Brown Creepers build their nests behind pieces of peeling bark. I found this nest building activity in a local park in the spring of 2021. Getting a good portrait of a Brown Creeper is challenging since they live in dense forests. I finally nailed one good portrait:  I was very lucky that the nest being built was in a very visible location and not too high in the tree. I spent two days watching them bring in material. Both males and females are involved in the construction, but one of them did not have a good sense of scale, bringing in pieces too large to fit into the opening.  The next try was far better: I returned a few weeks later hoping to get a glimpse of the Creepers again and to see a chick, but unfortunately the nest was not successful. It either fell out the bottom of the pealed bark, or it was attacked by a raccoon. At least it was fun watching them build the nest.

I have traveled to Eastern Washington several times just to look for Burrowing Owls. They are tough to see, because they are often in agricultural fields far from the road. The population of owls are declining in many areas due to degradation of habitat. The city of Cape Coral in Florida has made it a policy to protect these birds. They provide the proper habitat all over town, and if you are lucky enough to have the owls nest on your property, you do not have to pay property tax. It is a great incentive for homeowners to protect the birds. I traveled to Cape Coral on my last day in Florida. I was in Eastern Florida the night before, so I had to get up at 3 am in order to get to Cape Coral by sunrise. It was well worth the effort. 

I first went to the public library where I knew of a number of nests. Right off I found 6 or 7 nests. I saw birds in two of the areas, but no chicks. I then walked the neighborhood to scope out other nests. Across the street from the library I found 3 nests. All were occupied, but only one had chicks visible. Apparently there were chicks in one of the other nests, but for some reason they were much more skittish than the first one I found. I spent the next 3 hours watching the chicks. At first I was in the street, not wanting to tresspass on the property, but the homeowner came out and invited me to view the nest from his yard. Thank you Peter!!

The Cape Coral Owls are known to have some highly variable eye color, but the nest I photographed had the usual yellow eyes. When I first arrived, the sun had just risen, so their pupils were fully dilated.  Both the chicks and the adults watched me very closely when I first arrived, but after a while they just ignored me, no longer seeing me as a threat. For most of the time I was there, I saw 3 chicks. Only once or twice were all 4 out of the burrow. I was not entirely sure which was mama and which was papa, but I guessed that this was mama, as she spent a lot of time feeding and grooming the chicks.  The male spent most of his time protecting the chicks from a Northern Mockingbird. This bird was very agressive, attacking the male multiple times while I was there. I am sure the Mockingbird had a nest nearby.  The chicks were just learning to fly. At this point, it was more of a long hop with flapping wings. It was very cute to watch.  I am guessing the chicks were about 3 weeks old. They took frequent naps while I was there. This little one looks like the nap was imminent.  Owl chicks are so entertaining to watch. If I did not have a plane to catch, I would have been there all day. Here are a few more images I captured.  Doing its best Swan immitation.    The chicks were also very watchful for the Mockingbird. They looked up every time the Mockingbird flew by.  Many thanks to the town of Cape Coral for protecting these threatened birds. I am also glad that you have created a tourist attraction so that people like me can come to view these wonderful Owls.   

I saw many new birds on my trip to Florida last week. Most I had heard of before, and very much wanted to see. The Least Bittern, on the other hand, was not something I had heard about, likely because it is very secretive and very hard to see. It is a tiny bird, maybe half the size of a Green Heron. While touring the Wakodahatchee wetlands, I was told to watch out for this tiny bird. I was told that the best way to find it was to look for the dense cluster of photographers. When one is spotted, everyone crushes in to see it. I ended up spotting this bird about 4 or 5 times on this trip. Each time I found it on my own, which was truly amazing to me. It kept appearing wherever I was. I decided that I must have good Least Bittern karma. My first view was right by the boardwalk. He flew in and was foraging in the shallow water.  He slowly stalked for a few minutes, but flew off without catching anything.  The next day I was watching Common Gallinule fighting. I think the kerfuffle flushed the Bittern out of the reeds.  I was thrilled to actually get a shot of the bird in flight.  After landing, he popped up again in the reeds, but surrounded by flowers.  The next day I was visiting a different wetland, also a managed area with boardwalks. It was called Peaceful Waters. Unfortunately, it was landscape maintenance day, so it was far from peaceful there.  This male bird started to sing, so I set up to take video. Unfortunately, the landscaping crew were very close, and very loud. Only once was it quiet enough to hear his call.    This bird is now on the top of my list of favorites. I was completely won over by how many sightings I had of this very secretive bird.