Howdee all,
Yes the Space Coast Bird and Wildlife festival is over.
We had a terrific time!
Met some new birdie friends and met some of my Birdie blogging buddies.
We had some very cold mornings!
Yes the Space Coast Bird and Wildlife festival is over.
We had a terrific time!
Met some new birdie friends and met some of my Birdie blogging buddies.
We had some very cold mornings!
We saw Painted buntings.
The last two days it got warmer! Almost too hot..tee hee...
See Kevin Karlson in the below photo...he is on the right.
We love birding with him!
He has a wonderful book on Shorebirds..The Shorebird Guide...a must buy if you want to be better at shorebird Id...Kevin uses a great approach that makes Shorebird ID much easier...
Now we can Id 4 shorebirds instead of 2...tee hee..
For those of you who have never birded Florida...I suggest you get your butts over here.There are some wonderful places all over Florida to bird.
Check out the Florida Birding Trail...
Set up beautifully online...you can search for what birds are in the area you want to visit..
You can search for target birds that you want to see.
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Isnt it just bee U T ful here?
YOU will see lots of Birdies....not just shorebirds...We went on a great bird walk in an Oak hammock...Saw many warblers...Vireos....had an amazing 15 minute display by a Whip or will...... Heard a Barred owl hooting.
Look at the Great Blue Herons yellow eye..
I took a digiscoping class....I learned that I have no clue how to operate the manual settings on my camera...
I always have used my handy dandy automatic settings for different scenes.
I have no clue what iso...f stop etc...are..
I need to study...I hate to study...
but if I want better photos..I guess I should ...
anyway...
because my point and shoot is not a fast SLR camera...I took photos of allot of
butts....
I did get a few photos I liked..This little Coot looking at its relfection..
Not the best composition..but some very cool Aveosets..
A nice Little Blue Heron
Pintailed ducks...
Blue winged Teal
There was a Falconer at the festival that showed off the talents of this beautiful bird.
We saw sandhill Cranes.I didnt capture the silly display the male was doing to entertain his female...wish I did...but alas I did not.....
He was jumping up and down like a fool...fun to see.
This morning we found this cool moth.
Does anyone know what kind it is?
Oh...and by request of sista Dellare ...
and my other family members who read this..
I will do a contest for that previous berry photo post and this moth...
Whoever guess correctly first wins a prize...sorry to my other bloggy friends...My family would off my head.... if others were in my contests! tee hee...
So today is my non Birdie day....
Jeff has gone birding...
I needed a break...laundry ..vacuum..dust...shower......
and time to spend with my Balliecat.
We have one more day here in Titusville and then head over to the Panhandle for a new adventure. We have never been...so if anyone has any suggestions on where to go and what to see...give me a shout out..
Thanks..
Update
And the winners are....drum roll..
Sista Beachgrl and mother chicky
mother and sista both guessed the moth correctly..... Luna Moth
and sista...got the berries.
Brazilian-pepper tree, Christmasberry tree, Florida Holly
Wow, looks like y'all had a FANTASTIC time!! I love the coot admiring his reflection. And the teals, and the pintails, and and and... I wanna go next year!
ReplyDeleteThe painted bunting is so beautiful! You got lots of wonderful photos! (I've been reading my camera manual too and trying to lay off the automatic settings.)
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures but the short sleeve wearing action is making us sick with jealousy.
ReplyDeleteWell what ever you are doing w/ your automatic settings is great because I think those photos are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a great time.
Beautiful scenery, beautiful birds. I love the colorful buntings, bird butts and the ones with their heads in the water. I'm glad you had a good time and learned some new things.
ReplyDeleteDawn,
ReplyDeleteWhat a time you must have had..such a variety of birds. Love the painted bunting and some of those shore birds have great color and patterns. Have you visited Ding Darling Preserve on Sanibel Island. We visit Sanibel almost every year in Jan. Great refuge..lots of trails to walk.
enjoyed your post!
Sure looks like you had a great time at this birding festival. Love those expansive marshy views. The aveocets are my favorite with the heads buried so. And that moth, how cool. Hope you let us know what it is and who won the contest.
ReplyDeleteHave a safe trip to your next location and keep the rubber down.
Great shots. This is a great time for the panhandle. There are great areas with lots of crowds if that's what you would want (yuk). St George Island and SGI State Park is very nice. Lots of birds and nature walks. Dinner in Appalachicola for seafood. Our favorite is Boss' Oyster House. Its on the river and has good food.
ReplyDeleteTravel safe.
Jim
Wonderful photos of all the birdies!
ReplyDeleteI am sure the moth is Luna moth or Lunar Moth (Actius luna).
I am guessing the berries are from the non-native Florida Holly (not really a holly) schinus terebinthifolius.
You lucky girl--great shot of those Painted Buntings! I live in Florida and I *still* haven't seen one! I'm jeaous.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, If your travels take you through Gainesville give me a shout; there have been some good birds here as of late. Keep on birding!
Superb Luna Moth!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had an AWESOME time! Nice post. I wish I could have been there.
ReplyDeleteA great post to finish off the visit.
ReplyDeleteThe painted bunting is really nice. All of your bird photos are nice to see. I have not posted them yet on my Backyard Birds blog but I have a couple of nice birds posted there now. All of mine must appear in the backyard or I don't count or photograph them.
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteNot sure how far west into the panhandle you are going, but one of our favorite places is Pensecola Beach. We always try to stop there on our way back east. Our first seafood stop after eating ribs all winter.
I have Kevin's The Shorebird Guide and love it! It comes in handy during migration up here in Maine.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a wonderful time. Nice photos.
I've never seen a Painted Bunting in person, and I kinda hope I don't see one for many, many years. It seems like everything else (on this continent anyway) would seem drab by comparison. My plan is to save that one for last. (Though if given the opportunity, I'd break in, oh, four or five seconds, I bet.)
ReplyDeleteFlorida - birders paradise I'm told. And by your pics it sure looks like it!
ReplyDeleteYou met Kevin Karlson. Wow! I just bought his book too not that long ago.
Great photos. I have never seen a painted bunting. Sounds like a great birding festival. I hope you have fun in the panhandle. I have been to Panama Beach but it was nothing that great.
ReplyDelete