Spring is on the way

With the official beginning of spring just around the corner, signs of the season are popping up all around Florida.  While weather conditions back home in New York would suggest otherwise, here in the "Sunshine State", the avian community is gearing up for the time of year when seeking out territory, setting up nests, and mating are paramount.  Some of the birds have gotten a jump on the season and are already rearing their young.  The handsome Great blue heron family located at Viera Wetlands is obviously well on its way.

       At the same location, a pair of Anhingas was set to follow suit with their nest construction well under way and Mom possibly incubating her eggs.

     Meanwhile, over on the Gulf Coast,  a new cast of characters was moving in as birds which left their wintering grounds down in Central and South America and are heading into Florida and points north.  One of our favorite first signs of spring includes the Swallow-tailed kites.  This bird is unquestionably the most elegant of our birds of prey.  It's flight is thrilling to watch as it "glides through the air with the greatest of ease".  The nests are built in the highest of trees and are lined with lichen and spanish moss.  It would appear that this gorgeous specimen at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was heading back to its own nest with some of that material in tow.

     While birding the west coast of Florida, we also made a special effort to find one of our favorite targets, the Burrowing owl.  This slim little owl is in danger due to habitat loss.  These Florida birds have to excavate their own tunnels in what is left of open flat sandy ground and this pair has set up home in a vacant lot in Marco Island.  For those of you familiar with that area, you know it is highly developed and the use of these vacant lots by the owls is about the only suitable territory in the area.  While nocturnal during much of the year, the owls become much more visible during the breeding season, often perched out in the open for us lucky enough to be nearby with a camera.

     Finally, we'll end this installment with a photo of one of my personal favorite signs of spring, the Northern parula.  We often hear its distinctive call before we notice the bird, but we soon see it in abundance flitting through the trees low to the ground.   One of our most colorful warblers, we are always thrilled to welcome this harbinger of the season.