Snail Kite

Posted on April 12, 2015April 12, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Wow, my work has gone from zero to 60 in .5 seconds. One minute I’m drifting along at a nice slow pace and the next I’ve my nose to the grindstone, no time for anything. My head is spinning. But that’s why I haven’t had time to post much.

Even with the craziness I try to check my Facebook page at least one a day and what was staring me in the face but a picture of that bird I saw in St. Cloud!

Wild Willy was right, it is a very rare bird. It’s a Snail Kite (formerly called the Everglades Kite). It’s a Neotropical species found in the wetlands of southern Florida. It’s main diet is snails, snails called apple snails.

The Snail Kite is endangered in North America so I guess I was very, very lucky!

Gatorland

Posted on March 30, 2015March 30, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Gatorland was certainly a high point for the trip. Between you and me, my young guests said they liked it better than Animal Kingdom!

Gatorland gets you up close and personal and if you are into big lizards there are certainly enough gators and crocodiles to satisfy all.

Besides the gator wrestling show you have a chance to sit on a real gator in the ring just as if you were doing the wrestling. Of course your gator has his jaws taped shut for safely.

There’s also the feeding frenzy where handlers hand feed the big gators and even a few crocs. They send chicken carcasses on lines out over the gator pond to encourage the animals to jump for their meal.

Other gator ponds are open to feeding by the guests. You buy a package of hot dogs and break off pieces to throw into the ponds near the gators.

You try to get the hot dogs close to the gators because the birds will steal the bits right out of the gators’ mouths. They seem to have no fear.

For The Birds

Posted on March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Just a couple more images from our airboat ride at Wild Willy’s. Here’s a shot of one of the 6 person airboats.

A Great Blue Heron

A Great Egret

Somewhere North of the Everglades

Posted on March 27, 2015March 27, 2015 by Dusty Roads

It was stepping out into a watery wilderness a mere 7 miles from the headwaters of the River of Grass. Anyone local will tell you that you are too far north for the Everglades. They think of the southern end, near Fort Lauderdale, Shark Valley, Holiday Park, but the shallow waters start somewhere and East Lake Tohopekaliga is a good a place as any to explore if you are near St. Cloud, FL.

We tried a smaller airboat ride than I’ve done before. We floated out with Wild Willy’s and it was worth the effort to get there. Located in a RV campground on a dead end road, Wild Willy’s uses 6 person airboats, smaller and more personal than the bigger airboats I’ve been on on the past.

Our captain said he was the one and only Wild Willy. I’m not sure if that’s true or just what they all say but he was a crusty fellow who did his darndest to give us a fun and educational ride.

Without a word he used the airboat to coax birds into the air or drift quietly past them so I could get the best possible photos. Big difference from the frustrating experiences trying to get photos on some of the big airboats.

Willy pointed out an eagle nest with two eaglets while Mon and Dad perched in the tree tops a few trees away keeping a close eye.

Baby alligators chirped for mama gator and birds were everywhere.

One of the first we spotted was an osprey with a fish for lunch half as big as he was.

A great blue heron “photo bombed” some smaller wading birds…just because he could.

We scared up a flock of white pelicans.

We spotted quite as few Purple Gallinules.

I got a predator bird in flight. It was hardly more than a spot in the sky when Willy pointed the airboat toward it. I heard him say it was very rare and that he’d taken birder’s out days at a time looking for one. But I didn’t catch what he called it. So here’s my mystery bird. Any idea what it is?

To The Beach and Beyond!

Posted on January 13, 2015January 13, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Gurnet Light came into view shortly after we left the snow buntings behind. That signaled we had to be approaching our turn-around as this was the end of the road. To my surprise Dave parked the van and invited us all out to follow him over the dunes to the beach beyond.

There was a lot of bird activity here. No Snowy Owls but enough other feathered friends to hold our attention.

Ducks bobbed on the waves. A seal popped his head up for a quick look around. Several Cormorants stretched their wings to the sun drying their feathers before their next dive. A flock of snow buntings winged past, banking sharply as one before swooping back past us.

Through all this activity the deep blue ocean made a breath-taking backdrop.

Closer to shore the breakers were dropping their bits of sea grass before receding.

A Sandling raced up and down the edge of the waves.

A relative to the Sandpiper this comical little guy didn’t stay still for one second.

Finally it was time to go back to the vans for the return trip. We spotted a finch and a sparrow and Dave began to explain the difference when a flock of snow buntings swooped over the van and settled on the fence next to the road. Dave pulled the van to a stop but before anyone could move there was Mr. Copper’s Hawk dive bombing the little gathering. We didn’t see him catch anything but he got an A for effort as Snow Buntings scattered in all directions.

Show over we moved on a bit further until Dave once again stopped the van. He set up the scope and all he said was take a look and there it was. Our Snowy owl was still right there on the ice but he was a bit more active now. He still had the remains of his breakfast and he hopped up and down on the carcass. Even as far away as we were he seemed to sense us and slowly his head swiveled around and he latched that golden-eyed stare right on us. Those of us at the scope let out an audible sigh before he turned his attention back to his meal.

We watched with scope, binoculars and cameras for quite awhile as he put on his little rapter show but eventually all things must end and we left Mr. Snowy to his lunch.

This was a great experience. I was disappointed that we only saw one owl but it’s better than none. I was also disappointed that he was out of my camera range but at least I got to see him. The hawk was a great encore. I loved the hawk! The sandling and snow buntings were a plus as well…and I was warm the whole time!