Florida - day one

As always the first morning is greeted with the sounds of unfamiliar birds and I chose a pre-breakfast stroll around the vicinity of our villa situated close to a golf course and area that would undoubtedly harbor birds. This first morning was grey and it had rained in the night but within 50yds of our home I started to collect species not seen before. Bright red Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbird, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, Loggerhead Shrike, Common Ground Dove and a confiding Brown Thrasher started the day off. What was also very apparent was how tame the birds seemed compared with birds at home in the UK. Three Sandhill Cranes walked along the pavement completely undeterred by me trying to creep up to take some photographs. If anything I ended up backing off as my telephoto lens wouldn’t focus that close !