BirdManBob: A Break from Montana Birding

In the process of moving data and pictures from an older computer to a new one over the past several days, I have taken some time to review the folders I've been transferring to make sure they contained something I would want available on a relatively frequent basis. One of the folders I looked at in this review process contained the photo images from a trip to Florida with my wife Kathy last April. Computers make access to memories such as these much more convenient than albums of photos stored away in the corner of a closet.

On this trip, we visited several different locations in Florida, but the one aspect that stands out most vividly was the several days we spent with great friends Jim and Wendy at their condo on the east coast. They organized a wonderful reunion for us with some old high school friends of mine, several of whom I had not seen since 1961 - almost a half century ago! In this image, it is easy to tell who is the one individual not living in Florida by looking at the bare legs!And for the following day, Jim, being an avid photographer and birder like me, scheduled an air boat ride through a wetland for Wendy and him, and Kathy and me at the nearby Blue Cypress Recreation Area. These tours are conducted by Capt. Steve Hayes of Stumpknocker Tours and I high recommend him. It was a beautiful Florida day and the company and scenery were equally great. Of course, the one critter you would expect to find in a marsh such as this was an alligator and it didn't take long to find our first one. But our real goal was the bird-life that these marshes or swamps or whatever you want to call them are famous for. And we were not disappointed! These subtropical habitat types are truly amazing for their productivity and biological diversity. Here is a Common Moorhen chick begging for a handout! Egrets and heron are among the most common of the larger birds found in these habitats. While osprey are now commonly found associated with water bodies throughout the country, they are especially abundant in Florida. One of the most exciting moments of this air boat ride was watching a Peregrine Falcon capture and fly away with what looked like a Common Moorhen. In a series of photos I took of this interaction, the falcon can be seen reaching down and breaking the neck of its prey while it flies away. There was one bird species in particular that I had targeted for this excursion - a Snail Kite and we were fortunate enough to find a pair of them. This was a life bird for me!