Birds in a cow pasture.

American kestrel.

A pair! First time I've seen more than one.

Loggerhead shrike

Cow (for all you city folks).

Another cow.

I don't see cows that often around Tampa. Just on the highways on the way to Lakeland or Orlando. I headed up to Hernando county (about an hour north of me) to find some swallow tail kites. I had read on the Florida bird forums that there were big flocks of them flying around some dirt roads. I found those kites (posting those later) but also found a few other cool things. Yes, I think cows are cool. I should spend a day on a farm milking them. Then I might not think they are so cool. But they make cute pictures. I really like the white cow above. She looks like she should be wearing a bonnet. I also found a family of kestrels but they were pretty skittish.  Somehow I managed to find the tiny loggerhead shrike. I almost drove right by it thinking it was probably a mockingbird. I also saw tons of cardinals and doves. I would have liked to have seen a meadowlark (I heard there were some there earlier) but didn't catch that one.

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Audubon Center for Birds of Prey

This barred owl had so much personality. The trainer would talk to him and he would look at her with these amazing expressions.

Injured hawk was recouping outside.

Female american kestrel was a permanent resident.

A male kestrel.

This little screech owl is missing an eye.

Barn owls in their home at the center.

The eagle above has a twisted beak.

After my stop at Gatorland in Orlando, I decided to drive north to visit the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland. It was just outside of downtown Orlando. I had read so many articles about injured eagles and other birds being taken there that I wanted to see the place. There's a handful of large enclosures for permanent residents. In the back you see the even larger flight rehab buildings but you cannot go in those buildings. They don't want the recuperating birds exposed to visiting humans which makes sense. The place sits on a small lake and you can walk on a boardwalk out over the lake to a small covered dock. It was nice sitting out there resting for a while. These guys stay busy helping injured birds. Stop by there if you are ever in Orlando. 

Audubon Center for Birds of Prey

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Pinellas county waste plant

Cattle egrets taking a break.

Lots of different birds at the ponds by the waste plant. Notice the turtle on the left.

Kestrel sitting on a power line. I've seen him several times there now.

Sad looking cattle egret.  Do immature cattle egret have gray feathers? I've never seen one with gray feathers before. 

It looks like he's got some problems with his beak as well.

Cormorants and cattle egrets sunning themselves.

I can usually find water birds around the ponds and ditches that are across from the Pinellas county waste plant. I see them when I'm out getting lunch since my office is close by. I stopped by there recently on a Saturday to see what was hanging around. Most of the time I see a few spoonbills but not on this trip. The highlight was an American kestrel sitting on a power line. The county has torn down all of the trees and digging up the dirt across from the waste plant. I'm not sure what they are doing there but it's brought in a lot of cattle egret. I guess they are stirring up a lot of bugs. Yum!

An hour in a cemetery before sundown.

Red bellied woodpecker on the side of a utility pole.

There's a flock of wild parrots that live around the cemetery.

They were looking down at my like "lady what are you doing?"

There also seems to be a pair of raccoons that live in the cemetery.

I couldn't tell what he was chewing on. He wouldn't let me get close.

American kestrel on top of large snag.

The sun was about to go down and the kestral was trying to sleep. (Moon in the background)

I finally saw the eagle sticking it's head out of the nest.

I was able to leave work a little early on the Friday before MLK day and decided to head to the cemetery in St. Petersburg where the eagle's nest was. I had a little more than an hour before the sun was going down and I had to head back to Tampa for dinner. I got there and no eagles were present. I thought "maybe he'll be back with a fish soon." No luck the entire hour. I didn't even see anything on the nest until I was leaving and looked back out of the window of the car and saw a head pop up. I stopped and took the last picture. I've since heard the babies should be hatching some time this week so I'm going to have to make another stop soon. My hour wasn't wasted. It's amazing the amount of wildlife in a cemetery. I guess they don't get a lot of traffic through there on a regular basis although while I was there several cars stopped by to check on the eagles.

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