Ready, Retooled, Renewed

An Update
The ol' steed got an upgrade, new spokes,  new tubes, and a tune up.

Even better,  I got some birding accessories.
The Scope on the bicycle handlebars is a Roxant, 12-36 X 50, and came to me as a Christmas present from my parents with an attachment that will allow me to take pictures through the scope with my cellphone. Both are available on Amazon, and are relatively inexpensive. The clamp came as an after accessory from my Dad. Quality wise, the setup works for what it is. There's some chromatic issues with the image, but I've seen worse out of more expensive glass. With it, I checked out some little brown jobs that turned out to be some lifer sparrows (Vesper to be exact), so it's pretty much the best Christmas present ever. Now I have a reason to check out some of the ducks on Agricola Rd here in polk county. Terns on buoys at Lake Hollingsworth are no longer a mystery. I took the picture above on a Sunday morning excursion to see the terns. I scoped a couple of Forster's and some Royal's. Didn't get to all the buoys either, will have to work harder next time. Excitement builds as I continue to bird. There's big things planned for next year, and it will take a lot of work to make them all happen.
The Lowdown
I'm ready for next year, it's tomorrow after all. I'm ready to see new birds, and some of the regulars as well. I'm also ready to go new places, more to say about that later.
I'm retooled with necessary gear. It's hard to bird without optics, and this new scope will do the trick for helping me see new things, and document them as well. I also hope to retool and review what I'm using as well.
I'm renewed in my purpose for birding. The world has so many wonderful things to see and understand. I want to share them with my kids, who will add their own perspective, and find their own purpose for enjoying creation, and all the lessons it's here to teach us. I want to share what I'm learning, that there is beauty in odd places. There's so much here to see and do!

Come with me to the future!
Let's go see some birds!

Incredible!

The birding has been good in August, September, and October so far in Polk county and other places I've been.
Highlights:
We went to a wedding the weekend of August 24th to St Augustine. I woke up early every day and went birding. I saw wave upon wave of Little Blue Herons one morning, and had a generally good time Birding in St Johns County for the first time since starting eBird, indeed, since my college days.
I made my first trip out to the Avon Park Cut Off Rd Sod Fields. There I saw many righteous shorebirds, including a group of White-rumped Sandpipers, and insane numbers of Least Sandpipers.
A trip this last Saturday (Oct 13th) yielded some good birds at Saddle Creek park, including a Yellow-bellied flycatcher I'm trying to confirm. That trip will be worth it's own post.
Also,
I'm going to do a big day on the 26th , and am starting a facebook page to track it.
It's an experiment.
Feel free to join me, either at a particular spot or for the whole trip. I'll be leaving early morning, and back to Lakeland by 5pm. Not sure where we will be visiting just yet. There's reports of a Double-toothed Kite in Hernando county though...

Summertime, the Birding is Not So Easy

It's summertime in Polk county. Lakeland is chock-full of Fish Crows and Grackles (Boat-tailed and Common), mostly recent fledgling birds. Some birds are still nesting. I've located a Blue Jay nest, but these are likely second or third efforts. I've seen at least two young Blue Jays in my backyard this month. There's also signs of nesting Mourning Doves in the parking garage at work. These mostly appear to be past efforts, but I'm keeping an eye out.
    Every bird I see now I'll likely see again. That's something that hit me the other day while birding. They're residents, they don't move much. They're old friends. The Red-bellied woodpecker that drums on my fascia, the Cooper's hawk flying around with a protesting group of Blue jays.
Northern Mockingbirds.
Ohhhhh, mista NOMO, give me NO MO' of that midnight singin'.
Cardinals.
It's time to pay attention to the details. Find the new birds, not the new species on the list, but the birds that didn't exist before this year, the REAL new birds. I've watched a family of cardinals in my yard raise at least two broods, this year, I'm actually catching the males go from drab to fab. It's an interesting process.
June is gone.
There's likely to be little activity this month. The birds will grow quieter. I might find another Mourning dove nest, I don't know. Today (7/9) I found a Brown Pelican on Lake Morton. That's about as exciting as I can expect right now, unless I manage to find a Yellow-crowned night heron.

I'll watch the littles grow, with gladness.
It's good to know the birds have a future.

Always Be Birding

Most lists I submit to eBird are of short trips I take walking around Downtown Lakeland, while running an errand. This time, I found a Great Egret hunting lizards. This video was 30 seconds after he gulped down a Brown Anole.