Friday, February 26, 2016

West Lake and Eco Pond

The mosquitoes were gone in the morning so I set up my stove outside for coffee and breakfast gave Casey a walk around then we headed out for various sights, birding, and nature walks....So our first stop was again over in the Walk in area to check the skimmers and the bay...still busy 
And there was a red shouldered hawk hunting in the area in fact he would fly over the bay and spook the skimmers






then rest on the solar array framing




This white pelican was out of the water in the mud..and a willet was patrolling the beach





Our next stop was West lake and the boardwalk there...


that takes you thru a red and black mangrove forest! Trees that have half the root out of the water...and manyyy roots up to get oxygen..



and you can see some of the red tannic acid in this shot


Came upon this chillin Gr Egret on the boardwalk 




then the board walk opens up to West Lake..



Saw some warblers on the way out some weird streaky photos of the quick little devils, there was a Black n White, a Black Throated Green, Louisiana Waterthrush and a Black Throated Blue!! 

The most common butterfly I saw was the Florida White!




No hike on Snake Bight trail too many skeeters, so we went back down to Eco Pond to look for the White crowned Pigeon that was rumored to be hanging around..got a sneak peek at a white eyed vireo they had been following me every where I was happy to get a backwards glance shot. 


We flushed the pigeon right away and I figured I missed my shot at getting a photo..but when I was leaving the Eco Pond, I respotted him eating some berries in thick cover about 10 ft up...I kept trying and got these not so hot shots of a new lifer for me..




and a closer altho fuzzy shot of that white eye!


So with this White Crowned Pigeon, this brings my lifers to 5 I totally forgot to put one on the post where I saw him so I'm adding him here and with a Dunlin, a Semipalmated, and the Stilt SP 


  1. Lesser Scaup @  Little Talbot
  2. Roseate Spoonbill @ Merritt Island
  3. American Flamingo @ Bunche Beach 
  4. Limpkin @  Big Cypress Nat Preserve
  5. White Crowned Pigeon  @ Everglades
              

And then I met this fellow at Eco Pond looking for the pigeon, I was able to help him find it in the same place I saw it...so that was fun because it was fun to share with someone who was as excited as me to see it...and he shared a bit of info with me--- my next post.

PEACE
Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

12 comments:

  1. White-crowned Pigeon!! How cool! I love the butterfly and I think White-eyed is my favorite vireo in the states. Not sure if it's an artifact of the lighting in the photo but the legs of your peep look yellowish? Almost like a Least? I agree with the Dunlin tho.

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    1. I think it is yellow---I have a couple other shots from various angles but the legs are in the water,,,I think least is what it is tho..

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  2. wish I'd been that fellow you ran into -- we walked all around Eco Pond and didn't see anything except the red-shouldered hawk....He was nice, but...

    You have the best birding karma!

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    1. wish the same, I was extremely happy to find it, especially when it flushed right off the bat when I walked up...I got a second chance and it paid off.

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  3. The red shoulder hawk shots are amazing what a beautuful bird. Not all the pictures would open all the way so I will try again in the morning. but the ones that did are great.

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    1. Thanks Jo, that red shouldered hawk was quite used to humans he was not bothered to fly away simply because I was around him..

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    2. All the photo's opened up for me this morning what a joy to see them all.

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    3. Thank you for coming back to try again...

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  4. Birds I can only dream about.
    Great stuff Sondra.

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    1. Hi Keith, exactly why I enjoy your posts so much... I read your new post this morning then the phone got me before I could comment so I'm getting ready for a second visit..:o)

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  5. Again great shots, it will be interesting to know what your total tally is of the different species you've seen.

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    1. my total birds for the trip was 99 and new ones to me 5!

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