Friday, January 22, 2010

Aves of Florida.

One of the many things God blessed me with while I was down in Florida was letting me observe many of the different variety's of Aves (birds=) that live down there. Most of them I had never seen in person before. The very first bird I spotted was a mocking bird.


It was a very kind little bird, and posed quite well.


The next bird I met, I had no clue what he was. So I sent the picture to my resident bird expert: Faith.


Her answer was, that "he" was a female American Anhinga.


As we were slowly approaching the Anhinga to get a better picture of her, a little slate colored reddish egret flew in right in front of us. I guess She wanted her picture taken too=)


The next day I was tooling around with mother, in the golf cart (one of my favorite activities;) and we spied a couple of Great White Egrets. Very austere birds. ;)


A couple of mornings later I went out front of Grandpa's house, and was startled to find the ground covered with little birdies hopping all over. Some of them I knew were Chipping Sparrows,but the other ones I had no clue. So of course, I sent off the pictures to, you know who, and received back a prompt answer. Pine Warblers!


This handsome little male Pine Warbler, was very brave. He wasn't scared of me at all!


Of course I did see many Mallard ducks in all the ponds and lakes that pocket Florida's landscape, but I was used to them and not very impressed=} I was though when I saw this....


Every day when mother and I drove Grandpa to the nursing home, we passed a large field, with two young resident steers (they were very cute little fellows, and I will show you pictures of them later). Electric poles crossed the field, and on top of one of the poles, I spotted a huge nest! The first few times I did not see anyone around the nest, and assumed it was abandoned. One hot afternoon though, when we were driving back to the village, Mother spotted a bird sitting on top of the nest.

We returned later to find two birds perched up high on their mounds of sticks. They were a pair of gorgeous Ospreys. I was so happy to have the opportunity to observe them each day.


Our last day in Florida, Mother and I went on our final walk around the village. This little fellow was wandering around someones front yard, frantically poking his beak in and out of the ground searching for bugs. Meet the American white Ibis. I did see other birds when I did not have my camera hanging around my neck (a very rare occurrence I assure you) and therefore was not able to document them for your benefit. But I am so grateful for the birds I was able to observe as well as the many other items (mammals, reptiles, plants etc.) which I will be sure to share with you soon. Don't hold your breath!

~Chs

It's That Time of Year Again!

Just thought I'd remind you all to make sure you order your garden seeds before too long! You might like to re-read THIS post for some links to seed catalogs.

And this year I will try to make good my promise of a series of Gardening articles. I had really good intentions last year, but things just got soooo busy!

Take care,

Faith