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!

Interesting Developments in the House...

When I originally conceived of this blog as an idea, it was to basically encourage myself to get outside more, and get some exercise. I also planned on introducing my kids to the wide world of birds, hoping to spark their interest in science or something.
I started this blog when I had 1 kid about 2 years old. Now I have 3 kids, and the youngest is 3.
There hasn't been a lot of time in my schedule for strict birding only type trips, but that is coming around I think. The eldest has shown an interest!
That's right, on her own, K has decided to investigate birds. We've gone on one Daddy/K only fieldtrip to one of the local hotspots, and I think we can do some more. It will be short trips, about an hour each. I'm even thinking about letting her do the write up for the trips. It would be a good summer project.

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

Fun at the Beach!

My wife is pregnant and misses me at night, she doesn't get morning sickness, she gets evening sick. Since I normally work nights, sometimes it's hard for us to do anything, especially considering that I go to Orlando on sunday nites to help homeless people. I decided to stay home this weekend though, and let my partner Rafi handle Orlando. Kelly, KT and I went to the beach instead. Once again, KT was awesome at the beach. Having a child makes you aware of the world in ways you just don't appreciate when you are single, or married without kids. It reminds you of something. Something important, something that says, man, I bet I've got to make sure my priorities are right, cause if they aren't, man!

SO my priority today was to be with my family. I think I did ok, didn't wander to far afield alone, even though were were at Ft. DeSoto. Ft. DeSoto is THE Florida west coast spot to bird. Everyone talks about it to the point where I actually get kinda annoyed, cause I don't get to go a lot. ALl kinds of rare shorebirds show up there eventually. Me, I wasn't too ambitious, somebody had posted recent pictures of bonaparte's gull on the "birdbrainz" newslist I subscribe too that were taken at Redington Shores, just north of Ft. DeSoto. I thought, "I feel Lucky"...

KT chases birds, if you let her. I think there is something primal about that action, chasing birds helps us understand that, yes, sometimes things can fly! Alas, though, what's a card carrying member of the Audubon society supposed to do when his daughter is scowled upon by the Bird Police for "disturbing wildlife". I distracted my little squirrel with a shovel and bucket full of sand, and convinced my wife that a short trip down the beach would yield this mysterious bird, the elusive, the captivating, the Bonaparte's Gull. Besides, I was never more than a walkie-talkie call away. Half an hour later I walked back up to the shelter, no BOGU but still happy to see my wife and daughter. Screw the birds, I thought to myself, I'm getting wet in this water with my family!

The water wasn't bad, just cool enough to make sure you didn't stay in too long, KT and I played "Up and Down", and we ran along the shore. Kelly soaked her feet in the water, and videoed the shennanigans. After lunch I birded some more, but you know what, Everything was groovy without the birds.

Still no BOGU.

I'm an experienced birder, and will chase after species if given the chance, but while everyone else hunts down in the keys for loggerhead kingbirds, I'll sit back, enjoy the day, and watch my KT mock gulls.

I'm glad she's getting the last laugh...

GB HOYT out!

p.s.
yes, that's a herring gull, and not a Bonaparte's at the top of the post.
I will get that bird one day... one day...

Strange Winter, Maybe Spring will Be Different...

Seems like the KT will become a sibling sometime in October!! My wife is pregnant and due 10/10/2007. I guess we'll see if we make it all the way this time...

In bird news, KT and I have not biked in a while. I know I know. It's been about a month, we have been since the new year, I just haven't been keeping things updated. We have noticed a few things around the house though.

KT has acquired the art of mimicing the sound of a Barred Owl. It's great, you ask her, "What does an Owl Say?" and she hoots "Whoo-who-who-whooooo!" Sometimes the syllables get blurred, but she was introduced to the bird when one in the neighborhood was close to our house. While I worked away at the warehouse, KT heard her first Barred and kept askin' her mommma, "wassat?" and "wha-is-it?" It's great.

Also, the butter-butts have finally arrived. I wondered when Yellow-Rumped Warblers would finally filter down our way, and within the last couple of weeks, they have made themselves the dominant warbler force in the area. The American Robins give their chirps also, keeping things lively.
We get our Robins in the winter down here ya'll...
I'll have another update soon, KT and I will get out a little more when the weather steadies out!

Until then, happy birding!
GB HOYT