Sand Hill Cranes at Circle Bar B

We've been watching a nest of Sand Hill Cranes for a month now and Friday we finally saw the two new "colts".  We were told one hatched overnight Wednesday night and the second Thursday night.  Mom was still on the nest and the two colts peeked through the feathers and climbed on mom's back.  Here are my four favorite pictures (took several hundred) from Friday morning.

I will be following these little guys over the next few weeks.  It is amazing how quickly they grow.  I'm also watching a Barred Owl nest and was able to confirm today that there is at least one baby in the nest.

For best viewing visit the blog and "click" on a picture to enlarge.

Thanks for visiting.  David

Circle Bar B Reserve

Visited the Circle Bar B Reserve this weekend.  We didn't get many photos but are excited about what the next several weeks will bring.  We located nests for sand hill crane, barred owl, red shouldered hawk, blue heron and a limpkin.  All of these nests are viewable from trails in the Reserve.  We could see movement in one of the heron nests but too early for pictures.  We did come across this raccoon along the water's edge.

Oh, I forgot to mention this red-bellied woodpecker preparing a nest.

This red shouldered hawk kept a watchful eye on us as we passed below him.

This mother barred owl gave us a peek once in a while but stayed firmly on the nest.  We've seen owls on this nest for several years now.  Can't wait to see little owls.

As always, thanks for visiting my blog.  If anyone is interested in an introductory tour of the Reserve you can email me at this address.

Yellowstone National Park

Last week was Yellowstone's birthday.  At 140 years old it was our first national park.  As most of you know I'll be returning to Yellowstone this summer, again working at the Lake Hotel Front Desk.  I'm looking forward to another summer with old friends, making new friends and of course capturing the beauty of Yellowstone in pictures.  As I begin to plan my trip I wanted to post a few of my favorite pictures from previous summers.

Of course the Bison is the iconic symbol of Yellowstone.  Spring time brings the birth of new "little red dogs".

and this new Mule Deer fawn.

As the snow begins to melt the bears emerge from hibernation.

Days off from the hotel often mean a trip down to Teton Nat'l Park to hike and look for Moose.

And last the lower falls of the Yellowstone River.  On a bright sunny day you may be lucky and see a rainbow in the mist of the falls.

I'll be back out to Circle B this weekend and hopefully find several new Sand Hill Crane Colts that should hatch any day now.

Thanks for visiting,  David

Great Egret

This week we visited the Alligator Farm at St. Augustine, FL.  With us were friends from working in Yellowstone; Larry & Sue and Marie.  Marie was vacationing at Ferandina Beach and invited us to stay for a few days.  It was a fun Yellowstone reunion.  Our primary goal was to photograph the birds of the famous rookery there.  It is still a little too early to see chicks but the Great Egrets put on a great show for us.  We also saw Spoonbills, Snowy Egret, Wood Stork, and Black-Crowned Night Heron. Below are several photos of the Great Egrets.

Building a nest

Looking for a companion

Little Egrets and Spoonbills should be making an appearance in late March, early April.  Remember you can enlarge the picture by "clicking" on it.

Thanks for visiting, David

Circle Bar B Reserve

Great visit to Circle B last week.  Friends Larry and Sue Pals were visiting from Colorado and got a chance to see the real Florida.  We saw Storks, Cranes, Herons, Egrets, Bittern, Spoonbill, Owl and of course a few large gators.  I usually post only 3 or 4 pictures but couldn't narrow it down so will post 6 today.  Hope you enjoy.

Sandhill Crane on her nest with 2 eggs

Otter

Tricolored Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Little Blue Heron

Barred Owl

We also visited the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  There is a large rookery there with nesting Great White Heron, Snowy Egrets, Spoonbills and Night Herons.  They are still in nest building mode but it was great to see the White Herons in their breeding plumage.  So look for my next post later this week with photos from St. Augustine.

Thanks for visiting.  David

Merritt Island Nat'l Wildlife Refuge

This week we visited Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Viera Wetlands.  You are able to drive through both locations, stopping for pictures.  Although windy and cool it was a good day with several new birds added to my picture library.  Probably the highlight of the trip was a large flock of Roseate Spoonbills that flew overhead.  We also saw Redish Egret, Northern Pintail, Ring-Necked Ducks, Northern Shovelers, White Pelicans, and the usual assortment of herons.  Here are a few pictures from this trip.

My first Red Egret

My first Northern Pintail

Juvenile Northern Shoveler

Mature Northern Shoveler

The final picture is from Bill Little who got several nice photos of the flock of Spoonbills as they flew overhead.  Good Job, Bill.

It was a great day and I hope to return soon.
Thanks for following my blog,  David

Alligators at Circle B

This post is for my non-Florida friends and those of you in Florida that still get a thrill seeing gators.  Sunday morning was warm and sunny and we weren't looking for gators but found several that we could not pass up photographing.  This first one was just off the trail keeping a keen eye on us as we snapped a few pictures.

This fellow was also along the trail and stopped to watch us pass by.

This is my favorite with mom keeping an eye on one of her babies.

Of course we were also looking for birds along the way.  Early on the hike we found this Purple Gallinule   brightly lit in the morning sun light.  Gallinules are somewhat rare so this was a welcome find.

Last is the Sora that we've seen for several weeks along Wading Bird Way.

All pictures in this post are made with my Canon 7D and Canon 500mm lens.  All shots are not cropped and only edited for exposure and tonal quality.

Thanks for looking.   David