Walk around an Atlanta Park.

A large hand fed group of mallards greeted us at the lake.

I can't believe this waterfall is right in the heart of Atlanta (on the Emory campus).

There were tiny warblers everywhere.

The leaves were just turning.

Canadian geese trying to sleep.

Walking back to our car we saw this hawk go flying by. I ran after him and saw him perched in the woods.

We met some of my hubby's family in a park on the Emory University campus. It's a fairly large park with a lake in the middle. The weather was perfect, sunny and 70 degrees. There were a lot of ducks there that get fed on a daily basis so they came swimming up when they saw us walk towards the lake. We saw a handful of canadian geese that must be stopping over on their way south. And the hawks, there were tons of hawks everywhere. When we were driving through the city we saw hawks sitting on the lamp posts on Interstate 75. Guess that's why they named the basketball team after them.

Sundown on Gandy Beach - Skywatch Friday

One last stop on the way home from work happened the week before the time changed. I stopped at the Gandy bridge beach because it is so close to work. It got dark fast. There were a lot of birds on the beach. Most were trying to sleep but there were a handful of people there and some had dogs. 

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Black skimmers flying away from a barking dog. This looks like a classic Florida boat to me.

Black skimmers coming back to the beach. He's looking at me like "where'd that dog go?"

There's a huge population of plovers on Gandy beach.

Black bellied plover's got an itch.

Oystercatcher couple. There's usually a handful of oystercatchers on Gandy beach but you have to look for them. Often they hide at the far end by the utility tower.

Another black bellied plover in non-breeding colors. In the winter his belly and head are black.

Georgia birds and a chipmunk

Red bellied woodpecker  Yellow bellied sapsucker up in my in-laws' tree.

There were tons of these little birds high up in the trees. I think it's a type of warbler. It's almost impossible to get pictures of them. They don't stay still for a second.

Female cardinal.

Blue jay high up in the pine tree.

Chipmunk with a cheek full on my in-laws' back deck.

Hubby & I spent Halloween weekend in Atlanta with his family.  He was turning 50 and wanted to spend it with them. We got to Atlanta early Friday afternoon and as soon as I got out of the car I heard birds calling from everywhere. His parents have a large yard with old growth pine trees all around. After unloading the car, I spent an hour walking around the yard looking for birds with his mom. She said the woodpeckers have been annoying lately. They've been banging on the side of the house.  They're going to need to keep an eye on that so they don't get any real damage from them. My goal for this trip was to get a some shots of chipmunks. I only got the one above. I've never seen them in central Florida. My other goal was to get some shots of fall leaves. I have those to post later.

Punk lives through pileated woodpeckers - My World Tuesday

I was leaving Chesnut Park and getting in my car when I hear this terrible screaming noise. It didn't sound like a person but some strange bird. I had to see what was making that noise close by. I followed the noise and came upon a pileated woodpecker at the edge of one of the small ponds. I started to take some pictures and then saw another woodpecker come flying by. They must have been calling to each other. They both ended up in a tree near the pond. They stayed for a few minutes hopping from tree to tree. They didn't seem to mind me standing there taking pictures. They are strangely beautiful birds with that bright red mohawk. I'll be looking for them next time I go there.

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Hawk on my dock

On Sunday morning I woke up and peaked out the back window. I was hoping to find the great blue heron there again from Saturday. It was not there. Instead, was a hawk sitting on our boat lift pole. I ran and got my camera and was able to take a quick shot before he took off. He flew into our neighbor's yard. He seemed to have grabbed something small on the ground (maybe a lizard) and then flew off over the neighbor's house. I didn't see him again the rest of the day.

Great Blue Heron in my neighborhood

Last Saturday morning I was sitting on the couch and looked out the sliding glass doors. The above great blue heron was sitting on my neighbor's dock. I think this is the first time I've seen a great blue in our channel. Especially down in our corner. It was really windy outside and he must have been trying to get away from the open bay wind. I took all of the above pictures from the bedroom window. I was afraid that if I walked in the backyard it would have scared him off. I didn't want to disturb his morning. I figured eventually one of my neighbors would head outside and he would fly off.  He looked like he was trying to sleep for a while.  A little later he was in the grass then moved into the channel. It's getting to be that time of the year when the water is so low in the channel you can see the sand on the sides during low tide. Right before lunch the neighbor walked out on the dock and the heron flew away. I hope he (or she) comes back to visit.

Birds on the causeway - Skywatch Friday

Another stop on the Courtney Campbell causeway during my drive home from work two weeks ago. I'm really going to miss these now that the time has changed and it's a dark trip home.  The above was a flock of skimmers that took off when a jogger went running by. At first I was mad at the jogger for disturbing the birds but it did make for a nicer picture.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Cute little plover watching me.

A small group of marbled godwits trying to sleep. I think I was keeping them up even though I wasn't too close.

Finally, the sun went down and the moon came out. I took this on the causeway with my 300mm lens handheld.

Dowitchers walking along the shore after sunset.

Sanderling running for cover after dark. I used my flash on this one.

You can usually find at least one night heron on the causeway. This was an immature.