Front Yard Birds

Just thought I'd post a couple pictures I took today of birds on the front yard feeders at my house. Although this season has been one of the warmest we've had in years, I've seen more birds in the last few days than I have in a long time.

The carolina wren was flitting around as they always do, and I was lucky enough to get a couple shots before it flew off.

Also sharing the feeder was a large flock of chipping sparrows, along with some tufted titmice and carolina chickadees (the latter two were too quick for me to get a picture!).

Fall Break, part 1

It's 5 o'clock on Saturday morning and I'm riding in the back of a car, on a 4 hour journey up to the panhandle of Florida with my sister, her friend, and another friend. We're headed up to see the annual butterfly migration that takes place at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge every fall.

I'm not sure what to expect at first -- I've heard of them migrating in the tens of thousands, but I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up too much because when we finally arrive mid-morning, it's clear that most have already migrated through the area and moved on.

Nonetheless, there are still impressive numbers of Monarchs, Viceroys, Queens, and Gulf Fritilary butterflies swarming flowers and bushes along the trails by the St. Marks lighthouse.

It's a beautiful day -- perfect for butterfly watching, birding, and hiking. The wildlife refuge is holding an event to celebrate the butterfly migration, and the park is packed with families, retirees, photographers, and other wildlife enthusiasts.

Among the other wildlife we see are alligators, thousands of fiddler crabs, and tons of birds.

My favorite sighting at St. Marks is a Northern Harrier flying low over the marsh. It's impossible to get a picture though, as we're bumping along a dirt road and the raptor quickly disappears from sight.

Once we find where the butterflies are congregated, it makes  for some gorgeous photo ops.

After a quick lunch, we leave St. Marks to head off to another hiking destination, but not before stopping to check out some more cool birds. Two bald eagles stand guard around a ginormous nest, not far from where a red-shouldered hawk is perched on a sun-bleached snag in the middle of the marsh. I'm super excited to see these birds, even if they are fairly common!

Once we manage to pull ourselves away from the fantastic wildlife of St. Marks, we take an hour or so drive to Tate's Hell State Park, further west along the panhandle. We plan to hike a total of 6 miles roundtrip on the High Bluffs trail, which is accessed by an obscure forest road.

The trail is one of the easier ones I've been on, although slightly hilly due to the fact that we're in North Florida, and hiking up and down sand bluffs. The ground is soft with sugar sand, and mid-afternoon sun beats down on us; the trail has very little shade.

The terrain changes every mile or so, sometimes offering us high up views of the Gulf of Mexico, and sometimes we find ourselves in lower areas on the outskirts of a cyprus swamp, or an area of dry brush, or a dead forest of snags and undergrowth, marking remnants of old hurricane damage.

As we near the halfway point of mile 3, someone in our party points out a bear track! It's small, apparently a bear cub, but as we proceed we find fresh bear scat and more tracks -- larger tracks. There are also wide animal trails leading off the main trail.

We follow one of them, but it leads us into a bog of squelchy mud, thick with saw grass that slices easily through our legs and leaves a stinging, burning sensation for the remaining duration of the hike. Needless to say, we turn back and finish the hike on the main trail.

By now it is getting towards late afternoon and birds begin to sing and call. I hear cardinals, Carolina wrens, pine warblers, mockingbirds, tufted titmice, and blue jays calling through the sparse pine flatwoods. My favorite is an Eastern wood-pewee that shows up right before we get back to the parking lot.

It was an incredible day. It felt so good to spend the entire day outdoors, hiking until exhaustion, and spending time with my sister and others who enjoyed the experience just as much as I did. And that was only the start of fall break! The next day I would be in a totally different part of the state, camping for the night by the beach...

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Hungry Hawk

I always seem to find the most interesting things in nature when I'm not even looking for it. Yesterday I was wandering around outside, when a Red-shouldered Hawk flew into an old oak tree, carrying a frog. It either didn't notice me or didn't care, but I was able to photograph the entire process of it eating the frog from about 25 feet away.

If what they say is true -- that a picture is worth a thousand words -- then I'll end the post here and let the photos do the talking. Enjoy! And happy birding!

Bird photos

London is keeping me quite busy, but I figured I'd post a few photos this morning before I run off again. I'm working on a group project on Kensington Gardens, so when I visited the park a couple days ago I had a little fun with bird photography.

Most of the birds I found were near the Peter Pan statue by the Serpentine Lake, including this male Mallard.

While I was taking pictures of the ducks, this Gray Heron flew over posed for some nice pictures.

The head-on view is my favorite. ;-) Beautiful pattern on the underside of the neck!

Further along the lake I found a few Red-crested Pochards.

There was also a pair of Mute Swans near the Pochards.

That's about all I have for now, so enjoy the photos! Spring break starts next week and I'm heading out for a short backpacking trip around England and Wales. After that, I have 3 more weeks and then it's back to the states where I'll try to get back to blogging more regularly over the summer. This has been a rollercoaster last few months!

Pictures Perfect

Finally got a new camera! Still learning how to use it, but so far I'm pretty impressed. Took it to the park the other day to test it out... didn't see any good birds, but I had fun playing with the camera before the batteries died. :-)

Merry Christmas and happy birding!

Buteo lineatus

Buteo lineatus, the Red-shouldered Hawk. A common, but striking bird to find, especially at close range.

This one was in my yard this afternoon. It flew up into our old "climbing tree," a big sprawling camphor, and sat there preening its feathers for about a minute.

I took few pictures before it raised its tail, pooped, and then flew off out of sight. :-) That's Buteo lineatus for you, the Red-shouldered Hawk.

Happy birding!

Herons, Shrikes and Ducks

"Not all who wander are lost." - JRR Tolkien

After an entire day of researching and studying for my ecology class, I decided to take the evening to go birding around campus. And believe you me, nothing relaxes the mind like a good hour of birding.

It's almost meditational, zen-like for me. After growing up in a quiet lifestyle, college has been overwhelming. I am glad I have birding though; I was able to relax for a while and enjoy outdoors without worrying about my presentation next week or my 8-page paper I need to write.

My first find was a Great Blue Heron near the waterfront, resting on the "No Wake Zone" sign. I was able to get fairly close to it.

I am not sure, but I think these are Mottled Ducks. Can anyone confirm this? They don't seem to be Mallards, although I could be wrong; comparing the picture to my field guide, the best possible candidate seems to be the Mottled Duck. If this is true, it'll be a life bird for me!

I was surprised when I came around the corner of the pond and found a Loggerhead Shrike sitting on a snag. This is the first time I've ever had the opportunity to photograph a shrike, and I'm very happy with how well it came out.

I was able to get really close before the bird flew away. It was a great opportunity to see the bird up close and examine some of its markings.

I continued down the beach and came across a beautiful Little Blue Heron hunting in the shallows.

There were many herons and egrets in the area and I had a blast photographing them in the light of the setting sun. (I tried to upload them, but for some reason Blogger isn't working well at the moment)

I followed the various walkways through campus, checked out the lakes and ponds, mangroves, oak and palm hammocks. It was a wonderful evening and a great start to what will surely be a busy week.

Until next time,

Happy birding!

Birding... yeah, I don't have a nifty title for this one.

"The bluebird carries the sky on his back."
-Henry David Thoreau

I tagged along on a trip to Crystal River today and got to explore some of the Great FL Birding Trails and parks in that area. Our first stop was the Crystal River Archaeological State Park.

I didn't see any new birds here, but I did see three Eastern Bluebirds. I was surprised to see them this time of year, as they usually dissappear after May or June.

There was even a juvenile sitting on one the branches. I've never seen a young bluebird before, so I thought this was pretty interesting.

In addition to the great abundance of mosquitoes, we also seem to be plagued by giant lubber grasshoppers. These guys were literally everwhere; we had to be careful where we stepped. This one was sitting on the back of our car.

A couple miles down the road for the archaeological site is Crystal River Buffer Preserve, a spectacular nature area. There was a seemingly out-of-place cedar forest here, with trails winding through. I didn't hike these though, as it was midday, steaming hot outside, and swarming with mosquitoes. I'm definitely going back there some winter though, to explore it some more.

A turtle? Nope. Look closer. It's a water snake! Looks like a Banded Water Snake, although I could be wrong.

Across the water, I saw my very first Yellow-crowned Night Heron. This was a fun find, as I've been trying to see one for a while now.

On the way home, we saw a sign that said "Bluebird Springs," so we stopped in to take a look. Although designated as a Great FL Birding Trail, there was little out at that time of day. A Great Blue Heron stalked through the reeds by the spring, but beyond that, it was just hot and mosquito-y.

So, it was a long day, with only one life bird, but nonetheless interesting and enjoyable. My bird list for day was:

• black vulture
• turkey vulture
• snowy egret
• cattle egret
• great egret
• great blue heron
• yellow-crowned night heron
• boat tailed grackle
• american crow
• anhinga
• cardinal
• eastern bluebird
• sandhill crane
• loggerhead shrike
• mourning dove
• red-shouldered hawk
• red-bellied woodpecker
• chimney swift

Not great, but not bad. It was fun, and that's what counts.