranes was not too far.

Limpkins were heard and seen through the entire preserve.

Our group seems dwarfed by the mossy Oak Trees.

A House Wren

A Swamp Sparrow - right out in the open by my feet - I love this place!

A female Common Yellow-throat.

Another Limpkin

One of three Purple Gallinule that I saw.

An Anhinga in his beautiful breeding Plumage.

A Great Blue Heron on its nest.

A Glossy Ibis

An Eastern Phoebe

Can you see the Wilson Snipe?

How about now? Amazing how they blend in, hey?

A beautiful little Sora which wasn't much bigger than the Snipe.

Another Sandhill Crane.

A couple Forster Terns

A Royal Tern

A Green Heron

100+ Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

And that one odd ball in the back is a Fulvous Whistling Duck

The ducks were also perched within the mossy tree limbs.

Another Limpkin - this one is busy making its nest.

A close up of those Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

An American Robin - I never get tired of seeing them.

And the last sighting of the day - two Great Horned Owlets on the way out of Circle B Bar Reserve

One of them could be seen hiding behind the Ressurection Fern

What a perfect way to end a beautiful weekend - I feel blessed and my spirit is filled to the brim.

 

Celery Fields with the Caloosa Bird Club

It's a new day, a new month and a perfect time to meet up with the Caloosa Bird Club for a birding adventure - today's destination: Celery Fields....let's go!

We arrive early (the early bird gets the worm, you know - and the early birder gets the bird) and set out with bins and start looking. Right off the edge of those fence post - I found a Yellow-headed Blackbird mixed in with a dozen Brown-headed Cowbirds and as many Grackles. As soon as I got ready to take its photo, the whole flock took flight and disappeared down the street.

Across the way some Savannah Sparrows popped up.

Now, take this view in and see how inviting the area is.

Along the boardwalks we found several Soras - right out in the open for good looks. The Common Gallinule wished it had that much attention.

And that was the end of it.

A Swamp Sparrow probably wondered what was the fuss about.

In the meantime - "who's looking at who?" (A Red-shouldered Hawk on a camouflaged motion activated camera)

A Boat-tailed Grackle, my picture does not do it justice - it's plumage a rich and deep glossy blue.

A few Blue-winged Teal.

And a boat load of Northern Shovelers.

And up they went.

The Red-shouldered Hawk seemed to enjoy the show.

After a bit, we made our way into Myakka River State Park - this Tricolored Heron was one of the highlight.

The water levels were quite high following all the rain storms that we've had for the past two months - too deep for shorebirds.

Sweet sounds of birds raises our attention.

After doing our bird list and finishing up our lunches - we made a point of stopping along the bridge before leaving the park. A friend of mine (Hi Patch!) had mentioned that a white morph of the Great Blue Heron was hanging around - I was glad to be able to locate it.

It was a great day birding as always - way worth getting up in the wee hours of the morning. My E-Bird List for the Celery Fields, my E-Bird List for Palmer Blvd and my E-Bird List for Myakka River State Park.