Eagles, owls, herons and tarpon.

I pulled into the Old Ferry Dock Landing earlier this week and looked up and saw a crow in hot pursuit of a mature eagle. Fortunately my camera was next me because they were closing very fast.

I got another shot as the eagle went into a dive to pick up speed and get the crow off his tail.

This was a successful maneuver and the eagle cut into the trees, unfortunately blocking any additional pictures.

The great horned owlets that I've been following have apparently left the nest, as I haven't seen them in the past week. Here are a few of the last pictures that I took.

 

The St. George Island great blue heron's eggs have hatched and the nest has two very active hatchlings.

Fishing has been excellent for both trout and reds, plus tarpon are beginning to show up. I've had a couple of inquiries about doing photo trips or a split photo/fishing trip and may be putting together something along those lines. Let me know if you're interested. 

Carnivores in the bogs, savannas and trees.

The upland savannas and bogs are very colorful with the emerging pitcher plants.

These plants reside in damp soils too poor to support most plant life. They supplement their nutrient intake by absorbing insects that they trap in their "pitchers".While the pitcher plants are probably the most prevalent carnivores across Franklin and Liberty counties, the sharp eyed travelers may also spot butterworts (Pinguicula spp.), sundews (Drosera spp.), bladderworts (Utricularia spp.), and Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) - this last species is native to the Carolinas and has become naturalized in north Florida in limited locations.

The great horned owl nest has generated a great deal of interest, but now they have become "branchlings"-actual word-they are more difficult to photograph because they tend get up into branches with more needles. There is also a significant difference in size, possibly indicating an age difference of several days. 

The smaller bird spends more time in and around the nest, while the larger sibling is all over the tree.

 

The ospreys have gotten very active on their nests and probably have eggs by now.

The herons have started to stand in their nests more, so we should be seeing some nestlings very soon.

Spring has sprung and things are getting busy!

All the citrus trees are loaded with fruit, as this orange shows with last year's fruit and the start of this year's crop.

Click on the picture and watch the little owl's eyes on the snake! (These pictures were shot at 8 frames per second, so this happened in about a half of a second)

I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to get one the mature great horned owls bringing a tasty snake offering to the the two nestling owls. Actually at this stage they are now "branchlings". The term used to denote that the young owls are venturing out on the surrounding tree branches, but are not flying yet(fledglings).

Here's a shot of each of them on their branches today.

Still have ospreys and herons on nests, but it's fishing time so I can't check them as regularly as I'd like. Between the trout, which have really turned on in the past 10 days, spanish mackerel which are all over the bay and the bream which are destroying fly rod poppers...it time to go to work. If you haven't booked your tarpon days get with me. It looks like they may start early!

You've got to love Franklin County

This was a local news release, concerning a recent military operation held in the state & national forests north of here.

Operation Emerald Warrior a little louder and closer than expected

A military training operation held in Franklin County this month was not as quiet as it was expected to be.

Operation Emerald Warrior provided training to nearly 2000 troops in locations around north Florida including Franklin and Wakulla County.

The operation was supposed to be relatively quiet and much of a bother to residents but county commissioner Cheryl Sanders said that was not how it happened.

She said there were people were jumping out of helicopters and throwing hand grenades near at least one neighborhood – keeping people awake and on edge.

Miss Sanders said she supports the military program and wants them to come back next year, but with 205 thousand acres in Tate’s Hell State Forest and thousands more in the Apalachicola National forest she feels the military could move further away from homes.

And she pointed out that it might also be safer for the soldiers, because in this area there’s always the chance that residents could get scared and return fire.

Mom's Back!

When I stopped by at lunch today, so had she!

Eagle attack!

I'm fortunate to have two great horned owl nests to monitor and photograph. When I checked on one this morning, I saw a large bird sitting next to the nest. My first thought was "the chick/chicks have pushed the adult out of the nest". But as I got closer, I could tell that it wasn't an owl. It was a juvenile bald eagle and there wasn't an adult owl in sight.

The eagle sat starring at the nest for about 30 minutes before leaving and the entire time the owlet did not move(see light colored lump in the nest in the picture above). Once the eagle flew on the owlet's head popped up and he started looking about.

That was early this morning. I've checked on the nest 2 more times, but I've yet to see an adult owl. I'm afraid the eagle may have attacked the owl on the nest, but I guess I'll have to wait awhile to know.

While I was working on this update a neighbor called to tell me there were 5 or 6 large birds screaming and fighting between his house and the bay. I hurried over and parked a couple of hundred yards back in the woods. I could hear eagles fighting but, unfortunately the trees were too thick to get a picture of the 4 juvenile eagles trying to take a fish away from a 5th bird. The one with the fish was shielding it from the marauders with its wings and screaming it's head off!

Eventually the attackers saw me and headed out over the bay, while the 5th eagle took his fish deeper into the woods.

We have a bumper crop of eagles this year and like most youngsters these are into everything in sight.

Big moon in March

It looks like the herons have eggs in their nest

After seeing the heron in the nest a couple of weeks ago, they went AWOL until this weekend. This morning, they were preening away when I arrived.

Then the male was sent off for additional building materials to complete the nest upgrade from last year.

Of course what he selected and what she had in mind required considerable discussion and viewing from many diffent angles.

Finally she agreed that it would work.

I'll keep you posted on the herons along with the osprey and great horned owl nests which are all within a couple hundred yards of each other.

Spring is here and the herons are getting active

The great blue herons are beginning to sport their breeding plumage on their breasts and get their nests ready.

The black crowned night herons are starting to show their breeding "pig tail"

While the juvenile night herons are mixed in with the colony.

It won't be long until the river banks will be covered with heron and egret colonies...stay tuned.

First flight

Went by the nest in yesterdays post, that the fledgling was getting the encouragement from the adult.

Above the nest the young eagle was still getting some encouragement!