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10/31/08
Halloween morning walk
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US
Posted by: Ken @ 6:39 pm

Yesterday morning there were quite a few birds on our small Florida lake.

Wood Storks were back. This was one of three that walked the edges of the lake.

Note that it is stirring the water with its “bubble-gum pink” foot, to frighten small fish into its open bill:

Wood Stork Stirring Water 20081026

A large tern flew right by the patio. Its long bright red bill indicated it was a Caspian Tern.

Caspian Tern 2008_10_30

A Great Blue Heron rested on the back of one of the Canada Goose decoys that serve as floats for the intake of our neighbor’s lawn irrigation system:

Goose Roost 2008_10_27

This pair of Mottled Ducks was the first we have seen this fall, since getting back from Illinois in early October:

Mottled Ducks 20081026

This morning was cool (62 degrees) and very pleasant as I walked our Florida birding “patch” in the West Miramar Environmentally Sensitive Land (ESL), a ten minute walk from our home. Still experimenting with my telephoto lens, I hoped for some more flight photos.

Many Savannah Sparrows had migrated in. This one peeked out at me from a clump of red grass:

Savannah Sparrow 2008_10_31

An Eastern Phoebe posed in a setting that almost looked like a watercolor– this image was cropped but not otherwise edited:

Eastern Phoebe 2008_10_31

An Ovenbird showed off his orange crown:

Ovenbird Crown 2008_10_27

A Northern Mockingbird was particularly cooperative:

Northern Mockingbird 2008_10_31

I did get quite a few flight shots, among them, this Red-tailed Hawk:

Redtail 2008_10_31

The Red-tail stalled into the wind, or “kited,” providing a stationary vantage point, the better to detect movement of prey below:

Redtail Kiting 2008_10_31

A Northern Harrier hunted over the wetlands:

Northern Harrier 2008_10_31

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