The weather continues to be very mixed with some quite severe showers and weather fronts causing widespread disruption when it occurs.  For example yesterday morning was about the worst weather I have been in period, with a front passing through that wrecked mobile homes and uprooting trees in the state.  Fortunately in our location, it came and went in a matter of minutes and things were soon back to normal but not before a massive amount of water was dumped on the roads. So it goes without saying that yesterday was not a good day for birds or photography.  I was pleased when I woke today to see the sun rising and only a few scattered clouds, however it was very cold by Florida standards with the thermometer only touching 53f.  I knew it was going to be good morning to photograph Ospreys though so I went down to the National Park to see if any were fishing there off the beach.  I sat quietly in the spot where I had seen one the other day  and then, after 20 minutes and out of nowhere, an Osprey was with me and it dived in to the bay but didn't catch anything.

 Then 30 minutes later it was back again and in the same spot and this time I was more prepared and although I didn't successfully photograph the bird in it's dive, when it emerged from the water with a mullet I managed to get my camera locked on to the action.  It was brilliant and I got my best shots of a successful Osprey hunt. When they dive for a fish they extend their talons and enter the water feet first disappearing totally under the splash and then emerging with their catch.

Once it had emerged from the water it flew in front of me and off towards Port Everglades with it's fish. I didn't expect to see any more Ospreys that morning but I was wrong because later on another bird flew nearby carrying a fish and I am quite certain it wasn't the same bird.

 

Least Sandpiper

The other day I had talked about Least Sandpiper and how I had seen a few on the rocks at the end of the beach.  I had then suddenly had a thought and been uncertain because I discovered that Least and Western can be very similar, leg colour being one of the ways to tell them apart.  Least Sandpiper has yellowish legs and I hadn't taken the right amount of notice and couldn't tell from the photographs I had.  I was pleased to see the same small flock of waders again and for certain I could see the leg colour conforming them as Least Sandpiper.

The photograph doesn't  really show the diminutive size of this species.  This is the worlds smallest wading bird, they are  really tiny and a nice bird to see and photograph.  When birds perch on rocks like this with an uncluttered background the results are very photogenic, it doesn't get much better than this.