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Can’t See The Flowers For The Bees

“Did you see that?” “Nope.” This is a frequent exchange between my brown-eyed beauty and myself. I often must gently remind her that when two of us are present, although we have twice as much chance of seeing something, it doesn’t work that way all the time. “But how could you miss that bird on the fence post?” “Because I was looking at the butterfly on the flower on the opposite side… Read More

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Insects, Photography Tags: dainty sulphur, feather-legged scoliid wasp, great blue skimmer, loggerhead shrike, orchard orbweaver, poey's furrow bee, robber fly, shrubby false buttonweed, western honeybee, white peacock, winged loosestrife, yellow garden spider

Beach In Winter

Header Image: Sandbar With Pelicans and Shorebirds Mid-January. Cold front scheduled in a couple of days. Where to go birding? If you happen to be native Floridians who love to bird-watch, there is only one place to go in winter. THE BEACH ! We made it to North Beach at Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida just after sunrise. The glow of the early morning sun gives everything a very special… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american white pelican, bunces pass, dunlin, forster's tern, fort de soto park, great egret, lesser scaup, little blue heron, loggerhead shrike, osprey, red-breasted merganser, reddish egret, royal tern, sanderling

Scouting Outing

Header Image: Purple Gallinule ‘Tis the season. Each year around Christmas, birders across the land scatter to assigned sectors before dawn to listen for nocturnal birds and, once the sky has lightened, continue throughout the day counting species and individual birds until “warbler neck” has disabled them completely and they return to their own nests exhausted, hungry, dirty and mumbling about how horrible this year was compared to past years when flocks… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american kestrel, bald eagle, chipping sparrow, christmas bird count, eastern bluebird, loggerhead shrike, osprey, palm warbler, purple gallinule, red admiral, red-shouldered hawk, savannah sparrow, white ibis, white-eyed vireo, wood stork

perch – and be counted! (the final chapter)

(Header Image: Sandhill Cranes) One of the interesting things about the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count is that observers are assigned to a specific geographic area within which to conduct a census. In our area, we have urban, suburban and rural spots which include lakes, parks, wetlands, forests and pasture land to explore. This diversity of habitat provides great potential for seeing a good mix of species as well as large numbers… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american kestrel, audubon christmas bird count, blue-headed vireo, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern meadowlark, least sandpiper, loggerhead shrike, northern cardinal, painted bunting, prairie warbler, red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, savannah sparrow, yellow-bellied sapsucker, yellow-rumped warbler

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