Visiting Bartow with the Caloosa Bird Club

This was my second visit to Bartow - a magical place that was introduced to me with the Caloosa Bird Club. This return visit was just as I remembered it - serenely breathtaking. Come and see what I am talking about....

 As we began to enter a Yellow-rumped Warbler displayed its true colors.

 The moss is plentiful, the Resurrection Fern is lushly green and the trail inviting.

The Wood Stork seemed to say....."Come, this way."

Some of the trees might seem to be devoid of green life - but don't let that fool you.

Talking about "life", we ended up being witness to this pair of Red-shouldered Hawk mating in full view.

The sun is rising and the colors are starting to come to life - check this Sandhill Crane's crown....

and this bright Purple Gallinule - what a sight!

Back to the Sandhill Crane, it seemed to be coming toward my direction - so, for a bit I crouched down and watched....

 ....and so did the Limpkin - probably wondering what the Crane was up to.

Have you ever seen a more striking look than this Sandhill Crane?

And to our great delight, we watched with wide grins as it came up and crossed the road to the other pond.

A bit further down the trail, a Limpkin commanded attention.

Okay folks...the show is over...move on.

Our attention once again was diverted to the next best thing.....a Great Blue Heron.

Patiently scanning the area for its next morsel.

Then the Common Gallinule started to walk the float/perimeter of this water body - ignoring us

The male climbing on her back while she bows her head. This was the extent of their display - perhaps a pre-amble to what is to come soon.

An Eastern Phoebe - sweet as can be.

A female Red-winged Blackbird .... I'm not making this up.

Are you seeing this Great Blue Heron Pair and their nest?

I call this tree - a tree of life because as I looked closely I was able to see how many families have made this tree their home for raising their broods.

A few pairs of Anhinga on both side of the tree...

The male and the female are sitting here - check the emerald color of the male's eye.

Isn't this just spiritually inviting?

On the opposite side of the road, a Snail Kite was spotted - now I notice that it was banded once upon a time -

Notice how the bill is perfectly shaped to get right into snails to gather up some juicy morsels.

Awww....what is not to love from such a cute face?

A Black-whistling Duck ..... I wonder where the rest of them are?

Not too far, two Soras were sighted .... very sweet!

The Sora seems to happily share his space with the Common Gallinule.

Hey, I'm a sucker for yellow flowers - to me they signify sunny and cheery disposition....my happy place.

A young Brown Pelican - very debonaire, no?

I love this sign - yet it saddens me that people need to be reminded of such basic common sense.

What a nice setting! It makes me want to move in.

A Tree Swallow - seemingly injured,  it just sat there on the road while people were walking toward it. However, it slowly started to move away after a while - we all hoped that he makes it.

We also watched this gator getting closer to the turtle and wondered how much longer before it becomes a meal. It's a dog eat dog world out there.

A Brown Pelican with a Double-crested Cormorant - living the life.

A Black-crowned Night Heron getting ready for some much needed rest.

My husband Tony and I - taking a moment before resuming the trek.

Aki enjoying the scenery as much as I am.

This path is taking us back to the parking lot where we will have our lunch and do our E-Bird List for the day.

Toward the end, my eyes followed a butterfly land on top of a large tree - my camera was able to catch sight of this Monarch.

Well, folks, another great birding day in a fantastic setting - if you are ever inclined to travel to Polk County, I would highly recommend it.