Tag Archives: snail kite

Joe Overstreet – Part 2

Osceola County, , , , , ,

I thought I’d post a few more photos from last Saturday’s trip to Osceola County.  I hope you enjoy them.

Florida cow countryFlorida cow country:  Joe Overstreet Road goes right through several cattle pastures.  I imagine they look the same as they did a hundred years ago.

Snail Kite launchSnail Kite launch.  We usually see one at the landing and it may be the same bird each time.

Killdeer in flightKilldeer in flight.  I normally find these on the ground.  This is the first time I’ve managed a flight photo of one.

Bird on a wire 4Bird on a wire 4 – American Kestrel.  I rarely catch sight of these and was excited to spot several on this trip.

Sandhill Cranes on final approachSandhill Cranes on final approach. There were more Sandhill Cranes (~50+) in the pastures along Joe Overstreet that morning than I’ve ever seen in one place before.  I’m guessing the extras were winter migrants in from Wisconsin.  Several of the cranes were banded.

Sissor-tailed FlycatcherScissor-tailed Flycatcher. Not a great photo, but this is a life bird (first sighting) for me – so I’ll include it.  There were two and they stayed quite far away from us.

Osceola County / Joe Overstreet Road is a wonderful place!  In addition to the eagles and these birds, we also spotted Purple Gallinules, Ospreys, Eastern Meadowlarks, Loggerhead Shrikes, Palm Warblers, Eastern Phoebes, Savanah Sparrows, our normal wading birds and others.  We looked for Bobwhites and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area), but didn’t find any.

You can view more of my photos from there in this album on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157670869688025

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2020, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Overdue in Osceola

Osceola County, , , , , , ,

Kevin M. wanted to go down to Osceola county and Joe Overstreet road last Friday.  I don’t seem to get down there very often (the last time I wrote about it was in March of 2017).  Since a visit was so overdue, I readily agreed to join him.

We stopped first along a side road for a sunrise pasture photo.  It’ll be hard to see at web resolution, but there’s a large herd of cattle on the right in the distance.

Cow country sunriseCow country sunrise

Next, we drove down Joe Overstreet road.  This is a great place to see birds that aren’t too common elsewhere in Central Florida.  Here are some examples:

Bob WhiteBobwhite

Snail KiteSnail Kite

Loggerhead ShrikeLoggerhead Shrike

We also saw many of our common wading birds including some Sandhill Cranes, Anhingas, Cattle Egrets, Great and Snowy Egrets, and Wood Storks.  There were a couple of Bald Eagles, a family of Red-headed Woodpeckers, an Upland Sandpiper, several Solitary Sandpipers (several? solitary? I know, right?), many molting Meadowlarks, lots of Killdeer, and lots of swallows ( I think these were Cave Swallows, although there could have been others mixed in).

And dragonflies were very plentiful.

Dragonfly Dragonfly – Not sure of ID on this. Maybe a Red Saddlebags?

After Joe Overstreet, we stopped by Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area to see if we could spot any Red-cockaded Woodpeckers but they weren’t cooperating.

If you haven’t been to these areas, check them out.  They seem to attract a diverse group of species.  Click on any of these for larger versions, and you can see a few more of my photos from there in this album on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2019, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Lake Toho

INSIDE FLORIDA, Kissimmee, , , , ,

Kevin McKinney wanted to go by Shingle Creek for a sunrise photo and I’ve wanted to do that too.  We went last Saturday – and found out that park doesn’t open until 8am.  A little late for sunrise.  🙁

Fortunately we got there early enough for our backup plan to work and we ended up in Kissimmee along the Lake Tohopekaliga shoreline.  They have a park there too – and it was open.  🙂

Lake Toho light at dawnLake Toho light at dawn

There’s a little lighthouse at the end of the jetty and the protected water makes for some nice reflections.

We saw a few birds hunting the shoreline close by that turned out to be Snail Kites.  I’ve only ever seen these before at Viera Wetlands and didn’t get a very good photo.  This one perched nicely for a minute or so before flying off.

Snail KiteSnail Kite

And this Osprey flew by with its morning meal.  I like sushi too, so I went ahead and make a photo of it.

Osprey in flight with fishAnother Osprey with a “take-out” breakfast

A pleasant morning after all and I’m glad the backup plan worked.

Reminder – it’s that time of year again:  The Lake Jesup flowers are getting ready to bloom.  I got an email last week from my on-line friend Jeff Stammer.  He’s already been out to Marlbed Flats to check on the flowers.  He says that while it isn’t as wet as last year, it is quite grown up with tall plants and there aren’t as many cow or horse paths as there have been in the past.  So the hiking may be tougher than usual.  I skipped going last year and regretted it.  I’m going to try hard to get out there this year.  When we drove by Friday evening we could already see some yellow color.  I think they’ll start to really peak in a week or two.

Maybe I’ll see you there!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2015, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.