~Morning on the Lake~John Prince Park,FL

Howdee all,

This morning after my Limpkin alarm clock woke me. I took an early morning walk.I took along my Canon point and shoot and my Itouch…

Can you tell what photos were taken with each camera?

This first photo was taken behind the homey…

It was a beauteous morning!

I walked alone..

Jeff flew back to Boston, his 97 year old aunt passed away…

I stayed behind to take care of Ballie….

Goodbye Aunt Lil~ we had some fun times together….

You liked Florida….

It really is lovely here…I remember when Jeff and I first started RVing…We didn’t think we would like Florida…too many people…to many high rises…not enough places to hike.

We now love coming here…

we always find wonderful pockets of nature…Florida is not just high rises on the beach, we were mistaken…We come to Florida to bird and to visit family and friends….To enjoy warm weather in the winter…It suits us …one of the many places we enjoy in the winter…Hi there!…:)So, if you are cold and need to get warmed up…Come to Florida…Its really warm here….You can go for walks every day without slipping on white stuff….When in Florida, we love staying here at John Prince Park..You would never know there was a sprawling town all around us…Its peaceful here….

We leave Lake Worth on Friday and head north on the coast..next stop Jensen beach.

♥~Valentine hearts~Cactus Wren Love~♥

Howdee all,

Its Valentines Day…

♥  Love is in the air ♥

 I filmed this a few years back while in Arizona..

I hope you can hang in there and watch the whole video..the cactus wren are so much fun.

I love to find hearts in nature…

Here are a few hearts from the past..

I found this heart in the Mohave National Preserve

This one in Leon Sinks geological area….

While Birding the Consumnes River Preserve

I photographed these Sandhill crane with their red heart above the bill…

I hope you find some ♥ today

♥  Happy Valentines Day ♥

Coot Feet~Sweet

Howdee all,

I want you to see these feet!~ Mind you, my photos are taken with a point and shoot..wish I had a DSLR for something like this..

Notice the strange feet of the Coot. Unlike ducks and most other water birds, which have webbed
feet, the Coot has feet which are lobed.
To take off from the water, the Coot does not flap its wings and rise upward like other waterfowl are capable of doing.
Instead, Coots run over the water surface on their their feet, thrashing their wings until becoming air-borne. Their tail is
so short that it cannot be used for steering during flight. Instead, the Coot uses its outstretched feet to steer while flying.
One of the Coot’s predators is the bald eagle, possibly because the Coot becomes air borne so slowly compared to other
waterfowl. Also, Coots like open water and therefore are in plain sight when the eagle is looking for food. Typically, Coots and
Rails are weak flyers compared to ducks and geese. 
 

 

Aren't they the coolest things?…Sweet Feet!Red eye…Red dotted noggin…

(red-brown frontal shield on the forehead)A cover or raft of Coot

Hot of the presses today… my latest post at Birdingblogs.com

Featured Bird Butt Blogger of the Week

  Yeah..you read that right!

Happy Birding!

Sora rail, Green Cay Wetlands,Florida

Howdee all,

The secretive Sora…

We saw six Secretive Sora Sunday…

Sora !

Hiding…

Then coming out of the dead reeds..To feed…

Look at those little tail feathers sticking up…The beautiful coloring……Those feet!

See the Sora in motion! Check its tail flip..

Sora!

Wordless Wednesday~ shhhh

Howdee all,

Shhhh, No words…Its Wednesday…Shhhh….

Just look…

Limpkin, Green Cay Wetlands, Florida

Howdee all,

Today I want to show you one one of my favorite birds..

See the dead tree in the distance?There is a Limpkin on top…

An unusual bird of southern swamps and marshes, the Limpkin reaches the northern limits of its breeding range in Florida. There, it feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, which it extracts from their shells with its long bill. Its screaming cry is unmistakable and evocative.

A  Limpkin can extract a snail from its shell in less than 20 seconds.

Limpkins were once common in Florida, but because of the decline of its primary food source, the Florida Apple Snail and habitat loss… it is listed as a species of special concern.

Florida is the only state in the US where Limpkin breed.

These photos were all taken at Green Cay, where we saw a few Limpkin….

When we first birded in Florida four years ago we searched for Limpkin and felt lucky when we saw them…

Jeff and I went for a walk at John Prince Campground the other morning and saw about 20 Limpkin….

This Limpkin hung out on its tall perch and called for quite a while

until an Anhinga took its place..

They are locally known as the "wailing bird" or "crying bird" due to their loud mournful call

Play the video below and hear the call….

Limpkin Calling

This video below is from John Prince Park in Lake Worth