Eagle Dives

March 24, 2026

We see a lot of eagles! A fun thing to do is catch them diving and getting a fish.

Adult Esgle
Diving
Splash down
Got it!
Away he goes

Now you’ll see a juvenile eagle diving.

Head down, focused
Got the fish in his talons
Fish in his mouth
Eating the fish in mid-air!

Hope you enjoyed the action.

Stay safe XO

Boat Launch

Kenansville, FL

March 20, 2026

This morning was very productive at the boat launch as you’ll soon see.

We saw a belted kingfisher, one of our favorites.

Belted kingfisher
Belted kingfisher

The kingfisher sits on a fence post resting in between going fishing. He hovers and then dives to get his fish. It all happens very quickly.

The Snail Kite feeds almost exclusively on snails.

Snail kite with snail
We had fun watching him eat the snail
Green Heron flying in
Palm Warbler
Snowy Egret
Juvenile bald eagle

It was a gorgeous day, cool but not cold. We had a wonderful time. I hope you enjoyed.

Stay safe! XO

Barred Owls

Mar. 12, 2026

One morning at the boat launch Vic played the call for barred owls, and one flew into the tree above us! Vic was freaking out because he and Zoe were sitting under it! I jumped up and took pictures of it, so fun. Yes I was wearing a hat.

Barred Owl

Then it flew over to a different tree so I got more pictures.

Sunlight brings out the colors

Unrelated to the owls … I wanted to show you this cattle egret with breeding colors. Look at the creamsicle orange color of the bird in the middle. The white birds have little bugs on them. These bugs are numerous right now. They are attracted to anything white, they are annoying but don’t bite. Some people call them blind mosquitos. Others call them chissley winks. (Rhymes with tiddley winks – anybody remember that game?)

Cattle Egret

We sure had fun shooting these pictures. Hope you enjoy.

Stay safe! XO

Boat Launch

March 16, 2026

Yesterday at the boat launch it was very windy. Only a couple of boats were brave enough to go out. The birds sometimes struggled against the wind. There was more competition between the birds for fish since it was intermittently cloudy and that makes it harder to see the fish.

Osprey on the far left has a fish. These two eagles are trying to take it.
Cormorant eating a fish
Cormorant eating a fish. Another Cormorant coming in to try and steal it.

The moral of the story is if you are a bird eating a fish better do it quickly!

Stay safe! XO

Woodpeckers

Lake Marian Boat Launch

March 15, 2026

This was a morning without a lot of activity due to intermittent cloudiness. Vic got his speaker out and “called in” the woodpeckers. He uses the Merlin bird ID app. Pretty quick we had woodpeckers flying around.

Red bellied Woodpecker

Getting a shot of them flying was really hard. This is the only one I got.

Face Off

And my favorite …

Eating local tree berries

They might be Brazilian Pepper but don’t quote me.

Stay safe! XO

Boat Launch

Kenansville, FL

March 16, 2026

We’ve been spending every morning at this boat launch about a mile from our campground. We bring snacks and a little car bed for Zoe. The variety and quantity of birds flying in and out is amazing. This is a compilation of the past few days.

Male Snail Kite (looking at us!) his red eyes distinguish him from the female.
Male Snail Kite profile
Female Snail Kite
Eagle
2 yr old Immature eagle
Pelican with gullet full of bass
Two Great Egrets
Juvenile White Ibis
White Pelican
Little Blue Heron
Eagle
Great Blue Heron

That’s all for now.

Stay safe everyone. XO

Small Birds

Mar. 12, 2026

These are from 2 days ago, taken at the public boat launch at Lake Marian.

Here is my view

It’s very peaceful out here

You don’t even have to be patient. There is so much activity here! Eagles, osprey, great blue heron, green heron, pretty much you name it.

There are even barred owls living in the trees nearby. Those pictures are for another day.

While Vic, Tom, and Paul were shooting flying raptors I noticed several small birds in the bushes to my left.

Female Grosbeak

Apparently the grosbeak is very uncommon for this area.

Savannah Sparrow
Yellow Rumped Warbler

We heard a cardinal chirping away so I got up and looked for it. It was sitting in the tree above us! Hard to hide when you are bright red 🎶.

Male Cardinal
Female Cardinal

I love it when we get the pair.

Stay safe everyone! XO

At Prairie Lakes

Mar. 9, 2026

Uncommon in this area

Swallowtail Kite
Barred Owl

Don’t worry, I shot this owl from a place of safety – inside the truck !

We met Kenny, a friend of Tom and Paul’s, who has an eagle nest just over the fence between Kenny and his neighbor’s yard. We were there a couple of days ago and got these shots.

The eaglets are twelve weeks old and starting to fledge.

Fledgling Landing
Bringing in some food
Here you go!

Stay safe everyone! XO

Stick Marsh

March 5, 2026

If it’s Thursday it’s Stick Marsh day 😊.

Vic drove and Paul rode with us. Tom was busy at his other house in Ft Lauderdale. Paul has been going to the stick marsh for many years so he knows his way around the maze of roads.

Curlews
Great Egret with breeding colors
Female Snail Kite
Anhinga with breeding colors
Gator
Limpkin in flight
Spoonbill
Cormorants

Looks like they are swapping recipes haha

Northern Harrier

Harriers are notoriously difficult to photograph. They rarely come in close enough. Vic has been trying to get a great shot like this for years.

Stay safe! XO