Saturday August 25th

It was like rowing on glass. There wasn’t a breeze blowing if you exclude the wind bags in the canoe. (This will surely draw the ire of Deb and Mayra. Linda knows nothing of the internet. I’m feeling a bit impish tonight.) We had at 50% chance of rain, in the afternoon, and thunder claps in the distance of the Gulf of Mexico. The low tide at Boca Ciega was 1.8 and high tide would be sometime around 11:00 AM.

The wildlife was still also. Only seen a couple of Osprey. Usually in the mornings we see a couple in the air looking for food. Saturday it was the one in the tree that caught our attention. I don’t think he liked us being so close to his fishing hole.

He wasn’t the only want that wanted his privacy. Just below I spotted the Green Heron. I tried to gently maneuver myself into position for a picture, when I heard, “what do you see?” The solitary bird took for cover in the mangroves. I’d like to blame it on the people in the canoe, but I most likely drifted to close. I think I need an anchor.
I soon heard Mayra cry out, “look Mick.” I followed her finger, and a Roseate Spoonbill had just landed in the the Mangroves. I rowed over to the little island to get a shot of this juvenile.


The canoeists headed for the other side of the island, while I rowed towards a bird I spotted high in the mangroves. I finally got a good shot of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron. I also got spotted a very photo shy juvenile. None of the pictures came out very well. He kept moving deeper into the mangroves

One minute Mayra was rowing and the next the oar was in the water. Good thing it floats. Linda was feeling testy and refused to go back for it. (I don’t have a picture of the three in the canoe; so I thought I would use this picture to represent Linda. This bird looks like he was having a bad day too. Linda gets this way each year, when the seasonals at work get let go for the year.)

I’m renaming Mayra. She shall be called Hawk Eye. She spotted this lure hanging in the mangroves. The boater didn’t have a chance to get it. The nice thing about kayaks, you can get up close. Now I have to decide what I want to do with my little trophy.

No dolphins or manatees were seen.

A family of Double-crested Cormorants too a saturday swim.

Another Double-crested Cormorant takes to the air.

We were greeted at the canoe launch by a Cloudless Sulpher. He’s supposed to be yellow, but as you can see he picks up the green from plant. Yes Deb, another butterfly picture.

More Exotics in the Backyard

The Black-hooded Parakeet was first seen in south Florida around 1973, and the first sighting here in Pinellas County was 1990, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. http://myfwc.com/bba/bhpa.htm


Looks like they like to hang with the Monk Parakeet.

Jungle Prada

It's a small park in St. Peterburg. Really the only thing there is parking, 2 boat ramps, and a fishing pier. It too will dump you out into Boca Ciega Bay. Just a lot further than were we usually luanch, and we didn't have to worry about the tide. There's also a small island that is a bird sanctuary. It was only about a mile from the launch sight.

It was only myself, Linda and Mayra. Linda had told me if I was going to be in the canoe, I couldn't be bossy. She was also determined to take the bow. I had to sit in the middle. Right off the bat the rammed the pier. I wanted to be like the osprey on the left. I finally convince Linda to switch places with me one we reached the bird island.

The Great White Egret didn't seem to be happy. Maybe he wanted some peace an quiet when he at, and he wasn't getting in the mangroves that made up the island.


There were birds everywhere. Pelican, snowy egrets, Great Blue Herons, and tri-colored Herons, all trying to find a place in the mangroves. All making quite a bit of noise, especially when we rowed near the island.

We didn't get too close either. The are signs in the water that read, "no trespassing." Also the island is surrounded by oyster beds. The water wasn't that deap. If we had rowed close to the edge of the island, we would have harmed those oysters.


The pelicans were animated on Sunday. This one was coming in for a landing, and didn't care if another one was in the way or not.


This guy didn't like us getting to close. He decided he was leaving.

He wasn't alone. As we came near the sandbar, the race was one.

The Black-bellied Plover isn't supposed to be seen down here during the summer months. He truly is a "snow bird". Once winter is down he heads back to the north. Either someone forgot to explain it to him, he decided he found paradise, or he was just too lazy to go north.

The Willet does stay for the summer. I think that what this bird is. After consulting 3 books and several internet sites, I can only conclude that is what this thing is.

Chasing the Imp

Charlie is easily excited. When I come home, I make sure I don’t say a word, head directly for her crate, let her out, and move quickly to the door. There is no stopping to put anything down, or waiting for Susie to make her way out from under the bed. If I talk she’ll pee in her crate, if I wait for Susie she’ll pee on the floor.

Yesterday was a typical day. Charlie was in the yard doing her business before Susie. I turned to go back and get Susie, and Charlie jumped up on the patio chair to get to the mail on the table. The race was on as far as she was concerned. I had to laugh as she zoomed around the yard with the junk mail in her mouth. She stopped, I would move to grab it, and she would put the moves on me, like Walter Payton would put on the defense.

A more serene topic. The White Peacock butterfly. Come to think about it looking at the butterfly my bring me peace, but he doesn’t look like his life has been easy. Something took a chunk out of his wing.

Charlie is Out Foxed by a Frog

Charlie loves looking for frogs in the morning and evenings. This morning she was up at 6:00 AM searching the backyard for a frog to use as a playmate.

Last night while she was on the prowl, I spotted this Pig Frog on the arm of a patio chair. (I think that's what it is.) He figured out how to stop the madness. The little guy even looks like he's proud of himself, hiding in plain view.

Chasing the Red-shouldered Hawk

I sat in the car eating my lunch and reading the paper. The alarm went off telling me I had seven minutes to return to work. I locked the car a wandered over to the water to see if any thing was around. Nothing in the water.

I flushed out an Ibis.

A squirrel with twig crossed my path. I usually don’t take pictures of the bushy tail rats (I've probably upset some of my co-workers. They don't see them as members of the rodent family.), but today I snapped a picture of him.

A black dragon fly came into view as I ca closer. (I haven’t had time to identify him. I’’ll come back and give him a name.)

Time to get back to work. I walked over to the picnic bench to put my camera away, and that’s when I heard the sound. The screech of the Red-shouldered Hawk. A woman walking in the parking lot just west of me, seemed to be causing the bird distress. I knew I was going to be late getting back from lunch, but I had to get a shot of this bird.

From my view she looked like she was standing in a nest. I would see later this afternoon that it wasn’t her nest if it was a nest.

She had enough of me photographing her. She jumped down to the next branch, and as you can see she gave me a fright. I couldn’t hold the camera still. (As you can see from looking at picture on the left. She's a blur.)

I decided to hold my ground, with this "shy" bird. (Yep, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds describes the Red-shouldered hawk as being shy.) The picture reveals an fearless, unhappy camper. So much for being a wall flower.

I think the team, I’m a member of at work, thinks I’m crazy. I’ve been late coming back from lunch to photograph vultures eating a possum (the pictures were taken before I started the blog. I don't know why I haven't gone back to somethings. It just doesn't seem right), having to change my pants because Charlie urinated on them, and now to take pictures of a hawk.

As I was leaving the phone rang about the time I seen the hawk flying out of the oak tree. She had something in her talons. I ignored Tigger telling me that someone wants to talk to me, and grabbed the camera. I still can’t figure out what she was eating. I stood there and took pictures as other drove out of the parking lot. By the time I thought of using the movie mode on the camera, she stopped talking to me. I guess she figured I wasn’t going to harm her.

Mornings are Great

We were to meet at Boca Ciega Millennium Park at 8:00 AM. Linda and I would have made it to the canoe/kayak launch at the right time, except I stopped to take pictures. Linda told me i couldn’t just stop in the middle of the road. I had to find the first parking lot, and walk the trail to get the pictures of the Woodstork and Roseate Spoonbill. As you can see they were a little too far away to get a good shot.

Roe and Deb looked a little miffed that we were late. Then we had to make the decision to go into the water. There was a sign in front of the launch that warned against swimming/entering the water, drinking it, or fishing. Found out from a guy fishing that the sign was put up as a precaution, because of a sewer line break on Tuesday during low tide.

I have renamed Roe. She is Evinrude. The woman just rows. I would stop long enough to take a picture, and the three would be long gone.

Wow, and was the wild life out. A Black Simmer flew by, and I thought I had missed my chance again to get a picture of the bird. That when this flock came into sight. These guys fly low and fast. I only got one shot off, and I was twisted around to get the shot. The waves always seem to move me out view of the subject.

An immature green heron decided to pose on the log that Mayra had used for surfing a few weeks earlier.

Deb’s legs were beginning to hurt. Just before the Park Blvd. boat ramp, the three turned into another boat ramp. As I waited for Linda and Deb to change places, i heard a noise. It was the sound of dolphins breathing. I think hearing dolphins was just as amazing as being 50 feet or so from them.

We were on our way back when we spotted some serious wave action near one of the little islands.
It reminded me of those nature shows where the Orcas come close to shore to eat seals or penguins. I had to go check it out. The others decided it was dolphins and headed back to the launch.

I got closer and seen two huge tails. I had to ask myself, could it be manatees. The kayaker, who had gotten out of his kayak to fish, wasn't paying much attention to them. I rowed closer.

Manatees!!!

Look at the nostrils on this thing! These animals are huge. And I stayed a nice distance away. I certainly didn't want tho get in their way.

I can't believe I had this experience just 15 minutes from home. What a way to cap off the day.

Dragonfly Names

I have names for the dragonflies.  I stopped by the Florida Botanical Gardens yesterday and picked up National Audubon Society Field Guide To Florida



The above is the Halloween Pennant

The male Blue Dasher

Male Eastern Pondhawk taken at work

Female Eastern Pondhawk

A Male Roseate Skimmer

The Elderberry Tree

One of our Elderberry Trees has been the place to be seen this weekend. As I showed you in the last post the Nutmeg Mannikin made a visit. Thanks to Katie, I know this birds name, and that he is, as I suspected, an exotic bird here in FL.

I tried getting a picture of the Mockingbirds feeding their "little" one. It was amusing watching a bird bigger than his parents, waiting with open mouth to be fed. He had a habbit of perching in an area in front of the sun.

All weekend the Red-bellied Woodpecker has been visiting the tree. As you can see he's a shy thing.

One visiter to the back yard wasn't a bird, but another dragonfly. Yes you are stuck looking at another dragonfly.

I Need Help

You would think this bird would be easy to identify. Wrong! I still haven't figured out what he/she is. Katie I need your help. I have slowly looked over the pictures in my copy of National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds 3 times, and still I cannot find the name for this bird.

The bird wasn't even my subject. He/she came into view as I was trying to take a picture of the Downy Woodpecker in my back yard.

I spotted a couple of these woodpeckers at work a few months ago, but they were too far up in the tree to get a good shot.

Tonight I got lucky. The camera was sitting on the kitchen table when I noticed them hanging around. There were two. This one wanted to hide behind branches.

Speaking of hiding behind branches. I missed getting a really good shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk yesterday. I was calling Linda to tell her I was leaving work at my scheduled time, instead of 2 hours later. As I hung up the phone and unlocked the car I noticed him bathing in the retention pond. By the time I got the camera out, he had moved to a tree. Everytime I moved to get a better view of him, he would fly higher into the tree, always staying hiden by foliage. (It didn't help that the camera had been sitting in an air conditioned room all day, and the lens fogged up on me.) He then made his way to another tree aproximately 100 yards from me. I will get a good shot of him one day.