raymor

More birding deliciousness from Joy. This is another migratory bird that is not resident in Florida but passes through. If you look closely around its bill you can see some red. This guy has been feeding on mulberries. The mulberry tree at Ft. DeSoto Park is considered to be "the" birding hotspot this time of year on the west coast of Florida.
From the Net:
The rose-breasted grosbeak is a songbird of the eastern deciduous woodlands. Spending much of its time in the treetops, the beautiful male rosebreast is often heard before it is seen. The rich melodic warbling song of the rose-breasted grosbeak is often described as sounding like a robin that's had singing lessons. When not singing, rosebreasts often utter a call that sounds like a squeaky eeek! In flight, male rosebreasts flash a pinwheel of black and white, and if you look carefully, you'll see that both…

This was taken at Fort Desoto Park in Pinellas Co., FL (near St. Petersburg). I didn't take it. Joy Rampallo has some serious gear and captured this image. This bird breeds in Florida, but only in the Northern part of the State. It's just passing through as are many other species on their migrations back North.
This has been a great year for birding. Several species have been recorded in Florida for the first time in many years.

This is not a great photo, but spotting this bird at my feeder here in Tampa, FL last weekend was a big deal. This is a Western Tanager which, as the name implies, is a bird that is from coniferous or mixed woods across western North America from the U.S.-Mexican border as far north as southern Alaska. They are a migratory bird, wintering from central Mexico to Costa Rica. Some also winter in southern California.
This year a surprising number of these birds have decided to winter throughout the Eastern United States as they have been seen repeatedly from New England to Florida with about a half-dozen records from Florida alone. Until this year, there were only 20 or so verified sightings in Florida over the last 50 or so years.
I posted an account of the sighting and photos to a Southwest Florida birders group and I have had…

Ok, I admit that this is not the most exciting video, but bird and nature lovers will appreciate it. This is a short video of robins gorging on camphor berries. I was glad to see the birds. They stripped the tree of every single berry over the course of 2 days.
I estimate that the flock of robins consisted of over a hundred birds and they ate several hundred pounds of berries. The tree was covered with berries. The drupes were so heavy that the branches broke. In years when the robins don't pay a visit they end up on my car, driveway, roof--EVERYWHERE. Camphors are beautiful trees but very messy.
Two years ago a "mega-flock" of robins (500+) descended on the tree and stripped it in 20 minutes. It was incredible. I wish I had a video of that. That year was an "irruption" (I had to look it…

These high resolution bird photos were taken by my friend Joy who is a nature lover and has some serious photographic equipment.
Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
The fierce and acrobatic Sharp-shinned Hawk is the most common of the North American accipiters. Ten subspecies of this hawk range over both American continents (Wattel 1973).
Habitat. The Sharp-shinned Hawk inhabits areas of open woodland or dense forest with occasional openings.
The Sharp-shinned Hawk feeds almost exclusively on birds from warbler size to dove size, which may be even larger than the hawk.
The Sharp-shinned Hawk most often nests in a stand of coniferous trees situated near an opening in the vegetation (Bent 1937). The nest, made of sticks and twigs, is located in the center of a tree. The 4 or 5 white or bluish-white eggs are marked with brown and incubated 32 to 35 days, and the young fledge in 24…

The anhinga is a large bird with a long S-shaped neck and a long pointed bill. The male has grayish-black feathers with a greenish shine to them. They have large wings with silver-white feathers on the top side. Females have a light tan head, neck and chest and a black stomach. Both the male and the female have long fan- shaped tail feathers and sometimes the anhinga is known as the water turkey. The anhinga has poorly developed oil glands and its feathers aren't as waterproof as other water birds are. It will perch in a tree with its wings open to dry its feathers and warm its body.
The anhinga is also known as the snakebird. When it swims, its body is submerged under the water. It stretches its head and neck flat out on the surface of the water. Its head and neck look like a snake gliding through…

Carribean Flamingos and a Stanley Crane. The birds were excited as it was feeding time.

In the Aviary. Busch Gardens is a great theme park, but it is also a wonderful zoo.