Little green herons usually don't show up around here until it gets much warmer. I love to watch them.
If this birds tail is really black it is a blue/gray knatcatcher. But maybe not. Anyone know?
Black and white warbler. I see these along the river banks this time of year. I also saw two very large moccasins and nearly ran up on both of them but the only photo I have isn't too good because I didn't want to get too close.
This is the first red-tailed hawk I have seen in Florida in the wild. This hawk was being dive-bombed by the red-shouldered hawks. This hawk is quite a bit bigger than the red-shouldered hawks and is easily mistaken for a juvenile eagle in my opinion. In fact if someone said it was a juvenile eagle or that these photos are of different birds, I wouldn't be surprised. It is a new bird for me. I saw the St. Francis Wildlife red tailed hawk "Jamaica" today and that's how I realized just what I had seen.
Can spring be far behind?
Suwannee cooters
Belted kingfisher or helicopter bird as I call them.
Little green herons usually don't show up around here until it gets much warmer. I love to watch them.
If this birds tail is really black it is a blue/gray knatcatcher. But maybe not. Anyone know?
Black and white warbler. I see these along the river banks this time of year. I also saw two very large moccasins and nearly ran up on both of them but the only photo I have isn't too good because I didn't want to get too close.
This is the first red-tailed hawk I have seen in Florida in the wild. This hawk was being dive-bombed by the red-shouldered hawks. This hawk is quite a bit bigger than the red-shouldered hawks and is easily mistaken for a juvenile eagle in my opinion. In fact if someone said it was a juvenile eagle or that these photos are of different birds, I wouldn't be surprised. It is a new bird for me. I saw the St. Francis Wildlife red tailed hawk "Jamaica" today and that's how I realized just what I had seen.
Can spring be far behind?
Suwannee cooters
Belted kingfisher or helicopter bird as I call them. 
Some beautiful photos here, especially those raptors in flight with extended primary feathers!
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I may have an extra day to spend next month at the end of a trip that will mostly be spent visiting manatees near Crystal River. Where (roughly between Crystal River and Orlando) would you recommend we spend that day, to see something more of Florida's natural offerings? Halpata Tastanaki Park? Lake Panasoffkee? Are there any interesting or beautiful places to stay in the area?
Jim M.
New York City
Last year at this time when I was looking for caracara nests in South Florida I saw only a couple of red-tailed hawks over a couple of months. This year at the same task and the same places I have seen over a dozen of them in nly 2.5 weeks. It is no wonder that you have not seen them before.
ReplyDeleteThe next time you see that tiny little gray bird, look for the two white feathers in the tail. That'll nail the BG gnatcatcher for sure, but that's what I think you have there. Uh, it was tiny, wasn't it?
Thanks for the tip, Buford. I went out yesterday with a young naturalist and she showed me a whole flock of cedar waxwings. My first! I've linked to your interesting blog.
ReplyDelete