Wacissa 2/20/10

This nest may be for the red-shouldered hawks. That's what kind it looks like to me.
Not a very good photo of a barred owl way up in a tree. I think this may be one of the twins born a couple of years ago.
Egrets have breeding plumage now.
Yellow rumped warbler. Lots of warblers and knatcatchers but difficult to photograph flitting about on the water's edge.
Big daddy raccoon.

Male red shouldered hawk.

This wooden boat was a beauty. I wanted to show it to dad since he appreciates all that teak and especially the fact that he no longer has to keep up any teak of his own. Making the bed and doing the laundry is difficult enough for him at this point. But he won't let me do that for him yet. Mother got cellulitis in her leg from a scratch from Sutry when he came to visit two weeks ago. Oh dear.

Wacissa Saturday 2/6/10

Raptors from St. Francis

Wacissa Monday: January 18, 2010

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.

Happy New Year 2010: The eagle flies toward peace...

Hope to my friends around the world for peace, good health, and prosperity in the coming year....

Cold Saturday on The Wacissa

Winter is a good time to see holes which might be big enough for ivory bills to nest in. This hole is big enough. These holes are often near feeding sources such as the red berries that the birds like so much which ripen in December. I look for them and plant myself underneath them and take photos. The berries aren't quite ripe enough yet but the birds are checking them out. Robins seem to be the only ones that eat them slightly unripe! I saw lots of woodpeckers today but they are skittish and it was very cold and the wind was blowing on the Wacissa which make s photography challening. The Wacissa had ivory bill sightings as late as the 60's and is considered a prime spot for the possibility of a sighting. I'm still looking but with the watching over my folks need now, my trips are somewhat shorter. I may be going out again later this week but dad fell today (12/28-09) so we will see. The pileated woodpeckers like berries and they are easier to see along the river's edge where the trees hang over the water.
The ibises flock on the river in winter. Northern flicker

Piney Z at Dusk Part III

I was so excited to have a clear afternoon to vist Piney Z Lake after all our rainy days.

Dusk on Piney Z Lake is a wonderous time for watching birds coming in to roost. It has been raining a great deal and the lakes are very full of water. The lake is also full of cormorants, eagles, osprey,woodstorks, ibises, great egrets and anhingas. I was in hog heaven!

I also saw five eagles including three juveniles but they fly so fast and the wind was blowing and the water was rough...I found it difficult to get a good image this afternoon.

Their were many osprew out today at dusk.

Somehow I always see an interesting plane when I am out on the water.

There is a woodstork rookery at the other end of Lake Lafayette. The woodstorks are now back to take advantage of their nesting habitat.

I am fascinated with the woodstork. I love to watch them take off and to hear the wooshing flap of their wings. It is spooky when it happens behind you. They can fly extraordinarily high and they look like sleek jets to me when they are taking off from a perch over the lake.