Florida Wildlife Studio :: February 26th 2010 - Kapok Park, Clearwater, Florida

February 26th 2010 - Kapok Park, Clearwater, Florida

Florida managed to pull off a couple of days of really beautiful weather but not so today. However, the sun is shinning and not a cloud in the sky and I am headed to Kapok Park since its so close to me to check on the new nesting Great Horned Owl. Three layers of clothing and here I go. Its a bit breezy and the air cuts through. I will try and stay in the sun shine as much as possible!

If you recall I mentioned the Red Shouldered Hawks were mating here the other day and I am once again greeted by the same activity. But first I must check out the Owls cave.

I never got a glimpse of the female today, she must be snuggled down pretty tight inside that big tree trunk keeping either the egg or the chick warm as possible. But the male was in his usual spot with his eye watching every move in sight.

Each visit here I see more and more new photographers as they somehow have heard of the nesting pair in hopes of adding another shot to their portfolio. This is my second year shooting them and it has been a real blast.

Today between 2:00 and 3:30p.m. bird activity was out in full force. I think I counted about nine different species of birds. A great shot for me was getting this Woodstork in flight to count as a keeper to my collection. Its been quite a challenge for me to get what I thought was good enough to expose to my readers. So here it is.

I managed to grab several shots of him passing overhead which will fit nicely in my collection.

The wind has stopped blowing and now it feels great. The thing about Florida weather is it can be in the 60's, sun shinning and feel warm as long as the wind stays still.

My walk around the boardwalk was a pleasant one, grabbing shots of the bird activity here and there. I have heard rumors of a local Bob Cat that hides in the marsh and a fellow photographer by the name of Steve managed to photograph him early one morning. He showed me the photo and I have heard others say the same but I have yet to come upon him.

As I said when I entered the park the Red Shouldered hawks were playing their mating game and so I decided to follow them around for a while to see what I could get.

The female landed in a nearby tree along the railroad tracks and I needed to get as close as I could knowing that from the screeches in the distance the male would soon be back. I made my way through the brush and found a spot beneath her branch and there I stood and waited for about an hour. Birds are not on our time, and thus in order to be a bird photographer one must have the patience of Job. It is a waiting game and the action will appear when you least expect it.

This image was taken just before the male flew in, spotted me and took off. Then she left and the pair chased each other through the park for about ten minutes before settling on another limb out of my reach.

All the images in this article are for sale as 11x14's except the Hawk photo. Reason is I do not feel the quality of this print is up to my standards of printing.

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Just curious to know...

Comment from: Dave (Guest)

Just curious to know where the owls nest is at Kapok Park.

Terrific photos Debo...

Comment from: Susan (Guest)