More Photos of Ochlockonee River State Park

Little Blue Heron

I visited the very lovely Ocklockonee River State Park a few weeks ago and spent a wonderful night camping there.  I was thrilled to see three White Tailed Deer, an Osprey, a Little Blue Heron, a Red-headed Woodpecker, several Boat-tailed Grackles, a pair of Mourning Doves, a couple of Brown Thrashers, and a gorgeous little White Squirrel (sorry no photo).

I took these pictures several times in the morning and it was very cloudy and misty out in my early shots that morning.  I am including a couple of shots of just scenery so you can get a sense of the view at this beautiful Florida State Park.  The river is a short walk from the campground area.

This state park is quite close to the St. Mark’s National Wildlife Sanctuary and is probably about twenty-five miles to the Gulf of Mexico.  I enjoyed the park and would return someday for a longer stay.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger picture.  Enjoy!

River Scene

River Scene

White-tailed Deer at a vernal pool

 

River Scene

Osprey

Brown Thrashers

More Birds in the Neighborhood

Eastern Blue Jay

Northern Cardinals, Boat-tailed Grackles, Eastern Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, House Finches, White Ibis, Northern Mockingbirds, and a pair of Brown Thrashers were all spotted here on my street and in a neighboring yard on the next street over in the last week.  Additionally, we have had Eastern Bluebirds, Crows, Chickadees, and Carolina Wrens around.   The finches were rooting around in a lot under construction where a new home is being built.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of that picture.  Enjoy!

Mourning Doves

Female House Finches

Northern Mockingbird

 

Juvenile White Ibis

Male Boat-tailed Grackles

Brown Thrashers

 

Songbirds, and a Bunny Too!

Northern Parula?

This past week I spotted a Brown Thrasher, several Tufted Titmice and a bird that I believe may be a Northern Parula.  That Brown Thrasher is the first one I have seen here in Florida!  The Titmice have been here in bunches lately.  That Chickadee is here with the Titmice as is often the case.  The bonus picture is of the Cotton-tail bunny.

I sometimes see the rabbits in the lawn areas at dusk, but mostly see the bunnies in the areas on the periphery of the development.  Too many hawks patrolling my little neighborhood now for rabbits to be out and about here.  I took these pictures here on June 11, 2015 and also on June 12, 2015.

Carolina Chickadee

Northern Parula?

Cotton-tailed Rabbit

 

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Brown Thrasher

 

A Brown Thrasher in the Woods

This Brown Thrasher was up on a dead tree located in the woodlands in what I refer to as the gulch area a few days ago.  I was taking pictures of the Baltimore Oriole that was nearby and saw this Brown Thrasher.  This was the first Brown Thrasher I have seen here at the little farm.  These are medium-sized birds that are approximately the same size as a Mockingbird.  Their color is a rusty brown on the back and head and a buff with brown streaks on the underside of the wings and on their chest.    The Brown Thrasher has a stout pointed bill.  They hunt for insects on the ground in ditches and in woodland areas.  I have only seen a few of these birds ever.  They are shy birds.  I was glad to get the pictures.  I took these pictures on May 5, 2012 late in the afternoon from my driveway at the street here.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A Brown Thrasher Hunting for Bugs

We seldom see the medium-sized Brown Thrasher bird here in my yards.  This is the third Brown Thrasher to have come around in the last two years.  The Brown Thrasher is a musical bird with the males doing a lot of the singing.  The male becomes a songster during courtship in the late spring.  The Brown Thrashers eat insects with an alternative diet of berries, nuts and seeds at times.  Most Brown Thrashers eat a lot of insects during the nesting season when having a diet of protein is important to them.  As I observed the bird, it looked all around and seemed keenly interested in the tiny ants and other very small insects and bugs.  The bird was hunting in an area where I had been putting bird seed on the ground, which likely attracted those tasty insects.  I am fascinated by these interesting and beautiful light cinnamon rust colored birds.  They have long legs.  Their chest is buff colored with the same cinnamon rust colored spots and streaks.  I was glad to take these pictures from my window on April 10, 2011 in the late morning.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Some Birds are Molting

Possibly a Brown Thrasher

A few of the birds here are in the molting phase of the year.  This is when their feathers fall out and they grow a new covering of fresh feathers.  When this happens, the birds just don’t look like themselves.  Imagine if your hair fell out and your clothes had giant tears and rips, all at the same moment in time.  Sometimes the birds just look a bit scruffy or have patches here and there of lighter feathers.  I am posting this just to show a natural state which happens to the birds every year at seasonal times.  The birds do not all molt at the same time of year or on the same day.   It varies from bird to bird and species to species but I have seen several in this condition this week.  This molt is also coinciding with our very hot summer weather here this year on the Cumberland Plateau.  Our daytime temperatures are now about 10 degrees F. higher than usual.  So, a bird with fewer feathers, and hot windy days, equals a rather miserable critter!  It will pass as it always seems to do.  I have included a few individual birds here.  It is hard to get photographs of many molting birds because the birds tend to stay in their tree perches most of the time when in molt.  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Have an excellent day!

Tufted Titmouse

Sparrow

Male Northern Cardinal

Same Cardinal as at left

Female Eastern Bluebird

Female Downy Woodpecker

A Brown Thrasher

Yesterday afternoon I was on a walk down my street with my camera looking for birds to take pictures of, and was quite happy to have spotted this beautiful Brown Thrasher.  Being a recent transplant here to Tennessee from California, I had never before seen a Brown Thrasher.  These medium-sized birds are quite common in the Eastern half of the United States.  They are in my own opinion, very beautiful! They are a reddish brown with a cream colored chest that has reddish brown spotted streaks.  The Brown Thrasher eats insects.  This particular Brown Thrasher was hunting for bugs in a shallow street-side drainage ditch.

Update:  The Brown Thrasher is very close in looks to the Wood Thrush.  I had misidentified this bird in my earlier edition of this post.  One of my fellow bloggers was kind enough to let me know the true identity of this lovely brown bird.  I have corrected this edition.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!