Turkeys on the run. These birds live in a mitigation area and won't end up on anyone's table.


Bald eagle


Cryptic grasshopper


Another cryptic creature. We encountered two rattlesnakes in the field this week.




Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends! (and belated wishes to my Canadian friends!)

Pileated woodpecker at Riverbend Park


Feasting on poison ivy berries


Today's special: Frog legs


The day I finally get the Bald Eagle to pose for me is the most gray, overcast day we have had in weeks.

Last weekend I visited Green Cay wetlands for the first time in quite a while.

Pied billed grebes were abundant.



As were mottled ducks and teals.





Shy sora stretches surreptitiously in the swamp



Palm warbler





The reason I stopped going to Green Cay is all the "speed walkers" that tromp down the wooden boardwalks making an enormous racket with the CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP of sneakers and the BLAH BLAH BLAH of shouted inane conversations. And heaven forbid if you get in their way for five seconds to dare to try and take a photo! I don't plan to go back anytime soon.

Anyway, a much more peaceful venue both for walking and for taking photos is our local Riverbend Park. We regularly see limpkin, turkey, a variety of raptors and songbirds, plus plenty of deer. We went for a lovely walk on Halloween and saw The Monarch of the Glen.