The Honeymoon is Never Over

As with Possum Branch, there is always something new to find at Honeymoon Island State Park in North Clearwater, Florida.  I went there to see how the baby Great-horned Owls are doing and see if I could find a Bald Eagle.  They had been nesting there last February, but I had not seen the Eagles in the nest this year on two previous trips.  And I am enjoying birding as much, if not more, than I did when I first started last year.  So, the birding honeymoon is far from over.

I found the baby owls just as one of them flew from the nest.  The remaining one spent most of the time behind a branch so I didn't get much of a look, but could tell they are getting closer to their adult brown than the downy white I saw the first time.

Not far from the Eagle's nest I found a Bald Eagle in a tree, and it stayed long enough for some photos, but not long enough for a family with two kids to see it.  Later, however they did get to look at the baby owl through my scope.  The other day I got to see baby Pied-billed Grebes.

 A couple of nights ago, at Dunedin Hammock Park I discovered a beautiful Black-crowned Night Heron.  I also had an ah-ha moment.  A few times when I have been to this park a few local, non birders have asked me about this strange, big but not too big bird that was white and gray and black and sitting by the water.  I had not been able to figure out what they were talking about until I saw the Heron and then slapped myself on the forehead and said, "Ah ha, that's what they were talking about."

Tomorrow I will make my first trip to Fort DeSoto, and perhaps stop to see the Long-tailed Duck on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.  Monday I will hope that the White-cheeked Pintail and Brown Booby are still out there on the east coast of Florida.  Perhaps I will also get the Fulvous Whistling-duck.  At the very least I will have a nice afternoon of birding Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few birding hotspots I missed visiting in Florida during my 2012 Big Year.

Fun With Digiscoping: