Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Kapock Park~Clearwater, Florida~Owlets

Howdee all,

Yesterday Jeff and I met up with my Twitter/facebook friend Annette and her hubby Jerry. They took us to a local taco restaurant and then to see some owlets.

 

Kapock Park

Kapock park Clearwater_003

Boardwalk to the tall Oak trees where the Owlets were

Kapock park Clearwater_005Looking east toward the housing development..

A very nice park~built to help control flooding in the area.

Kapock park Clearwater_013Looking west over the bridge

Kapock Park_007I think this is some kind of Bird of paradise plant..

Kapock park Clearwater_001Close up of the purplish flower

Kapock park Clearwater_002

Ahh..here we go

Great horned owlets

There were a few photographers already in the area. 

The Owlets were given plenty of room.

I took these two photos with my canon SX1

Kapock Park_001The one on the left is younger

Kapock Park_002

The next photos digiscoped by Jeff with his Canon powershot

Jeffs Digiscoped_043We didn’t take photos of mom and dad~they were nearby

Mom was in the same tree~dad in the next tree over.

Jeffs Digiscoped_044Zoomed in with scope and camera

Jeffs Digiscoped_047The owlet on the right has more developed feathers..

Jeffs Digiscoped_055We had great fun watching these two fluff balls!

Jeffs Digiscoped_060Thanks Annette and Jerry!

Annette and Jerry left ~Jeff and I continued to walk the park.

Kapock park Clearwater_022A group of White Ibis in the middle of this photo under the small trees.

Kapock park Clearwater_015Must be nice to live in one of the houses near this very pretty park.

Kapock park Clearwater_018Digiscoped photo of Limpkin

Jeffs Digiscoped_064Little Blue Heron working the weeds

Kapock park Clearwater_011Tri-colored heron preening

Kapock Park_009Little Blue Heron preening

Kapock Park_011Great Egret eating  some sort of crustacean

Kapock Park_012

It was a nice afternoon at this small neighborhood park.

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Jeff and I are in the area until Saturday~we then head south toward Sanibel where we will be for another week.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

You NEED to go see these~Biggest Week Birds

Howdee all,

If you want to experience a slice of Warbler Heaven…

GO GO GO to

The Biggest Week in American Birding

Where~Oak Harbor and Oregon Ohio

May 4-13

Q: Why come to Northwest Ohio in May?
A: Because it is quite simply the best place to witness spring migration of songbirds anywhere in North America. The southern edge of Lake Erie acts as a barrier that the birds are reluctant to cross during migration. The birds tend to "pile up" in the woodlots surrounded by marshland on the lake's southern edge to rest and refuel before crossing the Lake. The timing of their arrival is early enough in spring that the trees have not leafed out, there are no bugs, and the birds are incredibly low and accessible. No such thing as "warbler neck" around here! We get HUGE numbers of birds, much like a fallout, only better! Fallouts occur when a weather event pushes birds down, and what birders find are the weary survivors. Here in NW Ohio, we get the same huge numbers of birds as you'd see in a fallout, but the birds are active and vibrant, and by the time they get to this latitude, the males are actively singing!

 

You can register for the event here.

Lots of Wonderful  bird walks and talks.

 

Jeff and I will return for a second time. We attended the event last year and had a blast!

It touched me to my core…to see so many beautiful birds up close…(Not just warblers)

I was teary eyed more than once on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh.

 

This year I am honored to be one of the Official Bloggers of The Biggest Week.

 

I will also be helping with the Bird Sits ~come and join me for some fun birding.

 


Magee Marsh Bird Sits
Date:
May 7 & 9
Time: 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Where:
Magee Marsh Wildlife Area (Near the west end of the boardwalk. See the map (to the left) for the exact spot indicated with a red star.)
Fee: Just show your BIGGEST WEEK name badge to participate!

Designed for those with limited mobility—or those who just like to take a break and see what birds come to you—these Bird Sits will allow you to relax and enjoy the birds visiting the edge of the wood lot along the boardwalk. This edge habitat frequently offers some of the best birding in the area and we’ll have expert guides on hand to help you spot birds and tune your ears in to the fine art of birding by ear, too. We’ll post these group sit-ins in the grassy area near the west end of the Magee Marsh boardwalk. (See the map for the exact spot.)  Please bring your own chair, birding stool, or blanket to sit on. This area should be fine for those with wheelchairs or motorized carts.

 

And now..

a few bird photos to entice you…

These were taken with my point and shoot camera~imagine what you could do with a nice DSLR!

Bay-breasted Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler (3)

Magee_056 (1)

Black-throated Green Warbler

Magee_150

Black-throated Green warbler

American Woodcock

Woodcock

Prothonotary Warbler

Prothonatary Warbler (2)Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian wablerBlack-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue warbler (2)

Black-throated Blue warbler

Scarlet Tanager back end~you can see the front end there too!

Scarlet tanager (2)American Redstart

American Redstart (1)

Magee_281Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler (6)

Canada Warblers cute back end..

Canada Warbler (1)

Canada Warbler

Magee_015Palm Warbler

Palm Warbler (4)_thumb_thumb

Palm Warbler (3)

Black and white Warbler

Black and white warbler (2)

Black and white warbler (3)

Magnolia Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler (5)Magee_011Common Yellow throat

Magee_077White-crowned sparrow

Magee_194

Northern Parula

Magee_176Philadelphia Vireo

Philidelphia vieroWhite throated sparrow

Magee_123Baltimore Oriole~Magee parking lot

Magee_030

Magee_040

Some days on the boardwalk..We walk with birds beside us..

Black and White Warbler on boardwalk

Magee_265

Magnolia Warbler~close to boardwalk

Magee_180Prothonatary Warbler

Magee_204Chestnut-sided warbler on boardwalk

Magee_197

Magee_190

The birds that drew crowds

Mourning and Connecticut Warblers..We didn’t see a Kirtland’s last year…Maybe this year.

I have just a blurry distant photo of a Mourning warbler…

Magee_219This flycatcher was quite popular

Olive-sided Flycatcher

magee marsh goodies_171

“quick-three-beers”

magee marsh goodies_174

While all the migrating birds are hanging out waiting to cross Lake Erie..

Some local birds are busy with other things.

Pairing up..

Magee_257and tending to the kids..

magee marsh goodies_182

Its not just about woodland birds here

There are shorebirds too..

magee and travel home_033

magee marsh goodies_086

magee marsh goodies_102

These are just a sampling of the birds you might see at The Biggest Week..

Check out the list of birds here.

If you have never been..I suggest you treat yourself and attend this event!

If you have been~you know how amazing it is!

I hope to see you there!

Give me a shout if you will be coming..

I would love to meet you and show you a few birds.