Honeymoon Island - December 15, 2016

I haven't been to Honeymoon Island in a long time, so it was nice to go today and see what was around.  Mostly did the inside eagle nest trail, and also stopped at some small beaches on the way in to get some shorebird shots, and one white pigeon.

Dunn Water Treatement Facility, Pinellas - December 15, 2016

Just happened to drive by this water treatment plant on the way to Honeymoon Island and found tons of ducks.  This is a known birding spot, but I had never been here before. Definitely worth the stop with 18 different species of birds.

Bystere Lake (art) - November 30, 2016

Stopped by Bystere Lake also today, and although there were not that many species of birds, and the light was not good for photos, I did manage to use the compositions to make some Bystre Lake art with Photoshop!

Lettuce Lake - November 30, 2016

Got to stop at Lettuce Lake before work today for about an hour.  My favorite photo is of this fairly common Carolina Wren, because he stayed so close and was out in the light.

Other than that, saw a lot of the usual species...

Roseate Spoonbill

Black-crowned Night Heron

White Ibis

Pied-billed Grebe

Wood Stork with baby gator

Key Vista - November 20, 2016

Came back today to find the winter wren and red-breasted nuthatch again.  No luck with the wren, but I did get some acceptable photos of the nuthatch this time.

Also pictured are pine warblers and ruby-crowned kinglet (and osprey below)

Western Kingbirds, Bartow - November 17, 2016

To finish up a great day of birding, I decided to visit the western kingbirds and scissor-tailed flycatchers reported in some farmer's fields in Bartow.  I kind of liked this birding spot actually, because although it is a road, it is a dirt road, and not used much, so it is easy and safe to park and take photos.  The Western kingbirds were a life bird for me today, and there were so many!  Scissor-tailed flycatcher I saw once at Fort deSoto, but today there were five of them!

Key Vista, Pasco - November 17, 2017

Recently at Key Vista there have been two interesting birds reported: winter wren and red-breasted nuthatch.  Almost right away I heard the call of the nuthatch, but was never able to find it, and no sign of the winter wren.  The most interesting bird of the day was a Merlin, which I have never seen at this park before.

Hudson Beach - November 17, 2016

Started out this morning looking for a life bird at Hudson Beach.  Thanks to other birders who were there, I was able to see it up close through a scope.  However, even with my powerful lens, it was so far out in the gulf, I could not get a clear photo.

Red-necked Grebe

 While there, I saw many other species up close, and the light was pretty nice that time of morning.

Belted Kingfisher

Double-crested Cormorants

Mallards

Redhead ducks

Great Blue Heron

Spotted Sandpiper and Ruddy Turnstone

Dunlins with Least Sandpiper

Double-crested Cormorants

The Moon - November 15, 16, 17 - 2016

After supermoon on the 14th, I decided to keep photographing the moon for a few days since it was still pretty close.  Here is what I got:

Nov. 15, 8PM 

 Nov. 16,  8AM

Nov. 17, 6AM

Nov. 17, 7AM

Nov. 17, 10PM

Supermoon - November 14, 2016

Had to take a few photos of the "super" moon tonight.  Apparently, the last time the moon was this close to earth was in 1948.  I have taken moon photos before, but I noticed that since the moon light was "30% brighter", the craters were showing up much better.  So, I decided to crop the photos to focus on this aspect, because the full shot looks similar to any other full moon photo I have taken before.

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive - November 12, 2016

I was over in Orlando for the weekend and had the chance to drive over to Lake Apopka.  This was only my second time visiting the drive, and I realized it had two different loops, so I actually did the drive twice.  It took about 5.5 hours, but I was able to see 52 species (listed on ebird), a good number for one park.

My favorite bird there is the Fulvous whistling duck.  I have never seen them anyplace else, but I did see them when I visited here last year.

My best photos were of a preening blue-gray gnatcather because he was so close!  Also pictured below, in order, are red-shouldered hawk, kingfisher, palm warbler, blue-winged teal, Fulvous whistling ducks, osprey, American bittern, and gator with decoration.