Birding is priceless

I've come to the conclusion that birding is one of the best therapy by far and having a friend to come along makes it even sweeter and for that I am  grateful.

Today's venue: Gator Hole. My friend Elaine and I did wondered why it was called a "gator hole" since there is no hole, nor were there any gators....for the time being it is a mystery.  It is a Pine forest amidst native wild flowers, scrubs and bushes and even though it is surrounded by heavy traffic - once you get immersed in the experience - the background noise gets forgotten.

Come along and see....

Because of the heat, this time of the year you need to take advantage of the early hours and what better way to appreciate nature than to start with the sunrise.

A few Dragonflies kept us company and we appreciated the fact that there were no other insects to speak of.

We were blessed with many woodpeckers today - other than this Downy, we were gifted the sight of Flickers, Red-Bellies, Pileated and Red-Headed Woodpeckers - very, very sweet!

A Bluebird family made some fleeting appearances and this youngster stayed put just long enough.

One of the Flickers that I mentioned earlier - funny how they position themselves so that they get a clear view position to look at us.

And the Brown-headed Nuthatch - they were whizzing by in little groups, we saw two nests and it was at that moment that my camera decided to retire for the day!!

So, you'll have to take my word that we also saw several families of Bobwhites crossing the trails in front of us as well as this Red-Headed Woodpecker which made quite a few appearances showing us its striking white rump, bright red head and jet black back....what's not to love! All in all it was a great day with many surprises along the way.

Babcock Webb with the Caloosa Bird Club

A long awaited outing to the Babcock Webb - today was the day! It turned out to be quite cool and very windy with gusts up to 25mph+ - it made for a quieter than normal day but it was beautiful and quite enjoyable as always.

Bluebird - one of my favorite and they make it so easy to photograph too.

Pine Warblers - right in their element.

The Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were a bit more tricky to find this morning.

It was way off the path - and I'm thankful for the 'eagle eyes' in the group for spotting this one from so far away.

So many birds, so many acres and so little time.

Talk about a dose of sunshine! I love these bright Eastern Meadowlark - even when they are quiet.

 Another fantastic day of birding with the club. My E-Bird List for today.

A Caloosa Caravan to Bartow

This is the time of the year that the Caloosa Bird Club meet up at Bartow for Sunday night and bird the Circle B Bar Preserve in Lakeland on Monday. This time around a few of us met up early Sunday and birded along the way. First stop: The Celery Fields

Oh boy! It's been a while since I had the opportunity to see a Meadowlark up front and personal and what a beauty it is!

I love their song too.

The Purple Martins have arrived - a male is seen here perched on one of the houses.

A male Mallard was a nice surprise too.

More Purple Martins are coming in.

After a bit we headed to Sarasota, near the airport where many Redheads had been reported.

They were in great numbers - mixed in with Lesser Scaup, Grebes and Mergansers.

 After this quick stop we headed to Emerson Point Preserve

 We marveled at the amount of Mergansers and Loons seen in the distance.

 And the Skyline Bridge.

 Then we were off to the Lost River Trail

 It was nice to find White Pelicans in large numbers...

 working together as a team while gathering up the fish for a meal.

 Around the corner we took a walk up the hill..

and took in the view across the bay

Now - to our last stop - at a friend's house in the center of town - a lovely private home with a beautiful front yard meant literally for the birds.

 We saw several Goldfinches feasting on seeds.

 A Rufous Hummingbird has been a regular visitor - it showed up but kept hiding/feeding behind this feeder - the best capture I got was the tip of his tail.

 A very bright Pine Warbler came in for seeds too.

 I got luckier with this Ruby-throated Hummingbird when he granted me a few seconds of stillness....

 before resuming his feeding frenzy....a busy bird for sure.

 More Goldfinches.

 A few Bluebirds.

 At last we had to tear ourselves away from this little haven - and back on the road we go.

Near Bartow - while driving at 60 mph - I noticed what appeared to be a Great Horned owl on this post which I radioed in to the rest of the caravan, the trip leader opted to make a U-turn to go back and see...well....egg on my face when we drove up to it to realize that it was two plastic owls up there. We all had a good laugh about it and I bet that story will stick with me for a long time.

Fly, roost, swim, sit and pick - a week's recap

It seems as if S.W.Florida has been out of sorts this past winter - high winds, overcast days and mucho rain which provided some challenges for bird outings - however not enough to keep me totally away. Today I bring you a few glimpses of where I've been this past week....let's go.....

A spiffy Black-and-white Warbler was spotted at the Bailey Tract.

A Great Egret was sporting its breeding plumage (green face/dusky bill) at the Sanibel Garden Preserve.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler was not too far away.

A visit at Lakes Park provided quite a few sightings of Great Blue Heron in/out of nests....way up in the Australian Pine Trees.

One of my highlight this week was being able to capture bits and pieces of this Hairy Woodpecker.

This pecker looks similar to a Downy however it is slightly bigger (Robin size) and its bill is much larger. 

I did find him along the boardwalk at the Six Mile Cypress Slough among many other woodpeckers (Downy, Pileated, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Red-bellied).

On my way out of the slough - a sweet sighting of an Eastern Bluebird.

A quick stop at Bunche Beach provided another look at the wild American Flamingo that has been making an almost daily return for the past two weeks.

Two out of three Common Loons are pictured here with Estero/Ft.Myers beach in the background.

A pair of Forster Tern bid us farewell for the day - my weather app popped up with warnings of more rain coming. All in all it was a great week for bird watching with the added bonus of capturing some of their sweet faces.