"If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down!"
` Henry David Thoreau
Second of two days that we have enjoyed some incredible Florida weather. Tomorrow it is expected to change and my cabin fever was getting to me. All I could think about was the wonderful shots I must be missing by staying inside these four walls. By noon time I gave into my urges, grabbed the camera and headed for the outdoors. The day started out really foggy and was burning off by now with the sun shinning, clear blue sky and headed to Kapok Park to see if the Great Horned owls had returned. Yesterday a photographer had told me he was there early that morning and saw the parents and two chicks. Two chicks? Hmmm, I was under the impression they only had one brood a year but I could be wrong. I saw the parents earlier in the year but then Florida had one of its coldest, hardest winters in a decade and then I never saw them again. My thoughts were that the egg must have frozen and there would be none to photograph this time.
Two minutes after walking into the park I was greeted with the nearby screech of a Hawk. I spotted her sitting on this limb as shown in the photo. Minutes later two male Hawks were challenging each other as to who would be
the lucky one. After all this is mating season. She flew to the air with one of them and returned with no luck. Her sh-real attracted the attention of yet the other male Hawk and whaola! Success. Even though the birds were super cooperative in allowing close range looks, I could not obtain an unobstructed view to capture a perfect shot.
Enough here and headed over to the old oak tree where the Great Horned Owls should be. Sure enough, there was one of the owls perched on a nearby limb hiding behind the branch. They were back but now to find the other mate.
I walked around to the other side of the huge tree where they had raised last years offspring and discovered the head of the other mate just peaking over the trunk. Awh ha - they are here. And nesting as well. I never did spot any signs of a chick but I will be back to document the progress of this discovery.
The other shots taken from today's visit at Kapok are included in this gallery, click on it and view the images.
I thought since I was already out and about a visit to Largo Nature Preserve was in order. I was there a few weeks ago and noticed the Osprey's that I have photographed for the last five years were hanging around the nest again and sorta suspected there could be eggs. As I made my way down the trail toward the Osprey nest I could see in the distance a parent flying in with food. I wasn't close enough to grab a shot yet but at least I know they are there. A quick walk around the lake snapping a few more shots of today's Florida wildlife and back home to continue to work on a few more web sites for clients.
DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON EACH IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW!
;)
the lucky one. After all this is mating season. She flew to the air with one of them and returned with no luck. Her sh-real attracted the attention of yet the other male Hawk and whaola! Success. Even though the birds were super cooperative in allowing close range looks, I could not obtain an unobstructed view to capture a perfect shot. ;)
Enough here and headed over to the old oak tree where the Great Horned Owls should be. Sure enough, there was one of the owls perched on a nearby limb hiding behind the branch. They were back but now to find the other mate. ;)
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