February 19, 2009
N Florida trip day 1: Alligator Lake mega
Andrew and I took a long weekend to make a road trip down to Florida. Our first port of call was Alligator Lake, Lake City, where after a short walk and some anxious searching, we were able to locate the female Masked Duck which has been wintering at the site (last entry's quizbird). A really cute bird, and in spite of its proximity to the trail, very easy to overlook; over the two hours we were there, the bird never came into the open water and moved a total of about 5m!
A size comparison with American Coot.
A Palm Warbler was hanging out at the Masked Duck viewpoint.
Marsh Rabbit was a mammalian tick - note the tiny ears compared with most bunny spp.
Other posers close to the path included Anhingas...
Green Heron...
... and White Ibis.
While photographing the latter, I heard a large splash from uncomfortably close by, a timely reminder that we were back in gator country.
We celebrated with a slap-up meal washed down with a digestif of Maker's Mark in Gainesville. My semi-sozzled slumber was rudely interrupted at 3am by a loud 'Who-cooks-for-you'! By the time I'd crashed around in the dark looking for a flashlight and out into the hotel garden, the Barred Owl had disappeared, taking the score to Barred Owl 55 - Richard 0. I'm told they're easy to see in my local patch once they have young - I just hope they get breeding really soon!