Most folks visit Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary,  but a much better birding excursion is to walk the trails at CREW Trails (Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed). I find the birding fantastic, and I enjoy the solitude (no crowds). Make certain you visit the second pond, as this is the the pond with all the birds! I often start my hikes at the Orange Trail Head as I love the walk through the forest regrowth. However if you are pressed for time, or only want to visit the water birds, park at the Lake Parking Trail Head. I love both areas. The forest regrowth is in an area of managed burn, and the wildlife including birds is dramatically different than at the ponds. While not a butterfly person, I love seeing these small insects flitter about.

Here are highlights from yesterday’s birding. My biggest excitement was watching a Loggerhead Shrike hunt for almost 30 minutes. Loggerhead shrikes are much more tolerant of humans than our Northern Shrikes back in Minnesota. Shrikes are songbirds which think and act like a raptor … truly a bird with an attitude! (Cornell link)

Loggerhead Shrike Hunting (video link for email subscribers)

Roseate Spoonbill

Herons a Three! (yup … three species in one photo)

Long Billed Dowitchers

Were you able to identify the three heron species?! Here are their names … front of the image to rear … Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Tri-Colored Heron.

I had to escape the craziness of the owl irruption in the Duluth area for southern Florida, and we all know I love owls. Instead I watched two Monk Parakeets this morning involved with nest construction in a Palm Tree down … totally cool … just me and the two birds!

First the Movie! (video link for email subscribers)

And the still images … Monk Parakeets Building a Nest

And the nearby Burrowing Owls which could not hold my interest … LOL!

Molly and I have reached Florida, and I am enjoying time away from all the craziness the Northeast Minnesota owl irruption has caused. Instead of hiking while the temperature hovers around 3F, I am bicycling in 75F heat. It is a pleasing change. As I have noted many times before in this blog I always take my camera with me while cycling. If you only have your camera with you when out on a formal birding outing, invariably you will miss many photogenic birding opportunities. One does not need a HUGE lens. Yesterday I had my Sony A6300 and its 350 mm lens (525 mm full sized sensor equivalent) in my pannier. Obviously a full sized DSLR or Mirrorless with a huge lens would not be practical to take on a bike ride.

I was super excited when I spotted this pair of wood storks in the late afternoon light. While not rare, these birds seen harder to find down here in photogenic spots.

Wood Storks by Bike

Coming soon … Monk Parakeets building a nest in a palm tree! This nest building was by far more exciting to me this morning than watching local Burrowing Owls which were only 100 yards distant. Remember, I am escaping the owl madness at home!