Day 111: April 20th – Mammal, Bird, Reptile, and Insect

Unsettled, 90 degrees, and calm

       We were on the way back to New Smyrna Beach with several members of the Halifax River Audubon Society and decided to stop at the Circle B Bar Range Preserve in Lakeland, Florida.  It was a hot morning, but there was no threat of the rain that was to arrive later in the day.  Once again, we were hoping for warblers, a group of birds which has thus far basically eluded us this spring.  Where have they been?   Well, they have not been at the Circle B, as we were to find out.

Bobolinks

       All the same we did have some interesting sightings during the course of the day.  We observed individuals from the animal classes of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, and so I decided to make today’s blog a presentation of photographs of individuals of each of these classes.  The point of today’s blog is to show the reader that when we go out “birding”, we have so much available for us to see, study, photograph and learn about.  Every day in the field is like the most enjoyable class you’ve ever taken.  Your textbook is your field guide, your teacher(s) are your fellow birders, and your classroom is the most enriching environment you could ever imagine.

       First up, as you might have guessed, are the birds.  The top bird of the day was probably the Bobolink.  We did not expect to find these birds and they were in fact “First-of-the-year” birds.  Even though these are probably the most interesting birds of the day, the glamour bird of the day goes to the Purple gallinule, a not-so-common bird of the Florida wetlands which simply seems to “glow”. 

       As we walked down the shaded trail along a dike of the impoundments of the preserve, we were treated to another sight not seen every day by visitors to the field.  We first saw a River Otter scamper across the trail and disappear into the brush.  We figured we had been treated to a quick glimpse of the mammal and were pleased to have had that opportunity.  Suddenly, out he came and trotted right down the trail directly towards us!  Camera shutters sounded like machine-gun fire.  The critter stayed visable for at least 15 seconds, and we all got nice looks and better than average shots.  What a treat.

       Not too much further along the trail, we found a 5 foot alligator sunning itself on a log in the marshy ground adjacent to the path.  Gators are about as easy to photograph as you can get as they just don’t move around much.  You can find a gator, photograph it, come back in an hour or two, photograph it again, and you’d never now there was any time lapse between the pictures.

       When we were not looking at all these larger creatures, we were blessed with the beauty of the various butterflies that were almost always present.  This is  a Black swallowtail we found at the trail head.  

       So, get the picture?  Finding great birds is always a treat, but even when the birding is slow, there is more than enough beyond the avian species to stimulate the senses.  In the words of an old commercial, “Try it….you’ll like it!”