I’m blessed with an abundance of wildlife right in my own back yard.  We’ve been watching these Great Horned owls for weeks now that have taken up residence in a Red Shouldered Hawk nest.  Last year we had hoped the Red Shouldered Hawks would stick around and have some chicks, but the Mockingbirds terrorized them till they left.  Now, we’ve got Great Horned Owls in there and they’re staying!  The pair is really wonderful about working together.  Right now it seems the Mockingbirds are busy with their own nests, so they’re leaving the owls alone.  Alas, another bird is here to terrorize them…the crow.  But, these guys know what to do.  If there are crows near the nest, one will stay on the nest (it’s basically on the nest 24/7, which usually means it’s sitting on eggs) and the other will fly off into another tree and take the brunt of the crows’ wrath so it will leave the nest alone.

I’m hoping for some babies soon!

The nest last year when the hawks were starting to inhabit it:

One of the hawks tries to gather sticks for the nest as a Mockingbird bothers him (see photo on left, the Mockingbird is right behind the hawk):

And now the new resident:

I was finally able to head up to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland this past weekend to meet up with a few flickr friends.  It’s absolutely gorgeous there!  We all had a great time and I got some awesome shots I’m VERY pleased with…especially the Great Horned Owl shots below.

This past Sunday a few of us met up for some photography on Sanibel and Bunche Beach…here’s a few shots for you!

My buddy Gary and I headed out to STA-5 just south of the town of Clewiston, FL for one of their birding tours.  We don’t really stick with the tours, we just go out on our own.   Although it was pretty darn cold and windy (and having to drive through some yucky thick mud on the way to the main gate) we had a great time and saw tons of stuff!