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:
A large tern flew right by the patio. Its long bright red bill indicated it was a Caspian Tern.
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:
This pair of Mottled Ducks was the first we have seen this fall, since getting back from Illinois in early October:
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:
An Eastern Phoebe posed in a setting that almost looked like a watercolor– this image was cropped but not otherwise edited:
An Ovenbird showed off his orange crown:
A Northern Mockingbird was particularly cooperative:
I did get quite a few flight shots, among them, this Red-tailed Hawk:
The Red-tail stalled into the wind, or “kited,” providing a stationary vantage point, the better to detect movement of prey below:
A Northern Harrier hunted over the wetlands: