Red-bellied Woodpecker

Kenansville FL

July 20, 2026

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 opening
Baby 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.

Stay safe everyone. XO

Local Beauties

Kenansville FL

June 28, 2026

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 butterfly
Meadowlark
Cara Cara
Red Shoulder Hawk
Not as mature Cara Cara
Ventral side of swallowtail butterfly
Dorsal 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.

Hope you enjoyed the show.

Happy 4th of July.

Stay safe. XO

Snail Kites

Kenansville FL

June 10, 2026

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!

Hope you enjoyed. Stay safe. XO

Monday at the Landing

Kenansville FL

June 8, 2026

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 Hawk
Red 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 by
My favorite shot – coming right at me.

We had a very fun morning even though it was shorter than usual.

Hope you enjoyed.

Stay safe! XO

At the Landing

Kenansville FL

June 7, 2026

Yesterday morning at the Landing

It looks like we were having a competition. I think it’s funny/interesting how our pictures are different when we are shooting side by side.

My Whistling Duck
Vic’s Whistling Duck landing
Vic’s Green Heron
Sally’s Green Heron
Sally’s Night Heron

To our surprise the grackles are eating snails! They don’t have the right beak to poke the snail out of the shell but they are doing it anyways.

Vic’s Grackle with snail shell
Accidental duplicate

It’s getting into summer. The Pelicans have migrated and we are seeing fewer eagles. There is still plenty of wildlife.

Hope you enjoyed the show.

Stay safe! XO

Stilt babies being protected

Kenansville FL

June 5, 2026

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 chicks
We couldn’t get all four together between them moving around and the tall reeds.
They are so cute! Just inches tall.
Swimming right away
Two adults fussing at a common gallinule
Telling 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.

Hope you enjoyed this adventure.

Stay safe! XO

Hey you get off my cloud

Kenansville FL

June 6, 2026

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 post
Snail Kite asserting her dominance
Whistling Duck trying to get out of the way
Snail Kite landing
With a double Snail
Eating a huge juicy snail

We were all very entertained by this action. Hope you were too.

Stay safe! XO

Black Neck Stilt Babies!

Kenansville FL

June 4, 2026

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 Stilt
We 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!

Hope you enjoyed this exciting event.

Stay safe. XO

Paul’s Boat

May 29, 2026

Kenansville FL

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 fish
Eagle (what a beauty)
Snail Kite
Black 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.

Sally and Paul

Hope you enjoyed the show.

Stay safe! XO

Flying and Landing

May 28, 2026

Kenansville FL

These birds flying and landing are interesting to see.

Green Heron
Grackle with a minnow
Red Shoulder Hawk
Eagle
Black bellied Whistling Duck landing

This whistling Duck is my favorite – and I shot it too 🥳

Snail kite with a snail
Osprey with a fish

He was extra hungry – already ate the head!

Snail eggs

Hope you enjoyed the show.

Stay safe. XO