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Floribunda Rose Chihuly photographed at the Magnolia Building Rose Garden in the Lake Mirror Park located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Female Ruddy Duck on Lake Morton in the Lake Morton Park and Greenbelt located in Downtown Lakeland in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Limpkin resting on a pile of debris in the Banana Creek Marsh in the Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Part of the blackbird family, the Brown-headed Cowbird is a little smaller than other birds in its family. The male Brown-headed Cowbird has a glossy black body and a brown head while the female is plain brown. Once confined to open grasslands, the Cowbird's range has grown as people settled North America.
The Brown-headed Cowbird uses a different strategy than most to raise its young. The female doesn't build a nest but rather lays her eggs in a nest belonging to another species. Studies have shown that Cowbirds tend to choose a nest with smaller eggs than their own. Cowbirds have been observed to lay eggs in nests of 220 different host species! The Yellow Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird and Red-eyed Vireo are common hosts.
Since the female doesn't build a nest of her own, she spends all of her energy laying eggs. Sometimes three dozen eggs are laid a season! Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species eggs, giving Cowbird chicks a head start in getting food from the host parents. The chicks develop faster than other species and sometimes throw the other eggs out of the nest or smother the other chicks.
I found this male along with 50 or 60 more, both male and female, in my backyard, In Polk County, Florida.
Bok Singing Tower located in the Bok Tower Gardens on Iron Mountain near Lake Wales in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
By 1925, Bok had decided to replace the bird sanctuary's water tower with a stone water-and-bell tower. He hired architect Milton B. Medary to design "the most beautiful tower in the world". The 60-bell carillon occupies only the top of the Singing Tower, some of the rest contained large water tanks to irrigate the gardens, with Bok's baronial study at the base. The 15-foot (4.6 m)-wide moat surrounding the tower's base now serves as a koi pond.
The Gothic Revival tower was built at the highest elevation of the site, south of a reflecting pool that reflects its full image. The tower is 51 feet (16 m) square at its base, changing at the height of 150 feet (46 m) to an octagon, with each of the eight sides 37 feet (11 m) wide. It is built of pink Etowah marble and gray Creole marble, mined in Tate, Georgia, and coquina stone from St. Augustine, Florida.
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Pond Sliders and Red-eared Slider resting on an outcrop pf rocks in Lake Morton in the Lake Morton Park and Greenbelt located in Downtown Lakeland in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Photographed the Wood Stork out at the new water treatment park Se7en Wetlands Park in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The Green Heron has had some interesting colloquial names, including Fly-up-the-creek, Poke, Chalkline, Indian Hen, and Chucklehead.
It has a habit of defecating as it takes off from its perch and begins to fly. This earned it a colloquial name that we called it when I was a youngster here in Florida, but guess I will leave it out of this description because some may not appreciate our southern humor.
The solitary Green Heron usually forages from a perch, where it stands with its body lowered and stretched out horizontally, ready to thrust its bill at unsuspecting prey. One of the few birds known to use tools, the Green Heron will attract prey with bait (feathers, small sticks, or berries) that it drops into the water. When out in the open, it commonly flicks its tail nervously and raises and lowers its crest. Another characteristic behavior of the Green Heron, which may help with identification, is its tendency to fly away from a disturbance giving a squawk and defecating in a white stream behind itself. (Other small herons defecate forward.) When alarmed, the Green Heron may adopt the classic bittern stance, with head held vertical, looking across the base of its bill. The Green Heron commonly calls in flight--a sharp skeow or kyow sound.
Fish are the primary food of this opportunistic feeder. Crayfish and other crustaceans are also a source of food, as are aquatic insects, frogs, grasshoppers, snakes, and rodents
I found this one perched on my dock at Lake Pierce. Polk County, Florida.
A relatively small, dark, compact, crested wading bird, the Green Heron is a common species of wetland thickets throughout much of North America. Although shy and retiring, it is a familiar sight to those spending time out of doors. Careful observers can see it stalking slowly through the water, perched quietly atop a branch, or as a dark form flying with slow wingbeats through the gathering dusk. Its flight call, an assertive skeow, is a sound typifying temperate and tropical wetlands of the Americas. Some of this bird's behaviors are especially well appreciated; flying away from human disturbance, for example, it often produces a scolding squawk and a stream of white defecation, giving it such vernacular monikers as "fly-up-the-creek," "shite-polk," and "chalk-line."
Green herons are one of the few birds that have been recorded using bait to lure fish to sites. They have been seen placing bread crusts, insects or feathers on the water surface and waiting quietly nearby for prey to approach the bait.
I found this one in my backyard on my dock!
Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida.
A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks mating out at Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Barred Owl hiding out in favorite spot up in a Live Oak at Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, arguably are the most prominent of Florida's songbirds. While the northern mockingbird certainly rivals them in voice, they're no match for the male cardinal's bright red plummage.
They're common anywhere you might care to go, deep into the back country, around town and all points in between as long as there are bushes or thickets to provide cover. Florida even has its own subspecies, C.s. floridanus, found throughout most of the state. A second subspecies, C. s. cardinalis, is found west of the Apalachicola River.
Cardinals are one one of the few species of songbirds where the female is as vocal as the male, if not more so. Females will sing from the nest, and it's believed she's signaling the male on what kind of food to bring back with him. Cardinals often are heard before seen, but scan in the direction of the sound and you're likely to spot the source. Their songs are fairly distinctive, one of the easier birds to learn.
Cardinals are year-round residents of Florida; in fact cardinals are not considered migratory at all even in the northernmost limits of their range. But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission notes that cardinal population in parts of the state, particularly the northwest, does seem to increase during winter. Northern cardinals are found throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and as far north as Canada. They're also found in Mexico and into Arizona.
I found this Male in my yard in Polk County, Florida.
Carolina wrens are active during the day and spend the majority of their time on or near the ground searching for food, or in tangles of vegetation and vines. They also probe bark crevices on lower tree levels or pick up leaf-litter in order to search for prey. Carolina wrens are wary and are more often heard than seen. When on the ground, they move in jerky hops pillaging through various objects, whether man-made or natural. While moving abruptly, they pause momentarily for chattering or singing. When stationary, they move in twitched motions, jerking their breast around. They also sun- or sand-bathe. Other movements involve being capable of crawling like a creeper and hanging upside-down like a nuthatch. Their flights are generally of short duration, rapid, low-leveled, and wavelike. They are also capable of flying vertically from the base of a tree to the top in a single wing assisted bound. After finding a mate, pairs maintain their territory throughout the year, moving around and foraging together. Both males and females give out alarm calls, but only males sing to advertise territory. Males alone produce the 'cheer' call, which can sound indistinct. In southern regions of their range, the sound males use in alarm disputes is a ringing 'pink' or 'p'dink' sound. Females are the only ones that can perform the paired 'dit-dit' or chatter sounds often used in territorial disputes with predators. The chatter is used exclusively with territorial encounters with male song, and the song can either follow or overlap her mate's song.
Found this one in my backyard
Polk County, Florida.
Photographed the American Purple Gallinule at Lake Parker Park in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the pair of Florida Red-bellied Cooters in the Lakeland Highlands Scrub located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the Great Blue Heron with the catch of the day out at Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Great Blue Heron flying across a pond out at Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The Great Egret is a large, all white, wading bird common in Florida. Body length to 39 inches, with a 55 inch wingspan.
One of several white members of the Ardeidae (Heron) family present in Florida the Great Egret is distinguished from the white morph of the Great Blue Heron by having black legs and feet, the Snowy Egret has a black bill and yellow feet and the Reddish Egret, (white morph) which has a black tipped bill and smaller stature. Breeding individuals have long plumes on their backs, and will display a pretty greenish to blue/yellow lore.
I found this one "sporting" its breeding colors in my backyard. Polk County, Florida.
I am leaving on short road trip Sunday and will be off flickr for a few days. Meanwhile, I will let you ponder this pretty little Dahlia that I photographed last May. I feel that this photo conveys a message of hope and the beauty of transformation. It also suggests that even in its early stages, the dahlia has it’s own unique charm and promise.
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Cattle Egret resting in the Banana Creek Marsh off of the Heron Hideout trail in the Circle B Bar Reserve located in the Ciy of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, occasionally corrupted as bobbed wire or bob wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property. It is also a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare (as a wire obstacle).
Michael Kelly Invented the First Barbed Wire Fencing
The first wire fences (before the invention of the barb) consisted of only one strand of wire, which was constantly broken by the weight of cattle pressing against it.
Michael Kelly made a significant improvement to wire fencing, he twisted two wires together to form a cable for barbs - the first of its kind. Known as the "thorny fence," Michael Kelly's double-strand design made fences stronger, and the painful barbs made cattle keep their distance.
Joseph Glidden Was Considered the King of the Barb.
Joseph Glidden's design made barbed wire more effective, he invented a method for locking the barbs in place, and invented the machinery to mass-produce the wire.
Living patterns of the nomadic Native Americans were radically altered. Further squeezed from lands they had always used, they began calling barbed wire "the Devil's rope."
After its invention, barbed wire was widely used during wars, to protect people and property from unwanted intrusion. Military usage of barbed wire formally dates to 1888, when British military manuals first encouraged its use.
During the Spanish-American War, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders chose to defend their camps with the help of barbed fencing. In turn-of-the-century South Africa, five-strand fences were linked to blockhouses sheltering British troops from the encroachment of Boer commandos. During World War I, barbed wire was used as a military weapon.
Even now, barbed wire is widely used to protect and safeguard military installation, to establish territorial boundaries, and for prisoner confinement.
I found this barbed wire along with the male Blue Dasher Dragonfly perched on it, at a Polk County park along Lake Kissimmee. Polk County, Florida.
Boat-tailed Grackles are very much linked to tidewater, spending their lives near coastal salt marshes; they rarely occur more than a few hundred meters from water across much of their range. The exception to this rule is Florida, where the species occurs inland throughout the peninsula, essentially side-by-side with Common Grackle in many places.
Boat-tailed Grackles have variable eye color: along the Atlantic Coast it is yellow, in Florida it is brown, along the eastern Gulf Coast it is yellowish, and along the western Gulf Coast it is brown.
Female Boat-tailed Grackle has tawny brown upper parts, with darker wings and tail. Breast is pale brown. Eyes are yellow to dark brown. She is smaller than male, almost one half-size.
Found this one and a million more in my backyard in Polk County, Florida.
Cattle Egret in the Banana Creek Marsh in the Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The Carolina Wren is easily recognized by the white stripe above each eye and its distinctive "tail-up" posture that it assumes as it flits about the bushes. Energetic and vocal this little wren has one of the loudest songs of any small bird. Males sing their “tea-kettle-tea-kettle-tea-kettle-tea." song hundreds of times a day, all year long. One particularly busy bird was recorded singing almost 3,000 times in a single day!
Carolina wrens form lifelong pair bonds and pairs often stay together for years. The birds move and feed together, where you see one, you will usually see its mate foraging close by. The pair works together to build a nest, which can be in a tree hole or on a branch, but Carolina wrens are well known for choosing to nest in man made structures such as mail boxes, door wreaths, flower pots, or even a cardboard box in a garage. They use sticks, hair, feathers, and anything that looks suitable—even shed snake skins. They often build multiple nests then select one to raise their chicks.
When feeding, a Carolina wren hops around on the ground and in the underbrush turning over dead leaves, and probing cracks and crannies for spiders, insects and larvae. They also eat fruit and berries, but rarely come to bird feeders.
A female lays 3-4 eggs, then incubates them for 14 days, during which time the male brings her food. The parents feed the chicks in the nest for two weeks, then, after the chicks fledge, the parents continue to feed them for a further two weeks. A pair of Carolina wrens can have three broods in a year.
Found this one in my backyard, Polk County, Florida.
Photographed the Zebra Longwing Butterfly at the Discovery Center area in the Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Palm Warbler hunting for insects in the brush alongside the Marsh Rabbit Run Trail in the Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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At Circle B Bar Ranch, Polk County, Florida, USA
Here is a Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri), a medium-sized tern. It breeds inland in North America and winters along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the US south to Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The black eye patch in winter plumage, as shown here, is characteristic of this species.
Female Lesser Scaup on Lake Mirror in Lake Mirror Park in Downtown Lakeland in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are some of the most easily recognized birds. They can often be seen perched on a branch slightly hunched over with their long tails pointed down. In winter cardinals stand out against the evergreens or leafless trees and in the summer their whistles are one of the sweet sounds of morning. These birds don’t migrate so you can enjoy their presence year-round in your landscape.
Male cardinals are large, long-tailed, fire-engine red birds with a short thick bill and prominent crest. Males also have a black mask and throat. Females also have short thick bills and a large crest. Female cardinals are pale brown with tinges of red in the wings, tails, and crest. Juvenile cardinals look similar to adult female cardinals, except they have a grey to black colored bill. Cardinals’ thick bills are well-used to cut or crush seed shells.
Did you know that very few female North American songbirds actually sing? The Northern cardinal is one of those singers. They often sing while sitting on their nest — it’s not often that wild animals resemble their cartoon depictions, but for female cardinals, fiction matches the truth.
Cardinals live in open woodlands and are one of a few species that has been helped by urban sprawl, which contributed to its expanded range northward.
I found this one in my backyard in Polk County, Florida.
Hello cutie! What are doing for lunch?
Photographed the Wood Storks resting in the Banana Creek Marsh in the Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
The Ouachita Mountains stretch into the distance as seen from the Talimena National Scenic Byway, Arkansas.
Young Bobcat ~ (Lynx rufus)
This young Bobcat demonstrating how I feel this week. Is anyone else having a hard time adjusting to the Daylight Saving Time?
Taken a few years ago, but I still find photos from that encounter that I overlooked and like.
Thanks for visiting!
The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a common woodpecker that can be found on the eastern half of the United States as far south as Texas and as far north as Canada. Its habitat is woodlands, forest edges, suburban backyards, parks, and orchards.
This bird is a medium size woodpecker and is from nine to ten and a half inches in length. Their wingspan is from fifteen to eighteen inches.
Males have a bright red coloring on the crown of their head and extending down the back of their neck or nape. Females have a gray crown with red only going down the nape of the neck. Both have faded red coloring just above the beak and on their bellies. Their wings have bold black and white stripes.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are year round residents throughout their range however some of the northern birds may migrate a little more southward during the winter do to lack of food.
Their diet consists of insects, acorns, other types of nuts, berries, fruit, seeds, and will also eat sap from trees, mice, nestlings (baby birds).
They like to hide their food in cracks and crevices of tree bark to be able to eat later.
Red-bellies nest in mature trees, old stumps, and decayed cavities. They drill holes in these to excavate their nest cavities which can be eight to twelve inches deep. Both male and female participate in the excavation of the nest.
Breeding takes place in early spring when you will hear the male making its drumming sound on a tree trunk, branch, or even your wood siding or gutters. The louder their sound the more attractive it is to a female.
The female Red-bellied lays up to five eggs with incubation by both the male and female. Incubation may take up to twelve days.
Nestlings (baby birds) are fed by both parents for up to four weeks until they fledge the nest. Then parents will continue to raise the young for up to six or more weeks afterwards.
I found this female in my backyard, in Polk County, Florida.
As I left Gingerbread Lane in Ankeny (Iowa), I noticed this house a little ways away. The red glow was piercing through the night and giving off some serious Christmas vibes. I thought the prancing white reindeer on each side of the house added a very nice touch to the overall holiday light scheme too.
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Clonts Building 1903 located in Downtown Lakeland on the corner of Kentucky Avenue and Pine Street in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Black-bellied Whistling-Duck resting in the Banana Creek Marsh off of the Alligator Alley trail in the Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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I’m not sure how they decorated this huge tree, but I bet they leave the lights on year-round. For scale, look at the picnic table at the base of the tree. This is a huge tree.
Photographed at the “Miracle on 86th Street”, a holiday light show by the City of Urbandale (Iowa) located in the Charles Gabus Memorial Tree Park. The glimpse of a building in the distance is the Urbandale Public Library.
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The Talimena National Scenic Byway twists through the Ouachita National Forest towards the setting sun near Mena, Arkansas.
Photographed the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) off of the Heron Hideout Trail at Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
In the early 1850s, one Nicholas Pike, director of the Brooklyn Institute in New York, decided to import this bird from England. The first few attempts to establish the bird weren't successful but eventually the house sparrow took hold when the birds were released into Greenwood Cemetery, Central Park and a few other places. The rationale apparently was the control of some bug called a canker worm. The sparrow supposedly would pig out on the critters and reduce the canker worm population. Soon, cities and towns throughout the country were importing house sparrows to "aid people against encroachment of insects."
But others soon noticed that house sparrows don't have much of an appetite for bugs. On top of that, they were driving out native songbirds.The infatuation with the house sparrow turned to hatred, so much so that some states began paying bounties for dead sparrows. However it was too late; house sparrows had spread throughout the continent.
They're now found as far north as Canada's Northwest Territories and as far south as Cape Horn, the remote tip of South America. That extreme range indicates how adaptable house sparrows are. They can be found anywhere there are people, in big cities and small towns, in suburbs and around farms. The only place they're not found: deep, deep woods. In more extreme locales, they require human presence to survive.
I found this male in my backyard in Polk County, Florida.
I hope you are not getting too tired of my Christmas images from around the area here, just a few more days and it will be here and over. Then I will then go back to my normal posts…
If there is such a thing. 😮
This is another photo from the “Miracle on 86th Street”, a holiday light show by the City of Urbandale (Iowa) located in the Charles Gabus Memorial Tree Park. Coming out of the park, this shot faces the Urbandale Public Library and City Hall in the distance.
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Bobcat ~ (Lynx rufus)
An incredible chance encounter with a young bobcat in central Florida last year. This bobcat had snuggled up into the nook of this live oak tree among the Spanish moss.
Thanks for visiting!
Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are some of the most easily recognized birds. They can often be seen perched on a branch slightly hunched over with their long tails pointed down. In winter cardinals stand out against the evergreens or leafless trees and in the summer their whistles are one of the sweet sounds of morning. These birds don’t migrate so you can enjoy their presence year-round in your landscape.
Male cardinals are large, long-tailed, fire-engine red birds with a short thick bill and prominent crest. Males also have a black mask and throat. Females also have short thick bills and a large crest. Female cardinals are pale brown with tinges of red in the wings, tails, and crest. Juvenile cardinals look similar to adult female cardinals, except they have a grey to black colored bill. Cardinals’ thick bills are well-used to cut or crush seed shells.
Did you know that very few female North American songbirds actually sing? The Northern cardinal is one of those singers. They often sing while sitting on their nest — it’s not often that wild animals resemble their cartoon depictions, but for female cardinals, fiction matches the truth.
Cardinals live in open woodlands and are one of a few species that has been helped by urban sprawl, which contributed to its expanded range northward.
Cardinals eat mostly seeds and fruits, supplementing their diet with insects. They do not only forage for their food on the ground; when canopy develops they eat buds on trees and shrubs, and insect larvae as well. In fall, they take fruits and seeds from plants and the ground. Nestlings are fed mostly insects. Cardinals are not picky about bird feeders and will use almost any one you put out. These birds do seem particularly to enjoy sunflower seeds, so be sure to use them if you want to have some happy cardinals.
I found this happy female in my backyard in Polk County, Florida.