Hello Friends and Family! We are adapting to Florida summer weather. We go out in the morning and evening and stay inside in the middle of the day when it’s warmest. Many of the birds have migrated but we are still seeing some fun stuff.
We noticed a woodpecker visiting a hole in a tree and today saw it feeding a baby!!!
You can see the baby in the openingBaby has its mouth open!Red-bellied Woodpecker baby
We only saw one baby and don’t know if that’s all there is.
Hope you enjoying looking at these photos as much as we did.
It’s been hot with afternoon thunderstorms. We aren’t seeing the plethora of birds like in the cooler weather but there still is wildlife.
Here are some photos from around the campground and on Joe Overstreet.
Black swallowtail butterflyMeadowlarkCara Cara Red Shoulder HawkNot as mature Cara CaraVentral side of swallowtail butterflyDorsal side of swallowtail butterfly
We are enjoying our golf cart with a lithium battery, our friends, and we got a 4×6 shed for storage.
Our friend Gypsy put it together with us helping lol.
Shed
It’s big enough and holds a lot. We’re very happy with it.
These are from a few days ago. Snail Kites with snails.
Some days you see the same thing over and over. Personally I’m tired of shooting these snail kites. I like variety and especially something I haven’t seen before. These shots are pretty enough I hope you’re not bored!
This morning was really fun at the Landing. It was just five of us: Tom, Beth, Vic, me, Zoe. A warm morning with little wind so we had to cut it short at 10 am.
The first thing that happened was a Red Shoulder Hawk flew down into the water close in front of me. He splashed around in the water for a little while. I waited with the camera on him until he flew up into a tree.
Red Shoulder HawkRed Shoulder Hawk (you can see some water droplets falling off)
Then a Night Heron flew by.
He’s pretty against a blue sky
Then the action got very slow so Vic called in the Barred Owls. Tom and I took positions where we thought the owls would fly by. Vic was on the caller and giving us heads up when something happened.
None of us saw this one fly in Cool shot of an owl flying byMy favorite shot – coming right at me.
We had a very fun morning even though it was shorter than usual.
We sat and watched the new babies and their parents deal with the outside world on their first day of being alive. The parents had their hands full keeping track of four chicks and keeping potential predators away.
Proud parent with two chicksWe couldn’t get all four together between them moving around and the tall reeds.They are so cute! Just inches tall.Swimming right awayTwo adults fussing at a common gallinuleTelling the gallinule he is not welcome
I’m not kidding!Attacking a great Egret!
The Egret left pretty quickly.
Another pair of adult Black neck Stilts even came over and pitched in harassing the unwelcome predators. The babies were so little they could have been a tasty snack.
After a while the parents were frustrated with all the attention. They gathered the babies up and swam across the canal where the grasses provided better cover and we haven’t seen them since.
We’re so happy we saw them on their first day in the world. We look forward to seeing them again.
This morning we saw birds pushing other birds off the posts in the fence line. This is one such story.
Black bellied whistling Duck trying to enjoy his postSnail Kite asserting her dominance Whistling Duck trying to get out of the waySnail Kite landing With a double SnailEating a huge juicy snail
We were all very entertained by this action. Hope you were too.
We’ve been watching the nest for weeks, going to see it every day, usually twice. We’ve been told there were four eggs. The nest was in the front yard of a house across the canal from our RV park and on the edge of the lake. The property owner put a white stick in the ground next to the nest so it wouldn’t accidentally get mowed over.
Today we saw the parents in the water just off the resort property where there is a sandbar and the water is very shallow. The babies were born this morning! On Vic’s birthday!!
Adult Black Neck StiltWe sat a long time waiting for these babies to come out into the open from the tall reeds.One day old and adorable.You have no way to measure what you’re seeing. These babies are teensy, just a few inches tall.Found something!Yay! A worm! Yum!
Paul got his dead boat battery replaced and invited us out this morning.
It was hot. The love bugs are numerous (yuck). We got some good shots though.
Swallowtail Kite
We’ve seen these while driving into town but it’s nearly impossible to get a shot because the two lane road has no shoulder. It was great to get this one today.
Osprey with a fishEagle (what a beauty)Snail KiteBlack Neck Stilt on a nest
There is a house on the end of the canal where Paul keeps his boat. Paul is friends with the owner, Dana, who lets him walk on his yard and take pictures. The whistling ducks and many other birds like to gather in his yard or sit on his dock. Enough background. A Stilt is sitting on a nest near the edge of the seawall. The bird is nearly impossible to see on the nest because it’s small and the grass is getting high. Dana has marked the spot with a stick to keep it safe from the mowers.
We got a shot of the Stilt from the boat in our way back in to the marina.
Black necked Stilt on nest
His red eyes are pronounced.
We didn’t take any pictures of the people in the boat. However I have one of Paul and me in our green Columbia shirts.