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!

The Sisters Go Exploring.

The Survivors

The latest birding adventure is without lists.
Not that I wasn't keeping track of what we saw, but that Friday was just about seeing things. I'm not entirely certain, but I'm pretty sure that the point of birdwatching is to watch birds. :)
I took all three girls around some of the key lakes for Lakeland birds, and they had a blast. The trick to keeping kids interested in watching birds is to have interesting birds to watch.
Lake Hollingsworth goes from brimming with flying swallows, fishing pelicans, stalking ospreys and eagles to frantic searches to find the regulars. For us, birding from a car, we had to be fast, noting and calling attention to interesting birds on the fly, so that people didn't get backed up behind us. Looping around Lake Hollingsworth a couple of times and Lake mirror a few times more was all my youngest could handle. We dropped her off at the house where Momma said she took a nap.
Then the Two Sisters and I took a ride to a couple of more places.
Didn't see much at the first place. So we went to a place I call "The Jackpot". The kids call it that every time we drive by it now.

The "Jackpot"

In the middle of the picture above is a Sandhill Crane on a nest.
it's hard to see. People, you really should donate to the blog (at http://skattagun.blogspot.com my other blog site.) so I can buy some camera gear, and a spotting scope.

best view I can do of the bird on the nest.

as of last Friday, the bird was still on the nest. I'll be taking the girls out again, for a little birding by car (if they are interested) this Friday.
We'll gladly report back.

I may even ask K to keep a list!

A New Year

Ok,
So there's been a lot going on in the Hoyt house since September when I last updated this thing. Most importantly ( and life changingly) KT is now a big sister! My wife delivered a 10lb 5oz baby girl in October, and it's taken some time to adjust, especially now that my wife is back at work. Nothing it seems gets done on time, except the bills! KT and I haven't had much of an oppurtunity to bird since then, I did intended to get her down to an Audubon society field trip to Saddle Creek Park, but alas, it never happened like that. I did go on one field trip, but without KT, just seemed like the weather was never right, it was always too hot. My schedule had me off today so I decided to do a little birding on my own. There was a report of Greater Scaup on a retention pond near my house, so I figured they might have wandered their way down to Lake Hollingsworth or Lake Morton.

It was a good day for biking. The sky cleared up nicely, and the temperature was warm enough to ride in shorts without feeling too cold, especially once the sun came out. The action around the house was slow, with some little brown jobs staying too high up in trees to come out and play. One Mourning dove perched on a telephone line, and I started to ride hard. I knew I had to get to the lake to see anything decent. As soon as I arrivedat the lake, the activity level increased. The TREE SWALLOWS flew all around, right at Collins Ave and Lake Hollingsworth Dr. I remember seeing these sky gems about this time last year, and they are the very breath of fresh air in winter. Never did see any greater scaup but I did spot three LESSER SCAUP around Hollingsworth toward the boat dock. Two males and one female, they did not look happy to be there. They gave me a bit of ID trouble at first, and I admit my heart was racing with the thought that they would be the greater scaup, but I let judgement take precedent over emotion. Lake Morton had RING NECK DUCKS and RUDDY DUCKS galore. The ringers gathered in two rafts, one of which seemed to be taking cue off of a swan. I found it funny to watch all these small diving ducks follow a huge swan. It was like they were a bunch of snowbird yankees (and they are) with a tour guide at Disneyworld. That's the typical Florida for you. The ruddy's kept to themselves, and further out in the lake as if they were ashamed of their drab plumage.

I thought to myself, just wait till spring you drab birds, and you will be the envy of the lake.

GB signing out...
I promise to be better this year about updating...
...it's one of my resolutions...
;-)

On the Cusp...

We seem to be at the edge of Migration. Last week KT and I saw our first Red-Eyed Vireo of the season. Well, it was KT's first ever, so I thought that was neet. We've been having a pretty good time. Hopefully by the time Saturday gets here, we will be able to go on a Saddle Creek Park trip with the Audubon society. There has been, from what I understand, a male golden-winged warbler hanging around. That would be a nice bird! People across central Florida are starting to see more migrants. An Olive Sided Flycatcher apparently showed up in the north too!

Strange times. Wish I had some off time.

My wife is off today, but I have to work. I am going out with her to do some shopping.
See you all later! Tomorrow, KT and I go a walking.

Oh, KT has her own Binoculars now!! She's only dropped them once... ;-)
GB and KT

Summertime, and The Livin's Been Easy....

Ok,
Been a good summer for the KT and I. There's been some birds, a lot of biking, and some walking. First of all, the birds, and the lack of any regular report...
Birds have been the usual summer suspects, grackles, blackbirds, gallinules, moorhens, crows, etc...
Twice we saw something really interesting, a Least Bittern. Once we saw a bald eagle. I've started keeping a list again of the birds we see. At the end of the week, I'll post the results of everything we've seen this week. Until then, I hope to post a little more about past birding experiences.
Thanks a lot,
GB and KT

The Bittern End...

May has been a good month for walking around the lake, but only ok for birds,although last friday, KT and I did spy for the very first time (ever for me I might add...) a least bittern!! It was in some grass, hunting at the edge, doing the Bittern thing...
It was a great looking bird, and a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. I think this was a good bird for Hollingsworth. The walking/running aspect of our trips has been good. We have a blast, at least when you can see outside and there isn't a wildfire somewhere trying to ruin our day.

Thanks for the read!
KT is definately in love with Purple Gallinules... She calls them Purple agitas!
GB and KT

Always and forever, a Louisiana Heron.

I've said it before, birding and biking combine some of my favorite diversionary activities. Diversionary activity is a poor choice of words, better to say that they are recreational. They recreate me. Biking recreates my body, and birding recreates my mind. Communicating recreates my soul I think, especially when I communicate with God.

That makes prayer while biking with a pair of binoculars around my neck and a field guide on my hip dang near the most recreational activity I can have by myself!

February 24th I found myself in such a position, riding the ole steed, praying, and keeping a weather eye out for some little brown jobs along the way. Specie wise, there were a lot of the usual suspects, I only added tree swallow to the list of birds I've seen at Lake Hollingsworth. I'd seen them before but they always managed to stay just far enough out of my field of view to remain unidentifiable. This time they skimmed near the water closer to the shore, and I even got a good look at their metallic green/blue sheeny back.

Great stuff...

Kelly had given me the morning off so to speak. She and KT had gone to her mother's house, Kelly's uncle Don had just passed away, and there were a lot of family members in town waiting to make the mournful trip to Naples for the funeral. I was praying a lot that day for my wife's family. Death is never easy.

I pedaled lightly, stopping every now and again to take in the sights and sound, but I found that sometimes there is stealth in a little bit of speed. A chattering Carolina wren stayed put when I zoomed by him. I know this wren, when I am on foot, he hides, and it's a lot harder to spot him. At the lake itself, I spotted a couple, both dressed for the outdoors so to speak, lightweight longsleeve stuff, with brand names like "Columbia" et al. Good stuff. I would find out later they live here now, but they were from up north, he was shooting pictures of birds and everything. I admired his setup, although I find I have trouble remembering what brand it is right now. They walked counterclockwise, while I took my normal clockwise circuit around the lake. I've been seeing a Herring Gull at the boat dock with a gate (if you go to the Lake, it's pretty easy to find) right in front of the synagogue. On this saturday it was missing, but I've seen it since. Just past the Florida Southern College Campus I crossed their path again, and I paused to ask if he was taking any pictures, as if there is anouther reason to wear a weighty camera around your neck. Sometimes, I like asking stupid questions.

They began telling me about a trapped bird.

Quickly I understood what I needed to do, find the bird and release him. The couple told me it seemed like his legs were trapped underwater, and he couldn't get out of the mire. The thought crossed my mind that the bird could be trapped in some fishing line, or discarded cast net. The natural explinations I had were alligator and snappin' turtle related, so I didn't think about them long, especially when I saw what kind of bird struggled in the lake.

A very beautiful tricolored heron stood distressed in the shallows along the shore, near a birdnest box. There was no telling how long the bird had to endure, I could see it's wings drooped down into the water, so I figured it was near exaustion. I set my bike down, emptied my pockets, and waded out into the lake. As I got close to the bird, I could see straight though its nostrils, they were like holes with voices, "don't treatd on me" they said. I took off my shirt and covered its head. Supporting the bird with my left hand and arm, I lifted up the bird, and used my right hand to see what was going on udner the surface so to speak. I held my pocket knife just in case.

Turns out, it was just caught in some weeds, so I freed the bird and brought it back to shore. When I uncovered its eyes, it flew away, somewhat gangly at first, but then remembering how things are put together.

When it flew away I thought:
"It will always be a Louisiana Heron to me..." Climbing back onto my bike, I fielded a couple a pictures for the couple, showing off my eco-studness.

I forgot to get the couple's names
GB HOYT
I forgot to get the couple's name.