floraphile

Hubby says I have become the birding version of a golfer, and he is good with that.

That was my thought in the field--at least for the duck on the far right--viewing through a scope. I'm still honing my digiscoping skills (which currently suck) so those shots were done with my Sony.

I had considered Cedar Waxwing, but they were not calling. I couldn't ID based solely on appearance in flight. Thank you @Birding Boy!

18 Jan 2022 Baldwin co. AL; bayside public park 1. 3 unknowns from L to R: small duck, small duck, ?merganser/grebe (2 pics) 2. American Goldfinch--best guess

I just found this: https://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/09/sandwich-tern-leg-color/#:~:text=I remember seeing a small,more persistent%2C on Elegant Terns Thinking ROTE again.

17 Jan 2021 Baldwin co. AL; bayside public pier I thought ROTE at first glance, but he has orange legs and a bit of a dark tip, so then I though Common Tern (which would be a Lifer), but wasn't sure if COTE would have that much of a clean forehead & crown.

Unfortunately, not. That would've been too helpful! 😄

Thank you @Birding Boy. I called it Red-tailed b/c was interpreting the white on the back as a "V". Can you help me out with that?

14 Jan 2021 Baldwin co. AL; bay/gulfside public park/historic fort; open grassland, thin woods

Sleeping Great Blue Heron

13 Jan 2021 Dale co. AL; rural wooded yard; feeding on ground

11 Jan 2021 Baldwin co. AL; riparian (delta) public nature park with hiking trails; intially called it a Song, but there is faint yellow mark before the eye

Great article.

I will count it as Red-tailed with a description of the pale underparts & head with malar stripe. Thanks @DLecy

@IKLland--after looking at pics on ebird, I think it probably does not qualify as Krider's, since he wasn't pale all over.

For the literati--Monroeville, AL; Brownie points to who gets the reference.

10 Jan 2022 Baldwin co. AL; small waterfowl refuge in small bay alongside busy highway tail finely barred; head almost white except for that odd moustachial stripe; kiting for a long while in very strong headwind before perching on road sign

"Skinny Legs and All"

Aye, there is the rub, @AlexHenry. I had called them Greater in the field, then got home and read my Dunne's field companion, which maintained Greaters are fairly rare here. However, this AM I spoke to our top local birder who flatly disagrees and tells me that we have both scaups aplenty in the Winter.

05 Jan 2022 Baldwin co, AL; smalll waterfowl refuge alongside busy highway over small bay

05 Jan 2022 Baldwin co. AL; small waterfowl refuge alongside busy highway over bay; with Laughing Gull for scale

We have had a houseful of kids & grandkids over the holidays, so I am just getting this posted. Great trip to the Everglades. Hubby warned me there would be mangroves for miles. He wasn't kidding. We paddled a total of 48 miles over 5 days, and camped 4 nights. Our campsites included platforms ("chickees" they call them, although not technically correct) over the river, a riverside campsite at an abandoned homesite (the Watson Place*), and a beachside campsite on Pavilion Key. On our trip, we saw the usual (but still exciting) Florida wildlife: manatees, rays, sharks, gators, and dolphins, as well as birds. I didn't get my Mangrove Cuckoo, but I did see a late Yellow-billed Cuckoo and got my Lifer Worm-eating Warbler at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (https://corkscrew.audubon.org/) and Lifer Great Cormorant at Myakka River SP ( https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/myakka-river-state-park) on the drive home. On our final paddle back to the launch site, just before we emerged into Chokoloskee Bay, a pair of dolphins entertained us, one of them displaying a series of 5 full breeches mere yards from our kayaks. Hubby said it was because he likely just escaped from Sea World. 😄 *Mr. Watson was quite a character--either a cold-blooded murderer, or a misunderstood victim. I had read a book about him many years ago--"Killing Mr. Watson" by Peter Matthiesson. I recommend reading it (or at least the Wiki plot) before trip to the western Everglades. It will familiarize you with many of the places, families, and historical events of the area. https://ebird.org/tripreport/27838

Your Great Blue is stunning!