Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Three day weekend - nature called!

What a lovely three-day weekend!  Time  spent with John, whose birthday was Sunday.  We finally made it to Corkscrew Swamp and Audubon Sanctuary, where we spent a few hours and shot hundreds of photos.  At the feeder where we saw painted bunting, a rustle from under the boardwalk turned out to be a small bobcat running from our disturbance!  John just caught a glimpse of his pretty pointed ears, but all I saw was the bent grass as he bounded through.  I have been trying to identify all of these birds, but have not yet found them all......So please inform me if you know the names of any!  And enjoy the trip!
Female painted bunting 

Male painted bunting


Blue gray gnatcatcher?

Help!  I can't remember this lovely bird's name!

A gorgeous female cardinal

Red shouldered hawk - one of many we saw.

I believe this is a young woodpecker, or a female, not sure which type.

Beautiful songbird!  Perhaps an eastern phoebe?  

The swamp

We had the privilege of watching a mother and two young racoons feeding.  I love how petite the baby's tail is!

???

Wait for me, Mom!
Click on the picture to see the foot in more detail - it's cool!

One of a pair of hawks.

I believe it's a Carolina wren.

So cool - gator right next to the boardwalk.

A yellow crowned night heron.

One of my favorite shots - This little blue heron was quite a distance away, barely visible through the vegetation, but I zoomed in and shot this photo just to see if I could get him.  And look and what was also in the picture!  Bonus!
I love this little duck....but don't know what kind it is.

An anhing coming up from his fishing trip - beautiful.

Hmmm....pig frog.
We watched this sweetie eat his meal.  Listened to the crunch, too!  :)  I took a lot of chewing shots, but when I downloaded them, they make him look so mean!   He was about 8 feet away.

Hello, water moccasin.

Hope you enjoyed it!  I have so many more photos - maybe next time.