Rosyfinch Ramblings
Virtual New Mexican, who winters in Florida and migrates annually to Illinois, remembers growing up, birding and practicing in New Jersey, and finds birds and beauty close to home.
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01/06/09
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US
Posted by: Ken @ 3:53 pm

Last evening, a Green Heron was sitting atop the cocoplum hedge off our back patio, hunting anoles. It probably was the same one who got all “huffy puffy” when I disturbed it on the patio two days before:

Green Heron In Cocoplum Cropped

I had taken the colors of the cocoplum’s new red shoots quite for granted, until I viewed my photos. The afternoon sun gave them and the bird a luminescent quality.

Alarmed, the Green Heron suddenly extended its snakelike neck, but held its place and resumed its hunt after I walked back into the house:

Green Heron In Cocoplum 20090105

Yesterday morning, I saw a Bobcat again, at nearly the same spot as the smaller one that I photographed the day before yesterday. I had been on a side trail, photographing gnatcatchers and walked back to the main trail. There, only about 50 feet away, the cat was staring at me intently. When I reached for my camera it was gone in an instant. Its bulk was about twice that of a tomcat, with longer legs. I believe it had been stalking a Common Ground-Dove, which was frozen in one spot for several seconds, only about 10 feet from where the Bobcat stood .

Instead of another Bobcat photo, I got this one of the dove:

Common Ground-Dove 20090105

I wasted many megapixels, trying to catch one of several gnatcatchers in flight. A small flock was actively feeding, dashing here and there, and hover-gleaning insects and spiders in a clump of shrubby trees. 

Of about 20 photos (mostly of leaves and branches with an occasional gray blur), this is the only one that showed a recognizable Blue-gray Gnatcatcher:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Hovering 20090105

On Sunday morning, we briefly visited Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, next to the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Despite its urban location, it is a remarkably quiet oasis of dry hammocks, mangrove thickets and lagoons. We saw several Red-shouldered Hawks, striking their usual graceful pose, looking almost shy as they seemingly averted their gaze.

This Red-shouldered Hawk gave us wonderful views:

Red-shouldered Hawk 20090103

I’m still trying for a drop-dead picture of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

This one kept far away, so its image is heavily cropped:

Red-bellied Woodpecker 20090103

A Tricolored Heron struck a stately pose in a lagoon:

Tricolored Heron 20090103

This huge Golden Silk Orb Weaver had spun its web next to the trail:

Nephila clavipes - Golden Silk Orb Weaver

The Spiny-backed Orb Weaver is very unusual, at least to any new Floridian:

Gasteracantha cancriformis - Spinybacked Orbweaver

One Response to “Hugh Taylor Birch State Park”

  1. Andy Wraithmell Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 8:51 pm I love the green heron pics Ken cheers Andy

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