I've been in Florida 49 years and the only venomous snakes I've seen are the Eastern Coral Snake, at our old house where we lived for 37 years and the Water Moccasins I saw a couple of months ago in the waterway behind our current house. The home where we lived for many years was in an unincorporated semi-rural area of the county and about ten years ago there was a lot of acreage being cleared so the coral snakes and rattlers lost their habitat and slithered down into our neighborhood. A guy across the road from us in our old neighborhood once killed a 6 - 7 foot Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake in their backyard and after the Hurricanes of 2004, my next door neighbor killed a Pygmy Rattlesnake that had taken refuge behind the wood they used to board up their bay window. Once, my 83 year old backyard neighbor (who wasn't afraid of anything!) called me and told me that there was a really pretty red, black and yellow snake in her garage and I should come see it, that it was the prettiest snake she ever saw! She was going to pick it up and take it outside but I told her to stay away from it because it might be a coral snake, so she got the guy across the street to come look and indeed it was a coral snake so he killed it. A couple of weeks after that I was on my hands and knees weeding a garden bed outside my pool area and out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement on the ground and spotted a colorful snake ... it was the black nosed coral snake slithering towards the area where I was working! I jumped up and took off towards the back fence and it slithered into the mulch. Needless to say, I was done working in the yard that day and I swear I was still shaking an hour later! Coral Snakes are really scary, they are often confused with the Scarlet King Snake and the Scarlet Snake and I could never remember the little "ditty" about how to tell them apart; I'd heard some people say to remember "Red touching Yellow, Dangerous Fellow" but then I heard someone else say "Red touching Black, Jump Back Jack" ... it was very confusing trying to figure out what was what so now I always look for the nose, the deadly coral snake has a black nose while the king snakes have orange to reddish or whitish noses. All snakes scare me and I jump whenever I see one, even if it's just the garden variety that I know are good to have around. Snakes just make me very nervous! I had a greenhouse back in the 1970's and sometimes rat snakes or king snakes would get inside. We occasionally see black racers in the yard here ... one startled me last month when I was moving a plant.

Yikes, Snakes give me the creeps. I could use a ~<~*shivvery* ~<~ creepy *~ >~* emoticon here.

I've lived in Florida most of my life, but only lived in this house for 2 years. It borders woods and a lake, so I've now seen that 4ft water moccasin, a baby rat snake, a coral snake on my driveway, and I have a resident black racer under my deck. Snakes scare me to death, but I was just kidding about importing that pretty bird from Brazil. Not that I would even know how to do that

Here are a couple of birds who couldn't hurt a snake -

Carolina Wren (i think) - love these guys! They will build nests right up against your house, so if you're lucky, you can see the babies grow up. I had a nest of them in my screened-in porch one year at my old house



And here's the one that I thought was a yellow-breasted finch, but actually looks more like a Palm Warbler

Really nice photos Ibis! I sure am glad you called the trapper for that moccasin rather than try to get it yourself. Yep, I would be afraid of "under the refrigerator" for forever after that!

I am not afraid of non poisonous snakes. However, I will jump & they will jump when we startle each other. I like the good guys! Moccasins I hate, Coral snakes I hate. The worst problem with Coral snakes is that there is no longer any anti venom in the US for a Coral snake bite. That pretty much ensures you die. I am not fond of rattlers, either pygmy or otherwise. There was a time in my life when I would have killed any poisonous snake I saw but now I don't feel quite so strongly. I think it will depend on *where* the snake is when I see it and what kind of danger it may pose to us or our dog. If it's out in the fields or on the edge of the property or the eastern tree line I will most likely leave it in peace. Any Coral snake however will be meeting it's maker.

Yesterday I got some practice with my new camera. One of our resident Red Shouldered Hawks was in a posing mood.



Ready for take off!


Imitation of an owl


Off we go into the wild blue yonder

Beautiful, Ann! I wonder if there's a setting on your camera to compensate for back-lighting? My good camera has one - doesn't make the pictures perfect but they're better especially when you have that bright, milky looking sky in the background. The lens gathers so much light in telephoto mode.

My hawks have learned not to "pose" for me. When they land around my back yard, they are eyeing my songbirds at the feeder much too hungrily. I get out my toy pellet gun and shoot at them. I've only hit one once, and he just fluffed and flew away so it doesn't hurt them. But I like that I can scare them away. They never go far because my neighbor has trees that they like to nest in.

Didn't get a picture but I had a pretty little woodpecker today that looked like a downy, but it had a bright red blaze on the back of it's head. Would this be a male downy? Or another? It was very small, too. Just a little bit bigger than the sparrows.

Wish my hawks would pose!

Elaine, yes you saw a male Downy.

dyzzypyxxy said:Beautiful, Ann! I wonder if there's a setting on your camera to compensate for back-lighting? My good camera has one - doesn't make the pictures perfect but they're better especially when you have that bright, milky looking sky in the background. The lens gathers so much light in telephoto mode.

Thank you Elaine. Ah ha! A setting to compensate for back lighting. That would be a super thing to have as I have been cursing the strength of this FL sun. Elaine, there must be such a setting but I don't know what it's called nor how to set it yet. I haven't completely read through the instruction booklet yet and half of what I'm reading I don't yet understand. Do you have any guesses what this thing to counter the back lighting would be called in techie terms?
I have so much to learn yet but each time I take photos I learn a little bit. I may not yet know what to do about it but I know what's wrong -- it's something at least. Baby steps.

Ibis, great shot of that cute little Carolina Wren ... I've spotted them the past couple of weeks but can't ever seem to get a picture. Yep, that little yellow one looks like a Palm Warbler!

Ann, Love those Hawk shots! That 4th shot looks like it's coming right at you!

Elaine, yes that little WP you saw sounds like the male downy.

Downy Woodpecker, females


Downy Woodpecker, males

The only bird pictures I got today

Anhinga


Blue Jay

Lin, your pictures are gorgeous and so are the birds!

Lovely pictures, Lin. Yes that looks exactly like the little woodpecker I saw. He made a stab or two at the seed feeder, but ignored the suet altogether . . guess I'd better put out some more mealworms, huh?

Ann, I just keep the instructions for my camera beside my bed, and read it until I fall asleep each night until I've found out what I want to know. Sometimes it takes weeks . . . because I fall asleep really fast when reading camera instructions.

Anhinga looks sleek.
Neat hawk Ann.

We have Blue Racers up here. My grandmother once killed a forest rattler in her garden. She lived in a rural town next to the Illinois River, lots of forests around as well as rocky cliffs. The name of the town is 'Bluffs'...go figure...

Snakes don't bother me either. The only poisonous snake that I have seen in years is a coral snake. It was on my neighbor's front porch by her door. It was mating season and it was trying to strike at her broom. Another neighbor came over and killed it.

I see the pretty red and black rat snakes, indigo black snakes, black racers, and another pretty tan snake (don't know the name). They eat the baby rats that show up in my yard under the bird feeders from time to time. The snakes sniff them out (using their tongues) and follow the trail to their nests. Those snakes are ALWAYS welcome in my yard!

Lin - Love those little downy woodpecker photos! I sure wished I'd see one of those cute little birdies here. I always want to see what I probably won't get at my feeders.

Ibis - Nice photos! I get confused between the warblers and the finches, too!

Ann - Great shots of that hawk!!!

Usually on your camera settings, it will say "Black light" option or setting. You may have to read through your camera manual or just check all the settings. I have it on my camera, but I've never used it.

That's a great idea Elaine to have the manual by the bed & read until you go to sleep. I would surely do that! Unfortunately as is the case with so many things these days, there is no "paper" manual -- it's on the computer grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I could print it out but then it's 50 pages & paper & ink aren't cheap. It might just be worth it though because I tend not to read it as much when I have to read it on the computer. If it's paper in my hands I can read it anytime. I'll mull that one over.

Thanks Becky. I'll see if I can find some wording along those lines.

Cool pictures as always Lin. I like the "fluff" on the Anhinga's neck today.

Wow J, I have never heard of a blue racer. I looked it up & there are other racers I never heard of too such as brownchin racer, yellow-bellied racer, buttermilk racer, tan racer and Mexican racer.
http://animaldiversity.org/acc...
Here's a nice little video on the Blue Racer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

J, I was wrong earlier when I told you to mark your video private. I always get that mixed up! For others to see your video when you provide a link they have to be marked unlisted. I'm sorry about that misinformation -- I can never remember it!

I just changed the last change...went from private to public to unlisted. (Plato video).

Until posted above I'd only known of the Blue Racer, now I know of the Black Racer, plus all those you just listed.

Well, it was cold and cloudy today so I went to the USF Botanical Gardens! It was in the low 60's but the sun was barely visible. The wind was blowing, too so I kept my jacket on the whole time. Now, that we've seen everyone's good bird photos, let's look at my bad ones! I must admit, some came out better than I thought. My camera screen is so scratched up - totally my fault - but it makes it hard to know if I got a good shot.

Okay, the first ones are the worst because I was trying to take them against a very gray sky. Now, this is some kind of woodpecker, but it didn't look like the Red-Bellied I usually see. It was pretty small, although it looks bigger in my photos than I remember. I don't recall being able to see any red on it, either.



I wasn't really seeing many birds until I got near Bird Mecca. There's a section where the trees and shrubs seemed to be placed just right for the birds to hide and fly back and forth from one spot to the other. There's also a birdbath - we'll see that later.

Pretty sure this is one of those Palm Warblers. They seem to travel in groups. And they really do flick their tails constantly!



By the way, feel free to tell me when I'm wrong. I won't steal your acorns! Don't let that "Moderator" tag fool you - I'm still learning birds.

I tried stalking what I think was a Carolina Wren but it was pretty wily.



This Blue Jay was very cooperative. And it used the birdbath! And then it was picking at bugs, I think, on that palm tree.





This male Cardinal was bouncing around on the ground which is why he's blurry.



Palm Warbler again. Let's just say I got my exercise in today. Also, it has a yellow butt!



Is this the same Cardinal? I don't know - I was chasing that Warbler! He looks as blurry as the other one; maybe it is the same one?



Mockingbird?



Now, this looks like a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.



So I saw this small bird and I thought I was chasing a Warbler again. But then I really looked at it - with my eyes, not my camera - and I thought it looked like the Tufted Titmouse you guys have posted on here. I couldn't get great photos, but you can see it has the crest and in the one picture you can see what my book refers to as rust color on the flanks. Let me know what you think. FYI, he switched trees on me which is why the third pic is different.



Same bird as before; I'm just demonstrating what most birds do when they see me.



Except this one. Another Palm Warbler? Doesn't he look like he's saying, "What?! What do you want from me?"



Okay, I "think" this is another Mockingbird. Everyone is all puffed up because it's cold and cloudy, I guess. As you can tell, this one let me get real close. Not very afraid of me. Not sure if I like that.




Female Cardinals are just as blurry as the males. Who knew? This one was in the plant shop and I figured out why when I saw the birdfeeder right by the entrance.



In sad news, someone hit one of the Sandhill Cranes just north of me. It was in the middle of the road but someone dragged it off to the grass. Vultures don't seem to have touched it yet. Also, someone hit a Hawk south of me. I could tell by the wing pattern. What are hawks sitting in the road for? That's the third one I've seen as roadkill in the last year. I've only seen two dead Sandhill Cranes and they're dumber than dirt. They are tall, so you should see them even while driving, but this one was close to an intersection where people drive too fast. Sometimes, I see palm fronds in the road and the way the wind catches them looks like feathers and I was hoping that's all it was but then I saw the body.

First, thanks for the acorns on my Chalice Vine pic, Jack! Second, you'd never heard of a Black Racer? Huh. I guess we take them for granted down here. They're the ones I see most. I once pulled skunk vine and a Black Racer got a little annoyed and slithered away and all I saw was the movement and I jumped backward without managing to break an ankle. Another time, one was in Dad's "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" and I weeded the area for like half an hour before I saw it.

Mom wins the prize though, because she stepped on one walking out to the garage. She has an intense fear of snakes so naturally, she would be the person to step on one. Snake was fine, Mom screamed but was fine. I figure if she didn't have a heart attack then, she's probably fine.

I was weeding once and a Ringneck Snake was in the mulch. They're small, but it still sent me flying back!

The only venomous snake I ever saw was a Cottonmouth (aka Water Moccasin). Mom and I were volunteering for the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. We were picking up trash at one of the parks and we were working our way down the path to the boat dock. So many beer bottles! We even pulled out the tailgate of a truck! Fortunately, as we were working, I was in the lead and so I saw the snake first. It was coiled up, and I didn't know what kind it was but I knew Mom would freak out. So I just quietly said, "Mom, stop and walk back the other way." And once she was a few steps out of reach, I told her why. Then, I took pictures while she warned me not to get too close.

flaflwrgrl said:
Whew! What did your dad do? Did he end up okay? Sick as a dog I bet.

In order.

Shot snake
Wrapped his belt around thigh as tornaquet.
Walked ~ 30 - 40 minutes to his car. (venom, pump,pump,pump with each step)
Drove himself to hospital. Another 30 minutes or so.

Yes - in the first 36 hours he almost died. Was in the hospital for nearly 2 weeks.

No long term ramifications.

Nice pictures, Melanie! I feel like I was right there with you! That Blue Jay obviously liked getting his picture taken. With all of his poses, he looked like he might have done some modeling work before

Okay, I'm going a little off topic but I'm the moderator! Who can stop me!!! I know, Dave could. Trish could!

But to follow up, I knew I had a picture of that snake and here it is. This was 2008 so old, old camera. Before it got dunked in Cockroach Bay. Never canoe with my mother is the lesson there.



I forgot, we also found some tires and a propane tank with that tailgate.



That day was also the first time I saw a Giant Swallowtail lay an egg! Good times!



Okay, continue birding! I have to go post some caterpillar pictures on the other thread. My butterfly folks are getting seasonal affective disorder from lack of butterflies.

Wow Miss Melanie, you've been a busy girl today! The past couple of days have been gray and gloomy over here on the east coast too ... and chilly!

That first little Woodpecker may be a downy, the female doesn't have any red. Yep, those second cuties sure look like the Palm Warbler to me ... they are fast little things, I've seen them flying about in groups like they are chasing each other; playing maybe? The little one you were stalking sure looks like the cute little Carolina Wren to my eyes! Love the Blue Jays and Cardinals. Wonder what that Jay was doing clinging to the side of that Palm tree; after a bug or something? I really like that last Cardinal picture with the yellow leaves in the background, nice color contrast! Yep, Mockingbird and then a male Red-bellied WP. And, yes ... you are doing great, that little one with the crest is the Tufted Titmouse. Those five at the bottom do appear to be a Mockingbird ... maybe a juvenile? The young ones always look a bit chubby and fluffy to me.

So sad about the dead birds, especially the Sand Hill Crane! Yes, they are so tall that you'd think folks could see them and NOT hit them but when people drive so fast I guess they don't have time to take evasive action. Now, knowing me ... I'd cause an accident because I'd swerve to miss the crane! I wonder if perhaps the Hawk was in speedy pursuit after prey and didn't see the car? Or were there perhaps power lines that could have caused it's demise? So sad to hear of any of our beautiful birds getting killed but I guess it's all a part of nature.

Good job Melanie, keep those pictures coming!