Florida Wildlife..
 

Folks ..Some may like to know what they are looking at while hunting or fishing in Florida..I'd like to start this thread for such folks.

This warbler is a year round resident and likes wet swamps and wet ditches..his song is a witchity witchity witchity.
It's called a Common Yellow Throat. about 3 inches long..hangs low to the ground.

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Most of you are also hearing a bird high up in the tree..which most will never see..it says Zeee Zeee Zeee.
This bird is also a year round warbler..He hangs high most of the time..It's a Parula Warbler..I heard them in Okaloosa as well...If you had binoculars you would be seeing this.about 3 inches long.

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

thats cool...never got into birding too much until i helped do a tour for a couple of days on birding.....i learned alot and i am constantly looking up new birds...saw my first robin of the year today, i have heard them , but i hadn't seen any....i also try to learn a new tree or plant/flower each hunt, before you know it, your knowledge will let you see the woods in a whole new way.....
here's one i took not too too long ago.....

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Neat Huntnma ..I got 2 90 minute videos I made of central FLorida wildlife including the wild flowers and some butterflies..Some of my prized pics are

A real close up of a Least Bittern

2 armadillos nearly breading 5 inches from my boot.

a close up of a 200 pound plus hog scatching his butt on a tree

a rare Hairy Woodpecker..Audubon had to check it out..practically called me a liar so they literally came into my classroom to see it..;)

A ruby throated hummer, prothonatary warbler, hooded warbler, prairie warbler, male indigo bunting
I have many more but they are my best..They are on video though..:(lot's of bass fishing too:)

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Those are some great finds....i try to take pics of the birds, but i seem to only to be able to get the bigger ones....those lil ones are fast, lol......
i really love taking pics of different flowers with bugs on them, lol......here are a few of mine.....
Baby Sandhill

Hawk with a bunny

quail covey

baby(teenage)woodducks....got to watch these grow up, now that was cool.....we have 15 boxes that we're going to be putting out here in a couple of weeks, so maybe we'll see more of them....

Cattle Egret....


i have a pic of breeding Indio's(snakes) but it will take me all day to find it, lol.....i'll make another post for some of my flower pics, lol.....you started this, lol....i love it, dont want to bore ya though.....

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Butterfly on a passion Flower

bumblebee on a iris

the coolest lil green bug on a thistle

butterflys on a thistle

beetle on a button bush bloom

bee/fly on a duckpotato bloom

skipper on blazing star bloom, i think.....maybe, now looking at the flowers up close, i don't know...

here are a couple of pics that i don't know the id off hand...




you know it might be easier if i posted a link to my photobucket album, lol......here it is.....
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v382/HuntnMa/?start=all

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

AWESOME!!!!! I love it..I wished mine was taken with my digital instead of video...My son did buy me a DVD camera that takes stills..WOW!! Those are awesome pics..I lo vethe quail and Sandhill chick..I go tlots of flowers to .I go tthem from teh Scrub Park in Lakeland.near Highland City..I've got some good pics of Scrub Jays on there..and some nice flowers from the Green Swamp..Deer Tongue, Paint Brush ,Prime Rose Willow,. Swamp Lily , Bachlor Bottons , Pickeral Weed, Green Eyesetc..good stuff man..

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

OK folks..when Decemberis here..watch those wild cherry trees for these. They will hang around the trees for a bout 5 days and then be gone till next year..You often find them in a big flock of robins..I love these yellow tipped birds with black mask..They sit up right like a flycatcher.They travel in flocks between 20 and 50. high pitched chirps..Sounds like baby birds.
The Cedar Waxwing.

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Chuck,

When we go scouting or hunting together you will have to teach me about birds. I really would like to learn. I am off to read you GS post. I want to know how your weekend was.

Huntingnma,

Great photos.

Cheers,
Chris

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Well,

I'm taking pills for hook worms..I got from my garden. About 9 :00 I felt my bowels making an urge..My spot looks decent so I didn't wantto ruin it..I crept down the tree..walked to a field .dug a whole and ....;)tried ot cover my tracks.:D

I went back up and stayed for a while ..heard some heavy breaking of brush once..that was it.

Sunday is family day...so I don't hunt on Sunday..I'm going out tonight after school and will sit till dark and get my stand..WE get alll of next week off. I will speck fish the weekends and sit in my stand Mon- Friday

Birding is nearly impossible without good binoculars..Once my stand is hanging I;ll pack my 10 x 42 Leupolds..Teh best birds are pretty much gone now Chris..TEh migration starts in late Aug and ends in the middle of October..However the following can be seen now.

American Kestral....falcon
Merlin....falcon
Sharp Shinned Hawk...
Cooper's Hawk
Red SHouldered Hawk
Red Tailed Hawk
Eastern Phobe
Swallow Tailed Kite
Robin
later in Dec...Cedar Waxwing ,Gold Finch, Northern Oriole

Warblers for now..
Palm
Yellow Rumped
Pine
Parula
Common Yellow Throat
Praire
Oven bird
yellow Throated Warbler
Black and White Warbler

Other small birds..
Carolina Chickadee
Brown Nuthatch
Bluegray Gnatcatcher
White Eyed Vireo
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher

I heard an Eastern Screech Owl in my stand last Sat..awesome...most here here the Barred Owl ..the Screech is awesome.:)

the thing to learn is what are the foods white tails love to eat the most...and where that food is:D

PS good birding binoculars are 8 x 42
excellent ones are 10 x 42

I find the green ring 10 x 42 Leupolds to be wonderful.Some Walmarts now carry them for about 268.00



.

C7

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

I am thinking if you heard brush breaking it was another hunter.

I hope you get rid of your worms. That doesn't sound like fun. )-:

I have some 8x42 binocolors. Not high end, but they seem to work ok. If I find I get into birding or using my binocolors alot I will get some nicer ones. Do you have a bird ID book that you recommend?

Good luck next week.

Cheers,
Chris

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

I hope you get rid of your worms. That doesn't sound like fun. )-: 18 pills at 112.00 did the job.

I have some 10x42 binocolors.Those are good..when you are looking at warblers and comparing/ contrastingat 40 feet they help. The 10 x 42 narrows your field of view but the image ismagnified more...When i buy birding optics I look to see ifI can make out something at 12 foot.If I can'tI don't buy them. Not high end, but they seem to work ok. If I find I get into birding or using my binocolors alot I will get some nicer ones. Do you have a bird ID book that you recommend? For a first book..I love the Peterson's Guide To Eastern/ Central Birds. All book stores got it. About 20.00 nice size for carrying.

The pro birders carry the Sibley's Guide to Birding. 35.00 I have one.Teh advantage. Some birds change the color of their plumage throughout the 4 seasons.Sibley's has the bird in all 4 seasons..The water colored pictures are not as good as Peterson's ...Also..Sibleys has every bird in the USA.

Example..a goldfinch is not black and yellow like a Peterson shows it right now. They only come to Florida for a couple of weeks in Dec...He is now a light buffish brown colored..So an inexperienced birder would not know he was looking at a gold finch..Many of our warblers are like that as well. A bald eagle doesn't get a white head until his third year..Sibleys show the bird in all of his different plumages.

Good luck next week.
Thanks man..I fish the weekends and hunt the week when there are less hunters..Specks are biting.

Cheers,
Chris

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Chuck,

Wow, that is some good info on birds. I did not know that birds could have four different plumages depending on the season. I will start with the Peterson's Guide book. I will put it on my Christmas list.

I need to figure out a way to keep the racoons out of my bird feeders and fill them back up. I enjoy watching the birds, but feeding racoons got expensive so I stoped filling up the feeders. They just climbed right of my metal pole to the feeder. I think I can make some sort of baffle at the bottom of thepoleto stop them. I just need to get the materials.

Catch a mess of Specks.

Cheers,
Chris

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

Thanks Chris,
I use a tube feeder..much less expensive to feed. The warblers won't come to a feeder..You need to cut an orange in halfand run a nail through a board..This will attract in central Florida..

Yellow Rumped Warblers.
Northern Orioles,
Palm Warblers.
Mockingbirds

;)

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

The elusive Skunkape , native to south florida .

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

nice post man i like it, did you take those pics or did you find em?

RE: Florida Wildlife..
 

I found them...I have 2 Video tapes though full of coverage but can't tranfer them...:(I spent 3 years walkng with Audubon learning all I could.Once I started hunting..they..didn't want me around.