Exploring my world

There is something to be said for the quiet solitude of taking a walk in the woods alone.

Spring Break: Day 2. All my friends have gone away for the week, so I'm here alone. And what does a birder do when left alone for a few days? Go birding, of course!

I started off with a late morning walk through my usually birding spot, without much luck. Mostly just vultures and scaups, as usual.

Around 4:30ish, I headed out to the palm hammock, a larger preserve area on campus that I haven't explored much before. I parked my bike under a tree pretty far off the road and took off into the woods.
Coming out from under a stand of cabbage palms, I found a scrawny looking osprey chowing down on a fish in a tall snag.

After snapping a bunch of pictures and watching it for a while, I hiked on and saw a Roseate Spoonbill land in a pond near an apartment complex across from the school. I tried to get closer to the bird, but it flew away before I could get anywhere near it.

I just thought this was a cool butterfly picture. Seeing as there was an obvious lack of birds out at that time of day and location, I took to photographing the butterflies and dragonflies that darted about in front of me.

As the sun began to sink lower into the sky, the palm trees cast fantastic shadows, and the exotic-looking vines that hung off of them shimmered with vibrant hues of glowing green. After a while, I headed back, half-afraid I'd get lost or my bike would be stolen when I returned, but I found my way back easily, and it was still there.

As I was riding back to my dorm, I spotted an American Kestrel perched on a wire. Scrambling to get my camera out, it took off for a moment, harrassed by a territorial mockingbird.

However, it landed a few yards down and I was able to get a somewhat adequate photo. It was a quiet day spent alone, but wonderfully relaxing.

Until next time,

Happy birding!