Lunch time at Circle B Bar Reserve

Spoonbill got a big one!

Ibis caught a fish.


This ibis took his catch up into a tree.

Another ibis eating.

My visit this past weekend to the Circle B Bar Reserve was a bird eating festival. I saw one ibis eat 3 fish in a row. How can they fit all of that in their tiny bodies? There were counts of over 1000 each of ibis, storks and egrets. Not sure how long they will stay there. I've heard that last winter white pelicans were living in the lake there so I can't wait to see if they come back again this year. I also saw a group of glossy ibis out in a field but they were pretty far away to get decent pictures. I plan to get back there in the next couple of weeks to look for the eagles.

A magical place

Pond full of storks.

Marsh full of egrets. The trees in the back were also full of birds.


Stork tree. A natural decorated Christmas tree. (Sorry, already thinking about the holidays.)

Big alligator sleeping in the same pond as the storks.

Big spiders were everywhere.

I recently discovered a new place for wildlife thanks to my flickr contacts. The Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland. It was so easy to get to from Tampa, just off the Polk Parkway. It's an old cattle ranch with a big lake. Lots of walking trails, ponds, nice nature center and lots of animals. It felt like what Florida would feel like 50 years ago. I got there around 9am Saturday morning and there weren't a lot of people there. I think as the weather cools off it will get more crowded. The ponds or marshes were full of little fish which meant there were tons of birds eating right in front of me. There were so many different types of birds all together. (More bird pictures later). The alligators were huge. I saw at least 7. I can't wait to get back there in next couple of weeks, especially to see the eagles. I heard there were 3 nests on the property although I didn't see any eagles while I was there.

Getting ready for bed.

I stopped by the beach on the Courtney Campbell causeway on the Clearwater side one night last week to see what shorebirds where hanging around. It was almost sundown and there were lots of different shorebirds all hanging around together getting ready for bed. They were preening, swimming and getting a last few bites in. Some were already trying to sleep. Lots of willets, sanderlings, plovers and lesser yellowlegs among them. They seemed to be staying away from the gulls and terns on the beach.

It always amazes me how they can balance on one leg while they are sleeping. You would think they would just plop down on beach to sleep.

What not to do at the zoo.

I was at Lowry Park zoo recently and saw this funny thing that was going on. Or at least everyone thought it was funny but it's probably a bad thing to do. The zoo has food dispensers for you to buy food to feed the fish in the pond at the bear exhibit. There's always a ton of ibis hanging around the boardwalk there and in the bear exhibit. I always think they are going to walk up to the bear and take his food away. This lady was trying to buy some fish food for her daughter to throw in the pond and an ibis was attacking her for the food before she could even get it out. He was being very aggressive. Of course everyone around was laughing thinking it was so cute. With help from a friend she was able to get the food out of the dispenser and instead of shooing the bird away she proceeded to feed it. Soon there were several birds getting a handout. I'm sure it's not good to feed these wild birds and now they have become aggressive towards anyone walking near the dispensers. Soon the zoo will need to put up a sign not to feed the wildlife because people won't get it on their own.

Am I being to harsh?

Philippe Park birds

"What is he looking at?" (Great Blue Heron)


Night heron creeping around the mangroves.


Reddish egret out in the bay.

It was a windy morning for this guy.

This weekend was very windy and a bit cool for this area. I stopped by the Safety Harbor fishing pier and Philippe Park. It was the first time I had been there when there was not a single person fishing. Mostly because the tide was so low the water stopped halfway out to the end of the pier. There were a lot of shorebirds running around. I was able to get a few shots of a reddish egret standing around in the water. It's the first picture I have gotten of this bird in his red/bluish grey color. They are fairly rare to see. Fort Desoto has a white morph of this bird that lives at the north beach marsh. I stopped by Philippe Park before heading home hoping to see the eagles that I had heard where back for the winter. No site of the eagles again. I did find a great blue heron and a night heron in the mangroves by the bridge. Not many other birds around.

Eagles and Opsreys

Oprey getting ready to take off.

The whole world is a toilet.


Eagle from far away.

I had read that a lot of the eagles were back in town so I set out Saturday morning to see if I could spot some. Or at least one. I found one at Honeymoon Island. She (the ranger thought it was the female) was sitting near the nest at end of the Osprey trail there. They still have that portion of the trail blocked off so you can't get too close. This was taken with my 500mm lens and extremely cropped. Hopefully the eagles will be successful again this season and have babies. The trail was full of ospreys as usual.

Rainy day wildlife

Night heron in the trees.


Great egret preening.

Spoonbill looking for food.

Black neck stilts and an oystercatcher looking out the window.

American crocodile yawning.

I finally have a day off and it's pouring outside. Where do you go to practice taking pictures of birds when it's raining? The Florida Aquarium. Yes, they have fish but fish are boring. They just swim around in circles. The aquarium has a wide variety of birds in the wetlands exhibit. You can get pretty close to them as they seem to be tame and use to all the noise and people around them. They just keep eating or preening.