History Park Owls flying now

Posted on 2012/04/15 by birds n' bugs

The babies are pretty well grown up now.  They are flying well and moving about in the trees in the evening.  I haven’t seen any indication of them hunting on their own yet but, thats most likely just lack of observation, not activity.  This shot shows the two of them on the same branch.  It used to be that they were always close to each other.

They aren’t often that close now.  I frequently see them in seperate trees and have occasionally seen one drop to the ground as though hunting.  These small shots aren’t very good from a photographic perspective but, do show some of the activity taking place in the late evening.  You can click on them for a larger view.

   

   

These were taken using the Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm VR, SB-800 flash with a Better Beamer.

In the top two, I managed to catch one of the owlets at launch and captured an adult on the right.  Unfortunately, neither is much to brag about.  In both cases, I had to crop a lot to get the image but, catching a Great Horned Owl in flight anywhere in the wild is tough.

The bottom two show some feeding behaviour.  The adult on the left has brought it’s prey to a branch and forces the baby to fly to it.  It even makes the young one work for it’s dinner by withholding the food for a while until the young start making aggressive moves to get the food.  This may be teaching hunting behavior or, I may just be anthromorphizing their actions.

I expect them to be gone in another week or two but, we still have baby Pileated Woodpeckers to look forward to.

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Cedar Waxwings – Bombycilla cedrorum

Posted on 2012/04/06 by birds n' bugs

We have quite a few of these flocking in the area for the last couple of months.  I quite often see them in the pines at the Punta Gorda History Park and feeding on palms around the area.  They are small birds, about 6 inches long, and during this part of the year are moving around feeding.

They are pretty little things a nice buff/yellow color with bright yellow at the tail tip and a slight splash of red on the wings.   They have a small crest which can be seen or hidden depending on the bird.   Their wingbeat is extremely fast and the flock is in almost constant motion.  I did manage to catch them taking a rest in the pines but, they are usually flitting about constantly.

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Laughing Gull – Seasonal changes

Posted on 2012/03/30 by birds n' bugs

The Laughing Gull – Larus atricilla – is a familiar bird on Florida shores.  Many of them winter here from the north and perhaps, our northern neighbors only see them with their familiar black head.  Down here in the winter though, that head turns white and in the spring it changes to it’s summer black.  Here are a couple of shots.  One shows a bird in flight which is in transition.  The other shows two birds at different stages.

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They grow up so fast – Great Horned Owls

Posted on 2012/03/27 by birds n' bugs

The baby owls are growing up fast at the Punta Gorda History Park.  On March 1st they were little fuzzballs who never left the nest.


On March 27th, they still feed in the nest but, are beginning to take the form of adults. The babyfuzz is almost gone and their adult plumage beginning to show through.

Right now, they don’t have all their flight feathers but, thoses are coming and it won’t be long before the wing stretching we are seeing now becomes hopping from branch to branch.

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U.S. Navy Blue Angels – Florida International Airshow

Posted on 2012/03/26 by birds n' bugs

This year, I didn’t actually manage to get to the airshow on Saturday or Sunday.  Other commitments kept me away but, I did get a chance to see some of the flying acts on their Friday practice day and on Sunday late in the day.  I didn’t like missing the static displays and I never did catch the B-29 Fifi in flight as I wished but, it was still fun to watch the performances from a distance.  I did manage to catch the diamond formation in some dramatic light though.

One benefit of being off the flightline is that you can get some somewhat unconventional views of the aircraft as the form up.  For example, the Blues are famous for some of their inverted flight routines.  I managed to catch this one as a sequence as they flew in, inverted and continued down the runway.

You also see some of the formation breaks that occur out of the view of the general attendees like this one where the formation of all six breaks out to go to the individual and four aircraft routines.

And here are a couple of other incidental shots of the Blue Angels.  As usual, just click for a larger view.

   

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Black Diamond Jet Team – Florida International Airshow

Posted on 2012/03/25 by birds n' bugs

This civilian precision flight act was at last years Florida International Airshow as the Heavy Metal Jet Team and had five L39s in the group.

   

This year, an added attraction was a pair of Mig-17 Frescos painted in the teams Arctic Camo livery.  These flew solos and as a pair and certainly added to the show.

   

As usual, you can see a larger view by clicking on the image.

 

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Pileated Woodpecker Gender Differences

Posted on 2012/03/20 by birds n' bugs

We have a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers – Dryocopus pileatus building a nest in the vacant lot next to the Punta Gorda History Park.  I noticed them while looking at the Great Horned Owls.  These usually shy birds were so intent on nest building in a snag that it was pretty easy to get close for good shots.

   

As you can see by clicking on the image, Mr. Woodpecker on the left has a larger red crest that runs forward of the eye and also has a red ‘mustache’ on his face.  Mrs. Woodpecker on the right is very similar but the crest does not go so far forward and she does not have the red facial plumage.

I’m looking forward to following this little family in the coming weeks.

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A quick stop at the Venice Rookery

Posted on 2012/03/16 by birds n' bugs

After a trip to Sarasota I was returning on US-41 and couldn’t resist a stop at the Venice Rookery.  There is still plenty of nesting activity with Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Cormorants and Anhingas strutting their stuff.  I loaned my Nikkor 70-300mm VR to a friend and put my 105mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor on my camera.  It wasn’t really long enough to cover the nesting activity but, I figured I might find a few dragonflies about.  Unfortunately, it was too windy for that but, I did get some nice shots of roosting birds and turtles as I walked on the back side of the pond.

   

   

As usual, just click the image or a larger view.

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Somebody spilled some light on the bar

Posted on 2012/03/14 by birds n' bugs

We stopped off at the Celtic Ray in downtown Punta Gorda for fish and chips.  Definitely the best around.  I was at the end of the bar and light was spilling in the front window.  I couldn’t resist snapping this picture with my Nikon P7100.

I kind of like it.

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Great Horned Owls at the Punta Gorda History Park

Posted on 2012/03/10 by birds n' bugs

Just a few shots of the Great Horned Owls which have taken over the eagles nest next to the History Park.  The babies are getting bigger and should be becoming more active over the next couple of weeks.  Once that happens, we should see them moving about more in the nest tree.  But, here are Mommy, Daddy and a few shots of the kids.  As usual, you can click on any individual picture to see  a larger version.

   

    

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