Saturday was a foggy, cloudy morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve.  My dad was excited to show me the Hill Myna that has been frequenting the area around the visitor’s center.  Alas, he wasn’t present when we looked for him.  But we had a nice walk around the reserve, up Marsh Rabbit Run and around Eagle Roost.  The wildlife knew it was cloudy and decided to sleep in, but we still got some good shots.

This little Pied-billed Grebe met us at the “Four Corners” intersection of Heron Hideout and Marsh Rabbit Run.  You can see from the water what a gray, icky morning it was.  The grebe didn’t mind.  He was happily diving for fish.

Eastern Phoebes were everywhere. As flycatchers, they like to sit tall on a perch and watch out for insects.  How convenient for photography!

We were surprised to see the lack of ducks and other birds on Wading Bird Way.  I can remember when the waters were covered in American Coots.  This year, the waters were virtually empty.

I’d often stood on Wading Bird Way noticing the tall grasses there, and mentally begging the birds to please hop up and pose on a tall clump.  On Saturday the Savannah Sparrows actually cooperated!  For this image, I was shooting straight into the fogrise as the bird picked apart the grass seeds and ate them.

Then I turned around and saw another sparrow against a better background, but without the mouth full!

A few Double-crested Cormorants perched on the posts sticking out of the water.  Then we spotted an Anhinga swimming around with his prize in his mouth.  This was a small fish compared to the large catfish I usually see Anhingas gulping.  You can really see from this photo why the common name for Anhinga is “snakebird.”

As we headed up Heron Hideout on our way out, the sun finally made an appearance.  It lit the alligator flag plants perfectly, along with the little Palm Warbler hopping on the tops of the leaves…

A Red-shouldered Hawk coughed up something as we said goodbye.  What a face he’s making!

It’s always good to get out to Circle B.  The pesky myna showed up at the nature center later in the afternoon.  Maybe next time I will get to see him!