View allAll Photos Tagged PolkCounty
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.
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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.
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.
This is the backyard in Florida.
There are lakes everywhere in central Florida. A couple of cypress trees getting ready to turn green. I used the orton effect.
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Looking across the stark cornfields just after sunrise in rural Polk County, Iowa. This was our first bit of snow and it was a chilly morning at 25°. This isn't a spectacular scene, but the wispy dark clouds caught my eye here as I was driving home from Thomas Mitchell Park.
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The guardian of Lake Morton
Muscovy Duck in the Lake Morton Park and Greenbelt located in Downtown Lakeland in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
One thing I've seen is don't mess with a Muscovy Duck...
The strange, warty-faced Muscovy Duck causes confusion for some bird watchers, as it's very distinctive and quite commonly seen, yet does not appear in some field guides. Truly wild individuals are restricted to south Texas and points south, but domesticated versions occur in parks and farms across much of North America. Wild Muscovy Ducks are glossy black with bold white wing patches and are forest dwellers that nest in tree cavities. Their range expanded into Texas in the 1980s; feral populations also exist in Florida.
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The American Alligator hatchling taking in the sun on a log in the Banana Creek Marsh alongside the Marsh Rabbit Run Trail out at Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the American Coot on the lake in the Marshall Hampton Reserv located in Winter Haven in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found as a permanent resident on the coasts of the Southeastern United States. It is found in coastal saltwater marshes and, in Florida, also on inland waters.
These birds forage on the ground, in shallow water, or in shrubs; they will steal food from other birds. They are omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, grain, and even small birds.
Boat-tailed grackles have established significant populations in several United States Gulf Coast cities and towns, where they can be found foraging in trash bins, dumpsters, and parking lots.
This bird's song is a harsh jeeb, and it has a variety of typically grackle-like chatters and squeaks.
Found these two in my backyard consuming great amounts of bird seeds. The one on the right seems to be posturing with bill pointed straight up in the air in an attempt to threaten the other another bird.
Polk County, Florida.
This photograph, processed in black and white, captures a close-up cluster of large pine cones hanging from the branches of a coniferous tree. This simple composition emphasizes one of the geometric patterns found in nature. This is not merely aesthetic; it is a functional design that has evolved for efficiency, structural integrity, and optimal growth.
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Snowy Egret photographed from the Alligator Alley Trail hunting the shoreline of Lake Hancock in the Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The Bok Exedra is located in the Bok Tower Gardens on Iron Mountain near Lake Wales in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
In appreciation for Edward W. Bok's extraordinary gift of the gardens and tower to the nation, a group of his neighbors from Mountain Lake, Florida[ commissioned an exedra, or curving bench, in his honor, in 1930. This was created using the same pink and gray marble as the Singing Tower, and installed north of the tower.
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Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland, FL.
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This black and white photograph captures a young boy executing a scooter trick in mid-air at the Lauridsen Skatepark located in Des Moines, Iowa. The picture stirs emotions of youthfulness, vitality, and possibly a hint of boldness and daring. The boy seems to balance his sport with a sense of caution, as his helmet signifies a careful approach to an activity that carries some risk.
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A view of a section of the Southern Live Oaks covering the Treefrog Trail in Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Green Heron ~ (Butorides virescens)
From myself and this Green Heron, wishing everyone a Happy St. Paddy's Day! 💚🍀
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Photographed the Common Gallinule at Lake Morton Greenbelt and Park in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
We had our first snow overnight into the early daylight hours today. It didn’t amount to much, maybe 1-2” and that’s typical for early December. This scene was photographed looking across the old channel at the Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt on NE 126th Avenue in Polk County, Iowa. It was about 8:30am, the snow had just stopped and the sky was staring to clear in the west to create a nice colorful backdrop.
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The male painted bunting (Passerina ciris) is one of the most brightly colored songbirds in North America. The French name for the species, nonpareil (without equal), refers to its distinctive purple, blue, red, yellow and green plumage. Males attain adult plumage when two years old. Females are a yellowish green and resemble subadult males. The male’s song is a variable high-pitched warble.
The painted bunting is one of the most rapidly declining songbirds in the eastern United States. Florida breeding and winter season surveys show an astounding 4-6 percent annual decrease in this species' numbers. In some areas, counts have fallen from the hundreds to a mere handful.
The buntings seek brushy vegetation in open areas such as roadside thickets and edges of fields. They frequent backyard gardens, searching for seeds. They nest in the early successional shrub edges in coastal hammocks.
Breeding takes place in Atlantic coastal counties from northern Brevard County to the Georgia border. Painted buntings lay about four eggs in deep-cup nests of grass and sticks constructed at the end of branches, usually in Spanish moss.
Behavior
The reason for their decline is a puzzle, although one suspect is the brown-headed cowbird, which lays its eggs in the nests of other songbirds rather than building its own. In the competition of nestlings for food, the faster-growing cowbirds win, often starving the young buntings and even ousting them from the nest. Another suspected reason for their decline is the illegal capture of hundreds of adults for the exotic pet trade, especially in the Caribbean.
I found this female (or immature male) in my backyard in Polk County, Florida. (from my archives)
1956 Chevrolet Belair 4 Door Sedan on display at a service station in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The Great Egret stalking it's prey 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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A pair of Common Gallinule in the Banana Creek Marsh in the Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The painted bunting is a sparrow-sized bird about 5 and a half inches in length. It is one of the most colorful birds in North America. The male has bright red underparts and rump. It has a green back, a blue head and a red eye ring.
The female is bright yellow-green with paler underparts. Both the male and the female have dark brown or black wings, a dark bill and dark legs.
There are two breeding populations of the painted bunting in the United States. The eastern population breeds from North Carolina south to northern Florida. The western population breeds from Kansas and Missouri south to the Gulf Coast and northeastern Mexico. The painted bunting winters in southern Florida, Mexico, Central America, and Cuba.
The painted bunting forages on the ground and in low vegetation for seeds, insects, spiders and snails.
I found this female (Or male Juvenile) in my back yard in Polk County, Florida.
The Talimena National Scenic Byway gently curves through the Ouachita National Forest near Mena, Arkansas.
A red and gold Christmas ornament hanging outdoors on a branch of a large pine tree.
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Photographed the female banded Snail Kite in the Banana Creek Marsh off of Heron Hideout in Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The Victory Dance
The Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) exploded from the water with a speared what I think is a Brown Hoplo (Armored Catfish) a callichthyid catfish native to South America. Photographed from the Alligator Ally Trail in the Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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A lovely old barn photographed in NW Polk County, Iowa. The setting sun provides some wonderful backlight on the clouds to the east here.
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It's the first day of autumn today so I thought this was a good one to post. In my mind, the New England Asters and the different goldenrods are the iconic fall wildflowers of the tallgrass prairie.
Painted Buntings are medium-sized finch like birds with stubby, thick, seed-eating bills.
Males are stunningly colored with blue heads, red underparts, and green backs. Females and Juveniles are a uniform, bright yellow-green overall, with a pale eye ring. Though they are basically unpatterned, their overall color is greener and brighter than similar songbirds.
Painted Buntings forage on the ground in dense cover, among grasses, or at seed feeders. Sometimes they venture out into grass to forage on seeds. On migration they form loose flocks with other seed-eating birds. Breeding males often perch out in the open to sing their jumbled, sweet songs.
Painted Buntings breed in dense brush, often adjacent to thick, grassy areas or woodland edges. During migration and winter they favor dense, weedy habitats as well as the under story of semi-open forest.
I found this female or (Juvenile Male) in my backyard.
Polk County, Florida.
Photographed the Eastern Phoebe out at Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Photographed the Pure Gold-green Sweat Bee collecting pollen from a Peruvian Primrose-willow flower found along the the Marsh Rabbit Run Trail in the Circle B Bar Reserve located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
Augochlora pura known as the pure gold-green sweat bee, is a solitary sweat bee native to the eastern United States with striking green iridescence. This species is an important native pollinator in eastern deciduous forests and other habitats. It emerges in spring and remains active throughout the summer and early fall. As the common name of this group suggests, these sweat bees are attracted to human sweat, which they lick to consume salts Source: University of Florida
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Pied-billed Grebe hunting in a drainage canal in Lake Parker Park located in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) grooming at Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the juvenile Little Blue Heron perched on some Cypress Tree branches alongside the Alligator Alley Trail located in the Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the Northern Cardinal off of the Marsh Rabbit Run Trail out at Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Photographed the Tricolored Heron out at the Lakeland Highlands Scrub in the City of Lakeland Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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The coloration of the blue jay comes from light interference due to the internal structure of their feathers - if a feather is crushed, it will not maintain its blue coloration.
Blue jays are highly curious birds, and young blue jays have been known to play with bottle caps and aluminum foil.
Blue jays breed from mid-March to July.
Blue jays prefer to nest in evergreen trees and shrubs 10 to 35 feet off the ground.
Blue jays typically form monogamous pairs and stay together for life.
Blue jays normally fly at speeds of 20-25 miles per hour.
Blue jay eggs may be predated by squirrel, cats, crows, snakes, raccoons, possums, hawks, and various raptors and mammals.
There are four subspecies of blue jay: the northern blue jay, which live in Canada and the northern U.S. and has fairly dull plumage and pale blue coloration; the coastal blue jay, which lives on the southern coast of the eastern united states and is vivid blue; the interior blue jay, which lives throughout the midwest U.S.; and the Florida blue jay, the smallest subspecies, which is similar in color to the northern blue jay.
Blue jays are highly beneficial to other flora and fauna in their ecosystem: their characteristic 'jay' call warns other birds of predators, and their fondness of acorns is credited with spreading oak forests across North America.
I found this one in my backyard, in Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida.
Split Painted Bunting Populations.
There are two separate breeding populations of Painted Bunting in the United States, one in the south-central U.S.; the other along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to central Florida. This species winters in Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Mexico south to Costa Rica and western Panama.
Painted Buntings are known to wander widely outside of the breeding season, as illustrated by the bird that spent the winter of 2015 in Central Park, New York.
Interestingly, the western population of Painted Bunting begins its fall migration before molting, then molts at staging areas before continuing its journey farther south. This migration-molt pattern is common among waterfowl but very rare among songbirds. The eastern population molts on its breeding grounds before migration, the more usual pattern.
Lovely Lurker, Fierce Fighter
Like other closely-related species such as the Varied Bunting, this bird's diet consists mostly of seeds, supplemented by high-protein insects during nesting season. Despite the males' bright colors, Painted Buntings are often hard to see outside of the breeding season since they prefer to lurk low in the dense cover of brushy areas and woodland edges.
On the breeding grounds, male Painted Buntings stake out territories of up to several acres through song and displays. Each male aggressively defends its territory and will fight intruding males by pecking, grappling, and striking with their wings. These fights sometimes end in the death of one of the males.
The lime-green female builds a cup-shaped grass nest in a small tree or shrub, where she lays three to four eggs and up to three broods each year. Chicks are fed by the female and fledge when they are 12-14 days old.
Juvenile males are the same green as the females until the fall of their second year, when they finally molt into their bright colors.
Found this male in my backyard. Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida.
Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart 135765 on static display at the Florida Air Museum part of the Sun and Fun Complex located at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Oshkosh 4x4 Dump Truck part of the Florida Flywheelers Antique Engine Club collection on display at the 33rd Annual Antique Engine and Tractor Swap Meet in Fort Mead in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Florida red-bellied cooter photographed resting on a log in the Banana Creek Marsh along the Alligator Alley Trail in Circle B Bar Reserve in the City of Lakeland in Polk County Florida U.S.A.
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Winterberry, also called Winterberry Holly, is a familiar sight in this area right now. This close-up shot was taken at Big Creek State Park, located near Polk City, Iowa. A touch of frost has caused minor damage to these leaves and many other bushes have entirely lost their foliage, resulting in hundreds of bright red berry clusters embellishing each bush that will last well into the winter season.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my flickr friends in the USA.
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