Owls

We began the day by heading out with a naturalist on a pontoon boat on the St. John’s River. We were greeted at the dock by a gorgeous Barred owl that perched in a tree out in full view just above our heads. Our target species for the day included the Purple gallinule, the Limpkin and hopefully the Burrowing owl later in the day. It didn’t take long before we came upon our first target , the Purple gallinule. We had very good looks from a distance of no more than 35 feet, and the bird obliged by staying out in full view for an extended time….something a gallinule is not known to do. We found our limpkin shortly thereafter, calling out its distinctive “screaming” song. Again, for the photographers on board, the setting and the light were almost perfect. By the trip’s end, we had tallied more than 50 species on the river. We then headed out to Eustis in search for Burrowing owls that Sharon and I have spotted before. The owls cooperated nicely and were just where we expected to find them Finding owls is always a special treat, but when you get two wonderful views on the same day of two different species, that is indeed a special day.