I started my day with a visit at Ding Darling - wanting/hoping to see the White Pelicans. Some days you get what you want and today I got something else :) It was incredibly buggy this morning and resorted to birding inside my vehicle and taking pictures through my windows....note to self....make sure to keep windows clean.
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| A Yellow-Crowned Night Heron landed near me and made me smile - I love these guys. |
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| By the tower - a group of Woodstorks were busy preening and getting ready for the day. |
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| A Great Blue Heron was nearby - watching others. |
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| Some Short-billed Dowitchers |
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| A Black-bellied Plover without its black belly |
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| Another Great Blue Heron |
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| The morning treat: A Kingfisher lady landed not too far from me and stayed for a while. I noticed the two white spots in front of its eyes - making me think of headlights. |
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| Watching the blue sky and in deep thoughts perhaps. |
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| I also made a stop along the Caloosa Trail and spotted a Magnolia Warbler who made the sweetest sound ever - it moved way quicker than my ability to photograph it - however this visual and sound was accentuated with a heavenly smell from these flowers and it truly made for a perfect stroll, never a boring moment. |
After a break and some refreshments, I headed out to the Bailey Tract and had a grand time....come and see.....
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| A gator across the pond and from the look of it, I believe it probably measures close to 10 feet, I wouldn't want to mess with that one. |
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| Soon after, I noticed a family of Raccoons heading in my direction and I wondered how close they were going to get..... |
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| Before I could think any further, they veered to the right and disappeared into the bushes... |
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| This little fellow seemed to lag a bit behind, then....with a sprint....he bolted forward "Wait for me!" |
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| Now, here's a funny sight! A Little Blue Heron taking a cooling bath. |
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| I thought he was in quite deep..... |
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| only to see it go even deeper. For a minute there I thought he was going to get his head under too, but at last he turned and headed away - most likely to do some deep preening. |
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| My attention got turned around when I heard a high-pitched twittering and I knew who that was.... |
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| A Bald Eagle - what a grand way to end the birding day! |
It looks like a great morning out - despite the bugs!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of your nice day despite the bugs. I love the photo of the Kingfisger. They are so hard to capture and he posed so nicely for you. Raccoon family sure is cute too.
ReplyDeleteYou sure did have a great day out in spite of bugs .... lots of wonderful sightings.....
ReplyDeleteI've birded from the car more than once. It makes a great bird blind. Love the kingfisher.
ReplyDeleteLooks like once again you had a fun birding day. I do like the yellow crowned night heron. The kingfisher looked like he wanted to have his picture taken...I do like seeing raccoons. Look the the mom has her. Hands full. Beautiful shot of the bald eagle.
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