Boyd Hill butterfly and birds - Skywatch Friday

Still a lot of butterflies around.

Pine warbler

Which one doesn't belong? That anhinga is telling the great egret to get off his statue.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge from far away. Yes, I took this right into the sun!

Large flock of ruddy turnstones. I don't think I've ever seen more than 2 or 3 together at a time.

It's still pretty warm down here. It would be nice if it would at least stay below 70 degrees for a while. My Saturday morning walk around Boyd Hill Nature Preserve warmed up fast. I had on a tshirt and pants but after 15 minutes I was wishing I had on a tank top and shorts. I'm such a native now. It's 70 outside and I think I have to wear a jacket. Boyd Hill was pretty quiet with birds so I headed down to the end of the street it's off of and found a small park with a boat ramp that faces the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Of course, by then it was after 11am so the sun was right in my eyes. There was nothing interesting there so I didn't stay long. 

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Boyd Hill on a beautiful day

There's always an anhinga sitting in this spot.

Life imitating art.

Snowy egret flying in.

Another eastern phoebe.

Based on the short bill, I'm going with a Downy Woodpecker.

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve was pretty quiet on a recent Saturday morning. The few migrating birds I saw were high up in the trees and I couldn't get any shots of them. The eastern phoebe was the only one to get a little lower and sit for a portrait. I was a little disappointed  that I didn't see any raccoons, otters or alligators there. I know there are tons of them that live there but they were being scarce that morning. It was a little bit cooler and very windy. I left the house with a jacket on but had it off after my first 30 minutes there. The weather here has been perfect. Anywhere from 70 - 80 degrees and a cool wind blowing. I love this time of year. When it's sunny and 70. Sorry all you folks up north already getting snow. It's time for a visit down south.

Birds at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

Green heron hiding in the trees.

Great blue heron posing in front of the St. Petersburg downtown skyline (way off in the distance).

Tricolored heron

Male anhinga looking up.

White ibis looking down.

Nothing different or unusual about these birds. This was all I could find at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. It was a hot walk and most of the birds were resting either high in the trees or close to the water to get a good breeze. The birds all looked lazy and sleepy. This was around 9am so they were already getting ready for a morning nap. I don't blame them. I managed to walk around the park for about 2 hours and then went home for my afternoon nap.

Non bird things at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

 I think this is a silk orb spider. Looks like there's a baby one with it.

Otter teasing me.

"Hey, I'm over here, otter."

He popped up far away and looked like he was eating something. I snapped quick but wasn't really ready for this shot. It didn't come out well but I realized when I cropped it up he was eating a small turtle. He chowed down for a few seconds, then went back down into the water.

A family of four raccoons went quickly scurring by me on the trail. The smallest one stayed back and climbed half way up the tree and was watching me. After a few seconds he climbed back down and hurried to catch up with his family.

This big slow guy wasn't going anywhere. He stopped munching on the grass for a few seconds and looked up.

Lily pad flower upclose. The water was full of them. Lots of tiny bugs hanging out on them.

I headed out on a recent hot Saturday morning to Boyd Hill Nature preserve in south St. Petersburg. I figured since the front trail was mostly shaded and went along a big lake then maybe there would be a nice breeze and it wouldn't feel so hot. I was wrong. Even the tons of alligators there stayed hidden under the water. I would have liked to be hidden under the water as well. I was walking along one of the boardwalks that goes over a section of the lake and and heard a snort. I realized it was an otter swimming around. It was the first time I had seen one at this park. I was so excited. Except he stayed in the shadows and mostly under the bushes hanging along the water so it was hard to get good pictures of him. He blended into the water most of the time. He was cute though and kept swimming around under the boardwalk. The bird sightings were disappointed but since I watched an otter play, passed a turtle and raccoon I still thought it was a pretty successful morning.

Spring at Boyd Hill Nature Park

Lily pads are blooming and bees are buzzing.

Cormorants resting near the trail.

Anhinga is trying to hide under the statue. (Downtown St. Pete in the background.)

Butterflies are everywhere.

Big tooth giving me a grin. This guy was laying right under the boardwalk.  Since the water was so high he had traveled far into the swamp.

Lots of spring nature happening at Boyd Hill Nature Park in St. Petersburg. Tons of people are coming out to see the grooved bill ani that is still there but there's so much more to see at the park. This was the only alligator I saw. I think since the water was so high most of them were hiding. The place was full of butterflies and dragonflies. There were osprey flying around. They probably have nests somewhere in the park. It's a nice walk when it gets hot because the front trail closest to the lake is almost all shaded and you get the breeze over the water. I'll be heading there a lot this summer.

A Rare Bird at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

I had heard the grooved bill ani was at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve for a couple of weeks. But it was right when I had company visiting and then we went to Ft. Lauderdale and I couldn't seem to get down there for a while. I finally had a few days off during the week and decided to try and see if the bird was still there. I had never heard of this bird before. It certainly doesn't look very pretty. But boy does this bird have personality. I think that's why so many people have made it to the park to see it. I thought there wouldn't be too many people there on a Wednesday afternoon. I was wrong. I walked up and down the north part of the trail looking for the bird with several other photographers. We were looking up in the trees. Ha! That bird was laughing at us. Finally, a volunteer from the park came by with several birders and he shook a big bush close by us and out pops the bird on the ground. The ani eats bugs on the ground that are stirred up sort of like cattle egrets do with cows. We were all standing there watching this bird stare at us and all of a sudden he ran towards my feet. The more I backed up the closer he got. It was hard getting good shots since I had my 500mm lens with me. Finally, I walked pretty far down the trail to get pictures.

The ani is normally found in south Texas and central America. It's rare to see one in Florida. It must have really flown off the beaten path. Recently, Boyd Hill had a planned burn in the park and everyone was worried it would scare off the bird. The Boyd Hill team kept the fire away from the area and a week later the bird is still there. If you go to visit, you can pick up a hand written map that shows you where the bird hangs out, down to which pine tree to look around. Usually though, there's a crowd there.

Spirit of Boyd HIll Nature Preserve

Picture I took of Spirit this past summer taken through the fence.

I recently came across this article on Tampabay.com about how the permanently injured eagle, Spirit, had died at Boyd Hill. She was 27 years old and had been a resident at Boyd Hill since 2001. When Spirit was young she was bitten by a rattlesnake which had done permanent damage to her wing making her flightless. She had a great big roomy cage at Boyd Hill and I was glad I got to see her while she was there. Below is the article about her life.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/resident-bald-eagle-at-boyd-hill-nature-preserve-in-st-petersburg-dies/1076462

Below are some of the other residents there.