Roseate Spoonbill and Limpkin

Roseate Spoonbill
hanging out with a Limpkin
last day of the year

Eastern Phoebe

end of the year
by the Gulfport docks
Eastern Phoebe

American Wigeon

a surprising treat
an American Wigeon
day after Christmas

Bald Eagles

Christmas sunset
high above the graves
Bald Eagles

Coyote

this Christmas bird count
coyote at the golf course
eyes Canada Geese

White-winged Dove

family outing
Dad falls on his back looking
at the White-winged Dove

Black-and-white Warbler

A winter warbler came this afternoon

To the same oak one’s been to every year

Since I’ve been looking. I watched him for awhile.

His black-and-white feathers give him his name.

He circles trunks and limbs to hunt for food.

He catches insect larva crawling there.

The pattern on his back makes him blend in

With ridges and depressions in the bark.

Sometimes he can’t be seen until he moves

Around the trunks to disappear in back.

The imagery of feathers on his back

Is not the random marks like on oak trees,

But quite precise. He wears a short-tailed coat

Or maybe it’s a shawl half down his back

With alternating stripes, wide on the sides.

Below the stripes are bold and more distinct

Much like the four that crown this warbler’s head.

He’s often upside down, and I have read

That his hind toes and claws are extra long

To help this pose, I guess, or help him hunt.

I’m glad he came to Florida today

Because cool weather can’t be far behind.

Pear

my lunch pear today
looks so delicious

Limpkin

cool November morning
wet Limpkin

Pine Warbler

Pine and Palm Warblers
scatter throughout the oak grove
October morning

Lark Sparrow

Lark Sparrow
harvesting the last seeds
in the sandy lot

Tennessee Warbler

all puffed up:
Tennessee Warbler
on a cold morning

Chestnut-sided Warbler

 

  on the young female

  a slight blush -

  Chestnut-sided Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

grounded by weather
fueling on beauty berries
Bay-breasted Warbler

Gray Catbird

Veery

October Veery
heading south of the border
rests in Florida

Pectoral Sandpiper

county dump puddle
Pectoral Sandpiper pair
join the Killdeer flock

Priarie Warbler

September thunder
withered mangrove
deer moss and Prairie Warbler

Empidonax Flycatcher

wet morning
Empidonax Flycatchers
in two parks

Blackburnian Warbler

out of the oak top
a Blackburnian Warbler
leaps into the void

Prothonotary Warbler

       the fall term begins
       Prothonotary Warbler
       at the library

Northern Parula

high in the canopy
shaded from the August sun
a Northern Parula

Yellow Warbler

after a brief rain
steamy August afternoon
a Yellow Warbler

Willet

Willet
such precise movement
in the bay-shore grass

Bees

a hollow palm trunk -
Red-bellied Woodpecker gone
bees swarming around

Spotted Sandpiper

the smell of the bay:

a Spotted Sandpiper flies

out of the salt marsh

Alexandrine Parakeet

perhaps a lost pet
Alexandrine Parakeet
disturbing my nap

Fort De Soto June

a Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
Glades Morning-glories, and Saltmarsh Mallows:
Fort De Soto June

Black-bellied Plover

l

looking so golden

the Black-bellied Plover flies

to show he isn't

Brown Thrasher

June heat
the Brown Thrasher
is not singing

Limpkin

pond-side wildflowers -
the Limpkin walks carefully
to avoid blossoms

Young Great Crested Flycatcher

in the low branches
young Great Crested Flycatcher
diving for ground bugs

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Philadelphia Vireo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo:
flying along the gulf shore
over the mangroves

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle breakfast
for two full-grown chicks:
Saturday morning squirrel

Swainson's Thrush

could this Swainson's Thrush
have come up from Mexico?
 -- Cinco de Mayo

Tufted Titmice

when in a large group
they become very vocal:
the Tufted Titmice

Oven Bird

even Oven Birds
in a certain slant of light
can be colorful

Blackpoll Warblers

exam week morning
a flock of Blackpoll Warblers
by the campus lake