jacksonville

One of a pair that was patrolling open fields and a large pond. He was being harassed by a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks. There were a number of other raptors, including Bald Eagles, Cooper's hawks, and American Kestrels, all in the same area.

This is one of 6 that had gathered near a large pond. All ranged from 1st year juveniles to adults.

Most of these were feeding on the ground in a mowed field, but there was also activity near a small wetland (pictured). They had good reason to stay concealed because there were Cooper's Hawks patrolling the area. When these birds are on the ground or in the grasses, they are very hard to see.

These just started showing up in numbers this year. They have never been a common sight in the yard until this fall and winter. Now they seem to be plentiful. Beautiful bird and now one of my favorite Wrblers.

Frequent visitor during the fall and winter. I'm still trying to get a shot of its "Orange Crown", but the best I've done is a brownish color, LOL.

These guys are frequent visitors to our yard and pretty approachable, particularly the females. One of my favorite Warblers.

This one is a little scruffy looking because it's been feeding 4 chicks all day with it's mate.

Another forest dwelling bird that seems to have taken up in our yard. This little Warbler struts and scratches around the yard like a little chicken. They are so cool to watch go about their way. Normally, they stay close to cover, but this one likes to come out into the yard and at times will...

Always a treat to photograph these little Warblers. We don't get a lot of the males as it seems they prefer more insects in their diet. We have lots of berry bushes so we mostly get the females. Black-throated Blues are pretty approachable, particularly the females and I have lots of shots of...

These birds are very hard to shoot because they flit around in the trees and seldom sit in one place for too long. I assume because we were haveing a very windy day, he was more inclined to sit still while I took his portrait. These are one of my favorite Warblers.

This lady was burrowing through the grass looking for insects and would occasionally pop her head up and look around the yard.

This guy was chasing a flying insect along the ground that he had spooked from a bush. He wasn't about to give up on it. He was a bit clumsy and I had a good time shooting the action. If you are not familiar with the American Redstart, they flick their wings and fan their tail to spook insects...

There were three juveniles stationed in different areas of our yard. The mama would fly from chick to chick feeding them whatever she caught along the way. It was very late in the day and overcast.

Lots of Ring-necks this particular morning.

Lots of ducks and geese this morning. This is one of two Redhead drakes I photographed.

I spotted this Mottled Duck hen hanging with other Mottled Ducks and Mottled X Mallard hybrids. It struck me odd that this duck would have an antenna sticking out of its back. The thought even crossed my mind that it might be radio controlled, but that went away fast when I noticed it feeding...

Hunting on the edge of a field.

I caught this guy in mid hop.

I finally got one of these little guys to sit still long enough to get a pretty good portrait.

Very common little bird, but they are pretty cool to watch. I have several living around my house and they like to hide under my porch, steps, and car. They often scold me when I'm standing someplace they want to hunt.

This one was gleaning insect eggs from the leaves. Look close and you can see one at the tip of its beak.

Caught this guy raiding my Elderberries.

I was watching several Kites soaring over the yard and saw this one acting like it was going to dive on prey. So I just followed it around its circle, and sure enough, it dove on the next pass. It dove below the tree line and I saw it flying off through the branches but didn't see what it had...

This guy is "King of the Porch". I really like this shot because it just isn't a shot of a lizard. The colors seem to work and my lens did a great job with the background. A lot of people don't realize that the Brown Anole is a different species than the Carolina (Green) Anole (Anolis...

Another of this beautiful moth, but I switched to my 100mm Macro lens. Both of these shots are in the study of "Butterflies and Moths of North America".