Lakeland - It's A Wrap

Today was my last day to shoot around the Lakeland area in Central Florida before we move up to the Panhandle for a few days. We are actually leaving Monday with tomorrow set aside for a little shooting east of here if the weather is good. I spent a couple of mornings (and one afternoon at Mary Holland Park in the Bartow where I caught this Osprey carrying a pretty large catfish back to a nesting platform near the tennis courts. These birds are packed around the ball fields and the tennis courts in amazing density - my guess is 10-12 nests in a very small area. I almost wish I could hang out for the feeding frenzy that will be happening once eggs start to hatch. For now it looks like mostly nest building, courtship, and birds engaging in the Osprey "dance" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?).

Friday morning we were back at Circle B Bar Preserve where I took another stab at the Wilson's Snipes but, once again, came up empty handed. My experience there was that they are quite adept at using their camouflage and all but impossible to sneak up on as they seem to be invisible until the moment the flush - when you are but a few feet away. Like me, this River Otter must have had a rough morning also; it swam to within pretty close range, yawned for me, then swam off in the direction of some nearby coots. The otter's luck with them was about the same as mine with the snipes. Later in the day we were back at Lakeland Highlands Scrub for another attempt to find Eastern Towhee. While there were all around they were just too shy to come out and pose though the Scrub-jays were again cooperative and I added a few more shots of them.

A special treat was in store for today and it did not disappoint: Painted Buntings. Extremely shy and never easy to photograph, they will retreat deep into nearby bushes with nothing more than a slight rustling of leaves by the wind. This female was one of five making occasional visits to a feeder near Haines City (FL).

Visiting less frequently and even more shy were three beautiful males.

All in all I had a great time spent here (even with the first few days of crummy weather and the ongoing Internet aggravations). Many thanks to my friend Reinier (a damned fine photographer) for his willingness to share his local hotspots with me. I always look forward to hanging here knowing that he will take me to some great places with great birds.