BirdPage by Cindy McIntyre, Waldoboro, Maine 

Gulf Coast Trip - Feb. 28 - March 5, 2008

Burrowing Owls - Cape Coral

 
I am thinking this fellow was guarding his missus below incubating her eggs.  Whether in house lawns or in weedy lots, nests are usuallly marked with some sort
of barrier - rope, orange cones, or simply a "t" perch.  The Burrowing Owl Crossing below was placed in a local park.


Notice how each eye pupil reacts to the light separately - the eye in shadow has a larger pupil!

Swallow-Tailed Kites

I saw at least 7 Swallow-tailed Kites enroute to Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary


Red-Shouldered Hawk in same area as kites.  Great Crested Flycatchers were calling loud "breeps" to each other at Corkscrew.  The water level
was quite low and the area not as birdy as I had remembered.  Also saw Carolina wrens, but no photos. 

  
Northern Parula Warbler                                                                        Great Egret

 
Phoebe                                                                              Mockingbird                                    Common Ground Dove


Buckeye in Mangroves                                                        Kestrel                                                                                Raccoon

 
Willets                                                                                                             Great Egret, Venice Rookery                    Laughing Gull

Black-crowned Night Heron, Venice Rookery       It was striking just how many osprey nests and nesting platforms there were in the Fort Meyer to Bradenton area, and now little the birds were bothered by activity nearby.  This lady was calling to her mate, who was over on another platform eating a fish he had caught.  When he'd had his fill, he took her the rest.  I assume she may be guarding eggs, since she was "wedded" to the nest. 

Female on a very large nest... Her mate (right) on a nearby mostly bare platform polishing off his meal.

  
Common Terns                                                                                                                                          Red-bellied Woodpecker

 
Brown Pelicans                                                                                                                                       

Yellow-crowned Night Heron                                                            Laughing Gull

Bradenton Pier, and people watching dolphins frolicking in the water at sunset

 

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