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February 2009
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02/16/09
This morning on our Florida Patch
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US, Birding "Patches", Bald Eagle Nest
Posted by: Ken @ 4:56 pm

This morning was a cool 72 degrees and foggy. I set out at 7:00 am on my walk through the West Miramar Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), our local “patch” of recovering Everglades. Pressed for time, I realized after walking the first 100 yards from home that I had forgotten to bring my binoculars, but I continued rapidly on my 1/4 mile trek to the wetland area.. A Catbird peeked out through the brush in typical fashion.

The mist and poor light helped contribute to its concealment, but this shot is so characteristic of the bird that I saved it:

Catbird 20090216

After the fog lifted a brisk breeze from the northwest felt mighty chilly. It began to look like rain, so I picked up the pace.

A couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers flitted in the remnant woodland:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 20090216

I almost overran a doe that was hiding in the high grasses just off the trail:

Doe 20090216

By the time I was a mile out I really feared getting drenched, so I hurried back, not even noticing a Belted Kingfisher perched low near the edge of the canal, only about 20 feet away. Luckily, it roosted again 50 feet down the path, and I cautiously approached within about 25 feet to get this shot.

Unfortunately, a spider web spoiled my best photo of this surprisingly heavy-billed bird:

Kingfisher 20090216

Later in the morning, still in a hurry to meet other obligations, I checked out our local Bald Eagle nest. The chicks had just been fed, and a couple of eagle nest watchers said they got nice views of the chicks feeding. However, they were now hunkered down. The first hatchling was 30 days old today.

Luckily for me, it poked its head up one more time:

Eaglet 20090216

Ian Eisenberg was kind enough to permit us to display his series of images of the Pembroke Pines eagles, including some drop-dead views of the chicks being fed:

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