A Pop of Spring Color

Such pretty colors, I thought.

Yeah, I couldn't stay away from the herons.  More nesting shots.

All This and a Belted Kingfisher Too...Really!

Feeling kind of bummed today...so I wasn't going to blog, but I didn't feel like getting up from the computer to do anything else...so I guess I'm blogging!  Why am I bummed?  Our neighbor next door decided to cut down all of his shrubs along his fence line.  These shrubs were great for all the wild birds to sit in as they waited for their turn on our feeders.  Now they will have nowhere to sit and feel safe.  Yeah, the shrubs were messy and wild, but the birds loved them.  Oh, we have other trees in our yard, but I loved watching the birds in these shrubs.  I guess I'll have to plant some of my own on our side of the fence. 

Here's a pretty little flower all sunny and bright.

Like the little fuzzies on this plant.

 My little friend, Mr Duck.  There are two ducks that I normally see along Kingfisher Trail...I'm not sure where Mrs Duck was at this moment.

Ok, you're going to have to take my word for it, because I know you really can't see the bird very well at all in this picture...but this is the best you're going to get and I just HAD to include it.  In the middle of this picture there is a blue and white bird (he looks as though he's sitting on the limb that is bending to the left).  Believe it or not, that is a Belted Kingfisher.  I've never actually seen one before, and I only caught glimpses of this one.  He kept swooping from tree to tree just as I would get close enough to possibly get his picture.  This is the best I could get.  As soon as I got home I looked up the Belted Kingfisher in my Stokes bird book.  The picture in the book looked exactly like what I saw. 
Imagine seeing a Belted Kingfisher on Kingfisher Trail!

Here is what he looked like.  This, of course, is not one of my pictures.

Spring is Upon Us!

Pretty purple flowers popping up along the trail.

 A crop of may apples shooting up towards the sun.

Interesting looking fungi growing on a stump.  Side view and top view.

Certainly Not Song Birds

These guys certainly aren't song birds, but pretty nonetheless.

Little Birds Friends

ALONG WITH THIS POST, I'D LIKE TO MENTION THAT I HAVE UPDATED MY "FUR KIDS PRESENT, PAST AND FUTURE" PAGE ON THIS BLOG AS WELL.  IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE THE UPDATED PAGE, JUST CLICK ON THE TAB AT THE TOP.


I've never seen an Eastern Towhee before in my life.  This year, I've seen two already.  One in Miami Whitewater and this one in Winton Woods.  I stopped to look around on the trail and heard a bird song I had never heard before.  I spotted this little guy way up in a tree and took his picture.  It wasn't until I got home and loaded the picture on the computer, that I realized it was an Eastern Towhee.  I like the way he looks among the leaves about to burst forth in growth.

Here is another picture of the same bird.  I like the way his headed is tilted upward as he sings his song.

Here is a White breasted Nuthatch at the base of the stump.

This little guy may be hard to see, but it is a tufted titmouse right smack in the middle of the picture.  I took this picture while we are on the trail where the Great Blue Herons were nesting.  I quickly took his picture before he had time to fly away.  When I loaded the picture on the computer, I even had a hard time seeing him and I knew he was there...somewhere!

Springtime Along the Trail

Weed or flower?  I don't know...just liked the leaf markings.

Something else I'm not sure what I'm looking at.  If you look closely you can see a whitish film around the edges of this stump.  To me, it looked like a spider web.  Any ideas what it might be?

Beautiful fungi...perfectly shaped.  Looks like a designer bathroom sink.

Pretty little flower (and leaves) poking up out of the dried leaves.

Birds of a Different Kind

Just a few non-heron pictures taken over the last week or so.

While driving up one of the roads in Miami Whitewater Forest, I came across two injured squirrels who had just met up with this big guy (I think he's a turkey vulture).  He flew up into this tree as the two squirrels were still squirming in the street.  I had hoped that they would be gone when I returned back down that road.  Unfortunately, the squirrels were still there...but no longer squirming.  I know it's all about the food chain, but it still made me sad.

Just a common bluejay.  I know they aren't rare, but I love their vibrant color.

Great Blue Herons are Nesting!!! Part Five

Heron in flight

Later on 4/15/13 we drove around trying to get a better vantage point.  We did find a service road and trekked back a little further and got these last shots of 3 herons

Two herons

This shot has 5 herons...one is at the bottom of the photo.

Four herons

Great Blue Herons are Nesting!! Part Four

More shots from 4/15/13.  Four herons in this picture...two standing on the left and two in the nests to the right of the standing herons.

A standing heron on the left and three herons in the nest.  Some are hard to see, but I always look for beaks.

Four herons, possibly five.  One standing on the right side and three or four in the nests.

Three herons.  One in flight.

Three herons

Great Blue Herons are Nesting!! Part Three

More pictures from 4/13/13 of the Great Blue Herons Nesting in Winton Woods.  We have thunder storms going on right now, so there will be no heron watching tonight.  I wonder what it feels like to be up in those nests during a storm?


Four standing herons.  The best one to see is the one on the far right.

Same four again.

I can see 7 herons in this shot.  Of course, the big guy on the right is so beautiful! So, three on top.  Three in a set of nests in the middle in a triangle.  And, I believe there is one on the bottom right flapping it's wings.

The end of 4/13/13 and the beginning of photos from 4/15/13.  Love this guy in flight!  Another heron in the nest to the right.

The big guy has landed!

Great Blue Herons are Nesting!! Part Two

More pictures from my first day of watching the herons from a distance.  I know you have to look very closely, but there are at least 7 herons I can see.  Some of them are actually sitting in the nests and you can only see their heads.  In the upper right hand corner of the shot, there is one heron standing upright and two herons (one above and one below) that are sitting in the nests.

In this next one, you can easily 4 herons standing.

These are a little harder to see, but maybe 4 or 5.

One heron standing upright on the right side of the shot near the 3 far nests.  There are two herons in two nests, one at the bottom of the shot, and one above that one a little to the left.  One heron standing up on a nest on the far left.

One of my better shots of the day.  I love the heron spreading his wings on the right.  Four other herons standing upright.