After work walk at Carillon Park

Female anhinga posing for a portrait. They love to do this.

I think this is a pine warbler.

Tricolored heron

Green heron on the boardwalk.

There's a small lake with a boardwalk around it about 5 minutes from work (and that's if I hit the one red light). I don't go there that often to look for birds since it's always busy with people jogging and walking their dogs on the boardwalk. But since it was the last week of daylight after work I stopped by for a quick walk. It was such a beautiful night, it was packed with people. I didn't see anything unusual but at least I got a good walk in before heading home. Above are a few things I saw on my walk. There's always a lot of anhingas around and they are not afraid of the joggers or dogs. They will sit on the boardwalk rail while you walk right past them. If you stop or get to close they will wave their beak at you but won't leave. I try not to get too close because I'm always afraid they'll stick me with that beak.

Carillon Park after work - Skywatch Friday

Anhinga sitting on the boardwalk.  These girls are used to people being close. You can walk right by them on boardwalk.

Juvenile moorhens in the green muck.

Juvenile tricolored heron hiding in the reeds.

Small rainbow coming from the fountain in the lake.

Male anhinga drying his wings on a fountain platform that wasn't turned on.

Another hot walk around a park close by work. At least that way I miss traffic. There wasn't anything too interesting there. I did see a few small alligators but they stayed pretty far away. The anhingas think they own the boardwalk around the lake. Most people are jogging by and the birds don't even flinch. They just keep preening. If you stop and stare at them and slowly walk up to them, they wave their beaks at you and honk.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

Spoonbill at Carillon Park

I'm nominating June to be official spoonbill month. A while ago I was thinking I hadn't seen any spoonbills for a while. Now I'm seeing them everywhere. I took a walk after work at Carillon Park. It's 5 minutes from work and has a small lake that is surrounded by office buildings and a hotel. There wasn't too much there that night. I went to look for a baby bittern that I had seen reported on Pinellasbirds.com. No luck. At least not while I was there. After work a lot of people are jogging on the boardwalk so that might scare some of the birds away. I did find a beautiful spoonbill that I'm sure felt like I was following him around. I was just walking around the boardwalk but he kept flying in front of me instead of behind me. 

Carillon Wetlands

Female anhinga panting in the heat. This one has pretty colors on her face.

My first brown thrasher. They're suppose to be fairly common but I haven't seen one before. It was getting dark and even with a flash I had a hard time getting this bird.

Alien duck!  (Baby moorhen)

Another alien duck in the shadows right before dark.

More alligator food.

There's a small wetlands park in the middle of an office park very near where I work. There are two small lakes, one is surrounded by office buildings and has a boardwalk around it. The other is surrounded by townhomes and has a walking path around it. I had heard there were bitterns there so I stopped by after work last week. I didn't find the bitterns but I found a few other things. Right before dark I found a moorhen with a baby. They are the funniest looking babies. Yes, both lakes have alligators so that rabbit better watch out!

Lots of animals at Carillon Park.

Lots of turtles in the lake at Carillon Park.  Now that it hasn't rained in a while the water is really low. There were turtles all along the edge of the lake.

Limpkin giving me the eye.

Green heron walking along the railing.

Cute bunny on the sidewalk eating some grass.

Blue jay in the tree before sunset.

This looks precarious but there are metal bars along certain parts of  the lake. This was taken just before sunset.

Opsrey sitting on a palm tree with a sliver of the moon behind him.

One last trip to Carillon Park before the time change and it's dark after work. It's a small lake surrounded by office buildings. There's an amazing amount of wildlife there considering it has office buildings and a hotel all along the lake. Since the weather had cooled off a bit there were tons of joggers out on the boardwalk. I didn't see any small migrant birds, only water birds. I might have to try and get over there for a quick walk during lunch when the weather gets really cold (under 70 degrees).

Carillon boardwalk in north St. Petersburg.

Juvenile northern mockingbird. There were lots of mockingbirds there.

The usual alligator. He was swimming by the birds below.


Three juvenile night herons. The alligator was swimming close by. I think that's why they were standing at attention.

Lots of butterflies around.

Lots of turtles as well.

I found a new park close by work. It's actually not new, I just had not taken the time to stop there. I didn't think there would be much to see. It's a medium size lake with a boardwalk around most of it and surrounded on most sides by office buildings. There's a small section that has a trail and is covered by trees and mangroves. I left work later than usual one day recently and just decided to stop by and walk around. There was a handful of after work joggers running around. It had the usual water birds, alligators and turtles. I'll definitely stop there again since it's so close to work.