Tag Archives: Lake Morton

Birdwatching – Lakes Hollingsworth and Morton in September

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Ladies feed the birds at Lake Hollingsworth

Ladies feed the birds at Lake Hollingsworth

Dan and I finally found a little time to go birdwatching, and since I was sore from a fall, decided to just go to Lake Hollingsworth and Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. Neither require a lot of walking, but we can always find something worth looking at. Both lakes had some great finds.

Lake Hollingsworth had the usually Mallards, White Ibises, Boat-tailed Grackles, Common Moorhens, “Aflac” Ducks being fed by a couple of ladies. We heard several Blue Jays, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a Red-shouldered Hawk. A flock of about 50 Fish Crows made their noisy flight over and around for several minutes. We also saw a Great Egret, Osprey, Wood Storks, Great Blue Herons, Cormorant, Limpkin and a Purple Gallinule.

The best find was to watch an Anhinga trying to stay cool. I video taped the bird vibrating its throat. Birds do not have sweat glands, so this is one of the ways they cool down. It actually wasn’t too hot, 79°, but the humidity was at 85%. We all were warm. Below is some of that video.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:24 KJV)

After that we drove about a mile north to Lake Morton. Again, the birds were gathered around a family feeding them. (These are the only two places we go locally where they feed wildlife.) This time the Mallards, White Ibises, and Boat-tailed Grackles were joined by 8 Wood Storks, Gulls, and Common Grackles. Also spotted were Mute Swans, a Black Swan, Wood Ducks, Red-bellied Woodpecker, some sort of Tern and a Snowy Egret showing off his yellow feet.

The prize here was finding a family of Limpkins. The mom, dad, and 5 juveniles were in the tall grass by the lake. Tried to get photos through the grass, but as you know, that can be a challenge. I turned my camera on to video and took the following:

All in all, the Lord provided a great day for birdwatching and let His creation of birds be seen. What would life be like without the neat things the Lord has provided to make our journey so enjoyable. All we have to do is look around us and observe.

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Birdwatching and Updated Indexes for I.O.C. 2.5 Version

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Limpkin at Lake Morton

Limpkin at Lake Morton

It took me awhile, but I finally got all the links up for the newest version (2.5) of the I.O.C. Now you should be able to find any bird on the lists.

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) scrawny by Lee

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) scrawny by Lee

Dan and I managed to get in a little birdwatching Friday at Lake Morton. We saw several weird things take place. At least I hadn’ t seen it before. Watched a Great Egret with what I thought was a fish, a scrawy Anhinga, and a one footed White Ibis.

The Anhinga that we saw was “scrawny.” It must have been in a molting stage, because it sure didn’t have many complete feathers. Also fed a one-footed White Ibis. Did manage to get some nice photos of a Limpkin and a Green Heron. There were some gulls around and I think it is a Laughing Gull I photographed. Haven’t seen one there before, at least not with that black hood.

Great Egret at Lake Morton

Great Egret at Lake Morton

The Great Egret that was eating something, well, trying to, turned out to be a baby Mallard. I was photographing it from a distance and didn’t realize what it had until we got home and viewed the photos. Never did see it swallow it. The Egret flew off with it and when I spotted it later, there was no baby Mallard around. Hope he dropped it when he flew off. I was sad when I realized what had been going on.

Sunday, at church, our pastor was preaching on the death of Christ on the cross. He gave the following quote by Dorothy Sayers and it reminded me of what I had seen on Friday.

It is a curious fact that people who are filled with horror when a cat kills a sparrow can hear the true story of how people killed the Lord Jesus Christ told Sunday after Sunday and not experience any Shock whatsoever! Dorothy L. Sayers

The Lord loved us so much He was willing to lay His life down and pay for our sins. He has “finished” the payment and has raised Himself up and is in heaven with the Father. Do we hear that week after week and not acknowledge the truth? I trust you know the Savior.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17 KJV)

Wordless Birds and Gospel Message

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) by Lee

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) by Lee

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) by Lee

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) by Lee

Birdwatching – 09-25-2009

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Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) by Dan

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) by Dan

Today we went birdwatching and ended up at three different places. Our intention was to go to Lake Hollingsworth, one of our favorite places to bird watch. I started my list as we were riding and saw about 20 Muscovy ducks (they are very prolific here), Morning Dove, Osprey, Black and Turkey Vultures, and a pair of Northern Harrier sitting on one of the light arms along the toll road.

It was clear today and about  79° when we arrived at Lake Hollingsworth at 8:35 am. We have been having some rain lately and the lake was really up. I spotted a Great Blue Heron, White Ibises, Mallards, some more vultures, and a Great Egret. What I didn’t spot were very many birds or a parking spot. So, we decided to go to Lake Morton instead. Good choice.

We were there by about 8:50 am and saw lots of birds being fed by a little girl and here father. She was the center of attention of the local clientele. I attempted to take her picture and the birds, but we had had our cameras and our eyeglasses in the car with the air conditioner running. After my glasses un-fogged, I looked through my lens and it was foggy. Needless to say, it was humid! Next time the camera will be in the trunk.

Mr and Mrs Wood Duck by Lee

Mr and Mrs Wood Duck by Lee

Anyway, it was a great day for pictures and I even took several videos (with my regular camera), fed the critters, and here is what we observed:  Wood Ducks (12+), Mallards, Wood Storks (I practically hand fed them), White Ibises, Black Swans, Mute Swans, Geese, Double-crested Cormorants, Laughing Gull, Anhinga, Muscovy Ducks, Bald Eagle (3rd one I’ve seen this week-there coming back!), Unknown terns, Limpkin, Rock Pigeons, Green Heron, Snowy Egret and a Great Blue Heron.

My highlight of being there was getting so close to the Wood Storks. I have never seen them that friendly before. Had I been brave enough to hold the bread (I know, you are not to feed wildlife, but everyone does at that lake and Hollingsworth), they would have ate right out of my hand. I tossed it to them and they were catching it and making a loud snap as that big beak closed. (The reason I didn’t hand feed. I need those fingers to snap photos with.) Also, the storks were sitting different than I had seen. Got a video of that also. The other highlight was I was videoing when a Bald Eagle flew over. I swung the camera up and caught him as he was flying off. You can hear my excitement in the video. I love eagles and had just wrote about them on yesterday’s blog.

We left there and had a small bite to eat and then on the way home decided to stop in at Circle B Bar Reserve to see what might be up near the entrance. By now it was 10:45 and most of the birds were resting somewhere, but not in sight. We heard a Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse and Blue-grey Gnatcatchers. Overhead we saw more Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures, and Wood Storks and then a Wood Stork flew low past us. Knowing bird sounds helps tremendously when you are in the woods and don’t always get to see the birds. I need to practice up much more myself. It counts when you are making list if they are heard.

The Lord provided a beautiful morning to watch His critters and just enjoy being out and about.

This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:23-24 KJV)

This first video is just looking around at the ducks and then spotting an eagle flying by.

The second video is of the stork bending its legs and sitting down.

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For other birdwatching trips to the Circle B Bar Reserve

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First Bird and Birding Trip of 2009

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Here we are in 2009 and it’s time to start listing the birds we see this year. I hope last year was very

1st photo of 2009 - Female Ring-necked Duck 1st photo of 2009

1st photo of 2009 - Female Ring-necked Duck

productive in the bird listing area. I am still checking my counts, due to a software glitch that knocked some of the lists out. With the year only three days old, I trust you have been spotting birds already. On “BRDBRAIN”, a listing service here in Florida, they have all been listing the first bird they saw this year.

The first birds all saw when I looked out at my feeders on New Year’s Day were two Mourning Doves. What was the first bird you saw? Post a comment to this blog and let’s find out what everyone saw.

Today, we took our first Birding Trip for the year and went to Lakes Morton and Hollingsworth in Lakeland, FL. That is about a 20 minute ride from our home. We were not disappointed. On the way we counted a Blue Jay, Boat-tailed Grackles, a Wood Stork flying by, 11 Cattle Egrets, Great Egret, 15 Fish Crows, Mourning Doves and Eurasian-collared Dove, Mallards and a Great Blue Heron.

When we got to Lake Morton we were overwhelmed by the number of Ring-necked Ducks (150+) that are down for their winter vacation. There was also 27 Ruddy Ducks, Ring-billed Gulls (lots), 15 White Pelicans with Double-crested Cormorants swimming right along with them, Mallards, 2 Great Blue Herons, Great Egret, White Swans and Black Swans, Geese, Pied-bill Grebe, Muscovy Ducks, Coots (lots), and 2 Rock Doves, and an Anhinga or two.

Then off to Lake Hollingsworth, but this time we were on the north side of the lake at a walkway they have at a small wetlands. Here is what we saw there: 50+ Fish Crows, 7 Double-crested Cormorants, Mallards, White Ibises, Anhinga, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, 2 Limpkins, Great Blue Heron, 2 Coots, Boat-tailed Grackles, Common Grackles, 2 Common Moorhens, White Pelican, Ospreys, 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe and some unknowns that we are trying to ID from photos.

All in all, it was a gorgeous day and the Lord provided lots to look at and enjoy. I trust your year will be loaded with much viewing of the beautiful birds and critters that have been created for ours and the Lords pleasure. Don’t forget to leave a comment as to what was the first bird you saw this year and where.

The photos have not really been touch up yet. Just wanted to get some posted to show what we saw today.

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