Big Green Lizard

We were in the Everglades yesterday mostly looking for birds to photo, when we came across this big green lizard. Pretty sure he/she is a not bird. Pretty sure I don't have a clue to what his/her real name is but thought it was neat.

Piping Plover

The Piping Plover a small shorebird which is on the endangered and threatened list of birds. Its story is similiar to lots of animals were its habitat is being lost, mostly to development along the coast. The bird pictured was taken at Bunche Beach which was saved from developers by the City of Ft. Myers a couple of years ago. Good for them.

Yellow-throated Warbler

The name fits the bird because he indeed has a yellow throat. During migration, this bird is in Illinois but usually is high in the trees and is heard more often than seen. Well, it's January and I am in Florida and my wife noticed this guy jumping around on a Seagrape next to our driveway. Yellow-thoated Warblers are located mainly in the southeastern United States and fairly common to Florida.

Snowy Egret

It was warm this afternoon and this Snowy Egret needed a cool drink. I liked the circular ripples the water made as the bird drank.

Black Skimmers

If you want to see Black Skimmers, and lots of them, go to Bunche Beach. Bunche Beach is located between Sanibel Island and Ft. Myers Beach, FL. I estimated between 300 and 500 in a group today and they were very close to where people sunbathe. Bunche Beach is a public beach. We were extremely pleased when the powers that be prohibited dogs on this beach. Irresponsible dog owners would allow their dogs to run offleash and chase the birds as they fed and rested. This is also great place to view other shore birds feeding out on the sandy flats when the tide is low. Not all the birds pictured are Skimmers. There are also a couple of Terns in the group.

Great Egret

What do Great Egrets eat? Well, they eat long skinny fish and they eat fat fish. After watching this Great Egret swallow a fat fish whole, you might say he then had a lump in his throat for awhile. Great Egrets were hunted for their beautiful feather plumes in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Their numbers decreased by 95 percent. They are now protected by law and their numbers are stable. The Great Egret is also the symbol of the National Audubon Society.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Black-crowned Night-Herons are found in wetland habitat. The ones shown(one is an immature) were taken in Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. As the name somewhat implies they feed mostly at night and dusk and since they use the same habitat as other herons who feed in the daytime there is less competition for the food. This is not an uncommon bird but is often hard to see in the daytime.

Snowy Plover

Snowy Plovers feed and nest just above high tide lines. This is also the place people like to walk and sunbathe, so they are competing with humans for habitat and, as usual, the Snowy Plovers are on the losing end. On Sanibel, Snowy Plover breeding areas are marked and protected. The bird pictured was part of a group of six which have stayed in the same general area for the last few years. These birds are very small and blend in beautifully with the sand. Snowy Plovers are really fun to watch as they run about on the beach, looking for food.

Burrowing Owl

CUTE! This is one word that best describes the Burrowing Owl. They live underground in tunnels which they dig themselves or use burrows dug by prairie dogs, skunks, tortoises, or armadillos. They usually hunt at night but are often seen in the daytime standing near the entrance to their burrow. The birds pictured here were taken in Cape Coral, FL. Their burrows are mostly located in the empty lots of residential neighborhoods. They seem to coexist with man as long as man just leaves them a hole or two to crawl into.

Woodpeckers

Pictured are a Pileated and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. These birds reside in Illinois but the ones shown here were photographed today on Sanibel Island, Fl. For whatever reason, the birds here are much more approachable than at home in Illinois and I was less than 10 yards away when I took these pictures. Both birds were on the same palm tree. We will be here for a month and I will hopefully post many more photos of the birds here on Sanibel and in the area. Tomorrow, I will be looking for the Burrowing Owls in the neighboring town of Cape Coral.

Northwest

I just returned from the beautiful Northwest. The road leading into Portland takes you throught the Columbia River Gorge and one picture shows a rainbow which you can see its end. If there had been enough time I would have stopped and got the pot of gold but I had more important things to do. I had a new grandson I had never seen and was down to less than 100 miles of my 2000 mile drive. The other picture shows a snow covered Mt. Hood with Baby Zack and the proud grandfather.

Paving Sixth Street

I own an Asphalt Paving Company in East Central Illinois. A couple of days ago I photographed the "crew" paving 6th Street with the Court House in the background.
The trees still had some late fall color and with the building color made for neat shot.

Cedar Waxwing

This weekend we camped at Kettle Moraine State Forest located between Madison and Milwaukee. It was a beautiful late fall weekend with fall colors still vibrant. In the early morning with the frost still on the ground a flock of Cedar Waxwings descended on small fruit bearing bushes. They were fun to watch as they came and went in bunches. At one time I counted over 50 sitting together at the top of a tree. Pictured are 4 leaving for food and one who has already got his/hers.

Eleven Pointer

I was driving around my property on my four wheeler with my trusty camera at my side when some does popped up along the edge of the woods. I immediately stopped and scanned the area and scanning back was this nice buck not more than 75 feet from me. I slowly pulled up my Canon and hit the shutter halfway to hit autofocus. However, the light was too low for autofocus to work so I had to shift to manual. I fired a couple of quick shots but the shutter speed was slow and since my aperture was wide open my only choice was to speed the ISO to 1600. This was better. I just hoped that the pictures wouldn't be to grainy but as you can see they really aren't that bad.

White Tails and White Deer

In the Fall in East Central Illinois male deer become more visible as they start their prerut. In an earlier blog I posted a picture of an Albino Deer. This post shows the same deer playing with some of his friends.

Rarely Seen Birds

Pictured are three birds rarely seen in Coles County. That being said they are not rare. First is the Yellow-billed Cuckoo feeding on a wooly worm. They are often heard but usually hide in the tree tops. Note the Eastern Phoebe coming in to check out the worm. Second is the female Summer Tanager. Tanagers are summer migrants and we are on their northern range. They are bee and wasp eaters and the one pictured had just taken a bee from a Hummingbird feeder on my deck. In fact I took the picture from inside my house through a window with a portrait lens. Last is the Eurasian-Collared Dove. This is an introduced species and was first seen in Florida in the early 80's. Since then it has been migrating north and just recently was seen in Coles County Illinois. I first saw them about a week ago. What impact this will have on native doves is yet to be seen. My advice is if you see one go ahead and shoot it.

Scenic Northwest

The Northwest landscape is quite different than central Illinois and there are plenty of photo opportunities. Pictured are the Grand Tetons reflecting in Jackson Lake, Old Faithful in Yellowstone, and Mt. Hood the highest peak in Oregon. My dad always said there was nothing prettier than the corn fields of Illinois but now I am not sure.

Albino Deer

Last year, I heard that there was an albino fawn on the east edge of Charleston. I had heard it even visited the local Walmart parking lot. I never saw it last year but rumors started again a couple of weeks ago that it was being seen and had grown some antlers. I talked to a land owner who had seen it and said it would often appear in the evenings to graze on the soybeans. This evening I went with a friend to the field. We waited and low and behold the albino deer and seven other deer appeared.(These weren't albinos). The sun had set but there was just enough light to capture a few shots. Also, after looking closely the deer isn't an albino but a white deer. To be an albino, its' eyes would be pink among other things.

American Bittern

The American Bittern is unique from other herons because, when approached, it stands still with its' head upwards, sometimes swaying back and forth imitating a waving reed. I had just finished photographing a Peregrine Falcon when I came across this American Bittern. I was having a good morning to say the least. This photograph was taken at Ridgefield NWR.

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon shown was photographed at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge is located north of Portland, Oregon in Washington State close to the Columbia River. We are in Oregon visiting our daughter and son-in-law. Sunday, we went to Ridgefield and were treated with several different species of birds, but the highlightof the day was the Peregrine Falcon who kept its perch at a fairly close distance making it easy for viewing and photographing.