Sandhill Cranes in Tampa

As I was leaving the zoo this past weekend I noticed 3 sandhill cranes walking down the street away from the zoo. I turned back around into the parking lot of the zoo and parked my car at the end near the street. I got out and sat down in the parking lot near the grass and watched the cranes walk around. They didn't seem too disturbed by me. They just kept eating and walking around. Every once in a while they would look over at me. It's not very often you see sandhill cranes walking down a busy street in Tampa. My husband claims he sees them on the golf course all the time (although he doesn't play that much golf).

Pelicans being fed.

The Lowry Park Zoo has a handful of beautiful white pelicans that live in the big aviary in the African section of the zoo. They fly back and forth across the pond several times a day and stay together in a flock just like they do in the wild. This past weekend I happen to be there when they were being fed. They were so graceful the way they lined up and then caught the fish. There were a few cormorants braving the crowd looking for some crumbs.

More wild birds at the zoo.

Snowy egret missing a foot.

Snowy egret with missing foot flying over the cheetah pond.


Great egret guarding the 2 hippos.

Night heron hanging around the alligator pond.


Great egrets beginning to nest high up in the trees above the alligator pond.

Saturday morning was cold for Tampa (41 degrees). I was going to stay curled up on the couch but then the sun came out right before noon so I headed out to the zoo. Lots of wild birds activity at the zoo. I saw the one footed snowy egret again hanging around the cheetah pond. I saw him several months ago at the meerkat exhibit. He must call the zoo home. As I made my way over to the alligator pond I noticed all of the trees where starting to fill up with great egret nests. There must have been 12 nests already going. There were also a lot of night herons hanging around. They will start nesting a little later. Last spring the zoo had a great little bird rookery going on around the alligator and otter pond. I'll have to go back in another month to see if there are baby birds being born.

Windy day at Weedon Island

Little blue heron taking a break.

Night heron hiding from the wind.

A handful of oystercatchers hanging out on an oyster bar in the lagoon.

This past weekend I went to Weedon Island for a presentation on eagles in Pinellas county given by Barb Walker of the Project Eagle Watch. It was very interesting to learn about all of the eagles nests in the county and how they are doing. There's a huge group of volunteers that keep an eye out on these nests. I figured while I was there I'd bring my camera and get in a good walk around the reserve. I never seem to see much whenever I go there. It's just miles of boardwalk with 10 feet of mangroves on both sides. It was so windy out that I think all of the birds were hiding. I did manage to find a few sleeping in the mangroves around the inside ponds but not much else.

Osprey in the wind

It was so windy this weekend that our neighborhood osprey was eating his meals on my neighbor's dock instead of the sailboat mast. I think he finally got tired of swaying back and forth. In the above picture he has a fish under his right foot. Taken through my bedroom window. It seems as though he knew I was taking his picture.

Winter's tale

Winter's smiling face.



Winter seems to love scratching her belly on the float.


Winter getting a check up.

Winter's prosthetic flipper sitting on the table. This is a newer model she was getting.

I recently stopped by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. I hadn't been there in several years and the weather was threatening to rain so I headed indoors to see the dolphins and turtles. Winter was found in 2005 by a fisherman near Cape Canaveral. She was tangled up in a buoy line and it was cutting of the blood supply to her tail. When she was rescued they had to amputate her flipper. She was able to adapt without it but in the long term it would do damage to her spine so a team of scientist came up with a prosthetic tail for her to be able to swim properly. It's amazing what people can come up with. Winter seems to be doing well. There are currently 3 other dolphins there for Winter to play with that all have permanent injuries. The aquarium was busy rehabilitating over 70 turtles that had been stranded from cold stress during the cold spell.

Winter's webcam - http://www.seewinter.com/get-involved/media/webcams/winters-webcam

Beauty of Lake Seminole Park

It's amazing such a beautiful place is hidden in a busy part of town. There's a Home Depot almost right across the street from the entrance. When you get into the park it's quiet and peaceful (except for all of the kids running around playing and yelling). It sits on the side of a pretty big lake and there are smaller ponds all inside the park. There's a big mound in the middle of one of the ponds with an osprey nest on it. There were already 2 osprey sitting on top of the nest when I walked by. Last spring there were 2 great blue heron nests with babies in the pine trees next to the osprey nest. I haven't seen any there yet but it's early for great blues. Even on a drizzling rainy day it's a fun place to spend a couple of hours.