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Showing posts from December, 2014

Osprey with Needlefish

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Osprey Last month at Overlook Park I saw an Osprey fly by.  This happens so frequently that I usually don't bother to take a photo. However, this time looked a little different.  I put my binoculars on the bird and noticed that it was carrying a Needlefish.  I can't imagine that this is good eating, but I suppose when you're an Osprey, you eat what you catch.  The fishermen at the park weren't catching anything, so the Osprey was certainly having a better day.

Common Goldeneye

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Common   Goldeneye A friend of mine found a Canvasback in a little retention pond in Sanford, so I drove up this morning to see it, but I struck out.  I went to work dejected, but then a little after lunch I received an eBird alert that a Common Goldeneye was seen in a retention pond at a nearby mall. I drove up there and sure enough, there it was! It's the first sighting recorded on eBird for Seminole Co. So it was a pretty good day afterall. Common   Goldeneye

Bald Eagle Thief

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Bald Eagle Flying Away with a  Stolen Rock Pigeon I walking around  the marina  in Sanford a  little while ago, and I  had a pretty memorable experience. As I walked by a tree, a young Cooper's Hawk with a Rock Pigeon flushed and flew up into a different tree. That was surprising and cool enough, but a Bald Eagle must have seen all that happened, and it  flew over to investigate the tree with the Cooper's Hawk. Bald Eagle It was so close to me that this is a full frame image. With its eyes on the Cooper's Hawk it didn't seem to care about me one bit. It then descended into the tree, and the Cooper's Hawk freaked out, flew into another tree, and dropped its prey. This photo is not as sharp as I would like, but I believe this is a full frame image, or nearly so. The action took place so close to me, I didn't even have  time to back up. Cooper's  Hawk Freaking out and heading into another tree with a Rock Pigeon Bald  Eagle...