The Continuing Adventures of Jud

Drove all day over at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: tram, boat, tram tram tram, boat boat boat, tram. Have several good shots and things to share but have to get this up right away- very exciting!

On Pepper Creek, there are two islands, the second of which is named for one of the very large birds that has a very large and old nest on that island in the tallest tree in the park. It is called Osprey Island. The Osprey is a very elegant bird, with a 6 foot wingspan, and they mate for life. The current pair have been using this nest for 20 years that we know about. They usually return in early December, the male first, to repair and improve the nest. The female comes in about two weeks later and inspects his work. If she's happy, they get busy, if she's not, she gives him a 2DO list and comes back every day to check up on him. Once she's happy, they will raise one or two chicks for about 6 months, then take off, on seperate vacations until they come back and do it all over again next year.

Well, it's January already and no sign of the pair. I did spot an osprey high in a tree down near the western dock last week, and today, I again saw him in the same place as I piloted the boat down that last section of the creek. But next run, I didn't see him.


On the return run, my last of the day, I looked high up in that tree for him, but again, no sign- and then way ahead in the air I saw him flying over the creek as he passed from one side to the other. A moment later, he came into view again, and was heading toward the nest! I got very excited, hoping that he was indeed heading for the nest, and alerted my passengers that we may be here at a very special moment.

There is a point on the return trip where we get the best view of the nest on the creek, and as we made that turn, we all watched and though I didn't see any sign of the bird, one of the guests called out that he had caught a glimpse of his head sticking up above the nest. (Osprey nests are very deep.)

As we headed into the last turn that would take us away from Osprey Island, I paused the boat and zoomed my camera and clicked away, hoping my camera could do what my eyes no longer can, and again, one of the passengers assured me he had peaked out as I was clicking. I wouldn't know for sure until I got home and looked at the picture, and there he is!


The Osprey is in the nest!


And here's a link to my Osprey Nest Highlights video from the end of last years nesting season: http://youtu.be/rkDdeX-OBpc

Labels: Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Jud, Osprey, Pepper Creek

On Tuesday 27 May, 2014, with special permission, I spent two hours out on Pepper Creek at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Homosassa Florida. I recorded about two hours of video of the Osprey nest that sits atop a tall pine tree on its namesake island in that creek. This is edited from that video.

This is a 45 minute video: for  impatient, or non-bird-watching folks, I suggest the first and final 5 minutes.

Labels: Bird watching, Florida, Florida Birding Trail, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Osprey, Pepper Creek

It was off and on rain here today in Homosassa. We ran the boats, but the riders on my first run out and first run back were but two.

My first trip out, I carried two ladies from Marseilles, France. One spoke a bit of English, the other, none, and alas, by knowledge of the language is limited to "How are you?" Still, I managed to share a few points of interest along the creek, including this, my favorite view, with the Red Cypress standing alone against the green in the center of the creek.


On the return trip, I passed slowly by the Weeping Bottle Brush tree and grabbed a shot.


The rain picked up a bit on the way back, and these two ladies took cover intermittently under a Pepsi-cola umbrella.


Back at the Visitors' Center dock, I grabbed a shot of the cast of an Alligator Snapping Turtle. There is a live one in the creek that is half again as large as this one. I have seen it once, beneath the surface as I neared the Fishbowl Dock. It is quite a thing! Look for the cast on the wall over the door as you enter the dock.


On my third run, as I stopped for the view of the Osprey nest, currently home to two off-spring, we were lucky enough in our timing to catch one of the adults sitting atop the nest, and if you look closely at the extreme crop, you can see another head, though whether it is the other adult or one of the chicks, I can't say. It has been long enough since I first saw the babies that it could be one of them.



Hope you enjoyed this little review of today's outing.

Labels: Bottle Brush Tree, Florida, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, HSWLSP, Jud, Osprey, Pepper Creek, Rain, Umbrella