A Prairie in the Palms...

That is to say, a Prairie Warbler in the flock of Palm warblers at Boca Ciega today. I wasn't planning to go to BC but decided kind of on the spur of the moment to swing by on my way back from Clearwater. Glad I did as I saw my first yell0w-rumped warlbers of the winter as well as a bunch of palm warblers and this one golden prairie warbler. Not the crispest of shots, and it's cropped quite a lot, but I like it. And it was fun to shoot smaller, flitty birds after spending so much time on the bigger birds recently. I personally think that warblers are among the harder birds to photograph because they tend to feed in heavy brush and high up in trees - and then there is the whole "flitty" thing...

Had a nice long chat with my parents this morning and conference Hubs in from NJ - it's always good to catch up. Mom and Dad are still in Oregon, awaiting some repairs on their condo. Usually by this time, they are long gone, headed for Arizona in their RV. Neither of them is particularly happy to be in the northwest right now with the frigid temps. And, having just enjoyed an 80 F day myself, I can't blame them!

Spent several hours at Sand Key park in Clearwater - it's usually a very birdy spot but today it was all about the butterflies there. I saw my first buckeye in over a year, as well as a couple of new-to-me butterflies. Also had fun watching a big mixed flock of terns on the beach, doing important tern-things. They are such fun to watch and photograph. I posted 11 photos on Flickr, starting here with a pair of grebes and wrapping up with a shot of a shrike devouring a very large dragon. Bad day for the dragon - good day for the shrike.

Missing hubs. Four more sleeps until he is home.

Thank you so very much for all the comments and stars (and hearts) on my little Green Heron yesterday! I've gotten fairly calm about seeing the great blue, little blue, and tri-color herons ... but the night herons and greens still cause my heart to pound. In a good way.

Hope it is a Superlative Sunday...

Debbi