Wild Turkeys
Along SH192, before our turn onto Joe Overstreet Road

Wild Turkeys

Loggerhead Shrike
On a power line along Joe Overstreet Road

American Kestrel
Along Joe Overstreet Road

American Kestrel

Coming into Joe Overstreet Landing

Joe Overstreet Landing

Marshy area north of the landing

Adult Bald Eagle
Soaring over Lake Kissimmee soon after we arrived

Immature Purple Gallinule

Great Blue Heron
Near viewing deck at Joe Overstreet Landing

One of many Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warblers

Bald Eagle

Jan
At the end of the long pier, to get a closer photo of birds

Jan
At Joe Overstreet Landing

Jan
Photographing a Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Glossy Ibis
Feeding in the marshy area north of the landing

Male Boat-tailed Grackle and Great Egret

Ring-billed Gulls

Tricolored Heron

White Ibis

White Ibis

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron

Male Boat-tailed Grackle

Female Boat-tailed Grackle

Female Boat-tailed Grackle

Male Boat-tailed Grackle

White Ibis

Great Blue Heron

One of many Palm Warblers

Palm Warbler

Double-crested Cormorant
At a nest on a sign in the water

Forster's Tern

Forster's Tern

Ring-billed Gull

Anhinga

Anhinga
On another sign in the water

Jan and Mary

Field of lavender-colored wildflowers along Joe Overstreet Road

As we came into St Cloud, we spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes at a park pond and stopped to photograph them.

Sandhill Cranes at a park pond in St Cloud

After a nice lunch at Rodeo Diner in St Cloud with Jan's cousin Mitzi, we drove to Mead Botanical Gardens in Orlando. I heard this male Red-shouldered Hawk calling from a tree above me.

Then I heard this female responding.

She must have sounded welcoming, because the male flew over to her.

And then...

...followed by a tender moment.

The gardens had an outdoor art exhibit of pieces created by young people using found and recycled objects. Mary documented their work. The wings were made from painted plastic water bottles stuck in a chain link fence.

Mary speculated this series of window frames was a permanent exhibit.

Flamingo made from painted, cut up pieces of water bottles. (He had rubber gloves for feet).

Turtle made from layers of plywood, stones and plastic spoons glued together

Cranes made from aluminum drink cans. These cranes were Mary's favorites.

Butterfly made by gluing colored disks on a board

Fish made of boards, chicken wire and painted pieces of plastic

Alligator in apron

Manatee made from plywood pieces trimmed with metal stripping

Cypress tree knees

Puffer fish with spines made from golf tees

This piece looked like a Jackson Pollock canvas that had been cut in strips and threaded through the chain link fence.

Brown Anole

Jan, Steve - each with a different perspective.

Then Mary got lost in a pictorial meditation on this Stickpea bush (Genus Calliandra).

One of the reasons we went to the botanical gardens was to see this reported Barred Owl.

The Barred Owl was resting in the shade of the palm tree.

Barred Owl

Back view of the Barred Owl

We decided to check back on the owl later and went in search of other birds, like this Tricolored Heron, sitting on a snag over a pond.

Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler
with a caterpillar

Female Painted Bunting

Carolina Wren

Little Blue Heron

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Back to the Barred Owl.
One eye open.

Barred Owl

Female (background) and male (foreground) Wood Ducks
Jan had said Wood Ducks had been seen at the botanical gardens and we finally found a pair late in the day.

Female and male Wood Ducks

Female and male Wood Ducks

Female Wood Duck

Female Wood Duck

Male Wood Duck

Male and female Wood Ducks

White Ibis

Northern Mockingbird

Tricolored Heron

Great Egret
After leaving the botanical gardens, we drove to the Kraft Azalea Gardens, where Great Egrets and Anhingas were nesting in neighborhood and park trees.

A pair of Great Egrets nesting

Great Egret

Great Egret bringing another stick for the construction as its mate arranges the nest

Nest-building Great Egrets

Great Egrets at their nest

Anhingas were also nesting in the trees.

Certain trees seemed to be prime real estate, with many birds nesting in a single tree.

Great Egrets

Great Egrets

Great Egrets

This Great Egret was going to great lengths to choose the right moss for its nest.

Late day light on the trees with Spanish moss at the Kraft Azalea Gardens

Cormorants and ibis roosting in cypress trees in the lake at sunset. The shadows of the trees made them look like they were standing up out of the water.