To the Beach

It was a little chilly out, but still a great day to walk along the beach.




I love this Osprey pic that John got!









I was so happy to see a Killdeer!

Whoa!

Screech in the House

Wordless Wednesday: Screech Owls at My Neighbor's House

New Porch Birds

So cute!

Have a good weekend friends. : )

Wordless Wednesday: Holy Guacamole! Waxwings!

Wordless Wednesday: Killdeer

Killdeer

Oystercatchers Rock!

American Oystercatcher

Male and Female Great Horned Owls

Sitting in the nest (click on the pic)Keeping watch

These pictures were taken Saturday at Honeymoon Island. We've been lucky every year to see the owls and this time was even better seeing them nesting.

Some cool Great Horned Owl facts I found on the web:

Size: 18- 24 in.

Wingspan: 40-57 in.

GHOs mate for life, beginning at two years of age.

The female typically lays a clutch of 2 to 3 eggs each year in the spring.

Both male and female take turns sitting on the eggs for about a month.

The Great Horned Owl will take large prey, even other raptorial birds. It will also regularly kill and eat other owls.

American Kestrel

Yesterday, we piled into the car and headed out to Fort Desoto. It is such a beautiful place to be, I often remark that when the time comes, I hope that my heaven will be like this (but maybe without all the snowbirds). Even with the extra people in the winter, you can still hike and play in the water and have the feeling of being alone. It's a great feeling to have in this land of concrete. But our mission yesterday was simple, Birds..Birds..Birds..and we were not disappointed. Our first sighting was this little female American Kestrel. I sometimes wish I was born with the ability to write, but I wasn't, so I can only say that she was pure beauty up on that wire signing her little song and scanning out over the land. Thank you, Big Guy for giving us this day and plenty more birds which I will share in the next few days (I have family and friends that have dial up, so I try to keep it short).

Christmas Bird

I had a wonderful present on Christmas Day, a female Yellow- Bellied Sapsucker stopped in for a visit! How cool!

The Beauty of Wood Storks

Last Saturday, while we were out running errands, it seemed like everywhere we went there were great birding opportunities. Don't you just love that? Now, if you ever met me in real life you would know that there's not much in the natural world that I don't go crazy over (except roaches, they make me flap my arms, run around in circles, and scream like a girl!) but Wood Storks are definitely a great love of mine. In the evenings we'll see them flying over and my heart just sings when I see them, their undersides painted with the golden colors of the setting sun. It's in those moments that I forget my daily struggles with Dystrophy and I just feel blessed to be alive, enjoying the great beauties of our wonderful planet.

And speaking of great beauties, eight years ago today we did the happy dance in the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test. :)

Osprey

Ibis on the line

Birds at the dump

We were going to the Florida Aquarium on Sunday, and as we were passing the county land fill, we noticed all the birds hanging out around the retention ponds. Of course, we had to get off the interstate and come back around so that we could get some pictures. Wood Storks
Roseate Spoonbills
close up of Roseate Spoonbill
Wood Storks and Juvenile Bald Eagle