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Thursday, February 22, 2018

Another Bobcat encounter

Our south Florida winter has been much more like summer these past few weeks. We walk out in the cool before sunrise but the temperature quickly rises as the sun climbs.

There is sometimes a touch of fog on the lake which quickly burns off:

Fog before sunrise 01-20180215

On February 14 the clouds kept the heat away for a while:

PINE BANK 20180214

In the rookery, the Green Herons are developing longer plumes and their legs are turning red, a sign that they will soon be breeding. The rookery is quite dark and deeply shaded, so my photos are soft:

Green Heron 01-20180215

Green Heron 02-20180215

During the past two weeks there had been as many as 8 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in the rookery, but now, inexplicably I find only one:


 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 3-20150321

The Blue Jays are active and loud:

Blue Jay 2-20180215

Three male American Kestrels defend separate winter hunting territories along my route:

American Kestrel 20180215

On February 19 I was photographing this lakeside Tricolored Heron...

Tricolored Heron 01-20180219

Tricolored Heron 04-20180219

... when a young lady rode up on her bike with a cute and friendly brown dog running alongside. We visited for a moment as I was photographing the heron. Then she biked away.

I continued down the path for a few minutes, when a Bobcat emerged from the high grass on the right side of the gravel road. I took this photo thinking the girl had already moved out of sight down the road:

Bobcat 001-20180219

At first the cat was intent on watching the girl and her dog. I cautiously moved nearer. The girl seemed to have dismounted in order to text or talk on the phone and was oblivious to the presence of the Bobcat, which then saw me:

Bobcat 002 CROP-20180219

The cat walked out into the middle of the road and appeared to be catching the scent of the dog:

Bobcat 003-20180219

Bobcat 004-20180219

The cat watched as the girl got back on her bike and headed away:


Bobcat 008-20180219

Bobcat 007 CROP-20180219

After the biker moved out of sight the cat turned her attention back on me. I think it is a female rather than the bulky male which I photographed earlier this winter in  January and  November:

Bobcat 006 CROP-20180219

Bobcat 009-20180219

Suddenly, she ran back into the high grass:


Bobcat 010-20180219

Although the Bobcat was nearly as large as the dog, it posed no threat to it or to humans. An alley cat or toy dog could be another matter. It probably emerged because it detected the unusual intrusion. Was it just curiosity? Might she have cubs? Several times I have had Bobcats peer out at me from behind as I walked down a trail. 

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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36 comments:

  1. can't beat catching sight of a bobcat...but can't help telling you my fav is the cloudy skyscape :)

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  2. That's a fascinating series of shots. What a story. what a privilege to see this event.

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  3. Wonderful that you had this encounter. I've only seen one bobcat in the desert. The coloration is much lighter and sand-colored than this cat. What a rare treat!

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  4. Stunning nature shots. Great photographic story of the bobcat. All very pleasant to see. Nice work.

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  5. I envy you the encounter with the bobcat. In all my years of wildlife watching I have never seen a bobcat or a lynx. Great story too!

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  6. Phantastic photos! Your camera and your courage must be tremendous!

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  7. what an amazing story you captured with the bobcat!

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  8. Cool. fyi Everyone should consider opposing predator hunting contests, which are growing more popular and widespread and could take away chances of seeing and photographing one of these great cats.

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  9. Amazing! Great pictures! You are a modern day Marlin Perkins. :-)

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  10. Love the green heron. The bobcat encounter was amazing and you captured some wonderful photos! Perhaps she was 'presenting' herself to lead the dog away from her cubs if he came too close? A real beauty!

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  11. Hello Ken, this is an awesome post and beautiful photos. Love the sky and landscape shots. The Bobcat sighting is really cool. I love all the herons and waders. Thanks so much for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  12. I had to stop by today 'cause it's been a while sine you've linked at I'd Rather B Birdin'...thought maybe vacationing or relocating for your summer home...maybe ill.

    Wow! I've only seen a bobcat as road-kill around here. Loved all your birds...jealous you have blue jays!

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  13. Ps...you were linking up as I was visiting

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  14. Marvelous shots! I've seen bobcats but not long enough to take a picture.

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  15. Oh that is amazing! She never knew it was there, and neither did the dog. Had the breeze been from the opposite way the dog might have picked up the scent and given chase which would have been so unfortunate! If that had been me I would be so MAD I'd missed a great photo opportunity....but then YOU would have been in my shots! :-) Great post!

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  16. A great story and wonderful pictures. We have seen bobcats a couple of times in the Pacific Northwest (previous life) but never here in Florida. Probably because we are older (you think?) and don't get out hiking as much, but I'd rather say it is because they aren't in this part of the State (??)..... I worry about off-leash dogs. What if it had chased the bobcat. Even if no carnage resulted it wouldn't be right to disrupt the bobcat's territory.

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  17. Great photos and story. I would love to photograph a bobcat, but they're very elusive here in CT.

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  18. Your photos are awesome. The ones of the birds remind me of Chinese paintings. The bobcat is a cutie. It does seem like the bobcat wanted to distract humans from something, exposing herself like that.

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  19. We have bobcats around here, too. It's something I worry about when I'm out roaming the area with Gus. I don't leash him and I'm afraid he might have a critter encounter. We saw one not far from the house today. Scary! Love your photos!

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  20. In the right place at the right time ... so pleased for you that you enjoyed another bobcat encounter! And the interplay with Girl with Bike and Dog adds depth and humorous interest to the story! Really enjoyed it!

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  21. What a great set of pictures - I really like the bike girl and her dog - adds a real story to the images.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  22. I enjoyed this post so much... I'm following now!

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  23. Wow - the bobcat is amazing. I thought their tails were shorter though. Could it be a hybrid of some sort or just a long-tailed bobcat?

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  24. That's exciting. Are they not dangerous? I thought they were....

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  25. Loved the story alongside the photos of the bobcat.

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  26. What an amazing encounter with the Bobcat!
    Love all the birds, but the Green Heron is the best!

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  27. What a neat adventure. It's so cool to see wildlife. Those are some great shots. The blue jay's brightness really stood out to me.

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  28. Brother....people are totally oblivious to the world around them aren't they? she's lucky it wasn't a Grizzly Bear standing there.... have you check out my bobcats a few posts back on m blog? I got some pics of babies up close ...

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  29. Nice story on the bobcat. The bobcat was my high school mascot so I'm always interested in story about them. Love the herons, you get so many great pics of them.

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  30. There was an interesting post-script to this story. Several days after the Bobcat encounter, I met a neighbor walking a dog which I immediately recognized as the one I saw running along with the lady on the bicycle. I told him about the encounter and asked if it could have been someone in his household. He not only answered "yes" but insisted that I go with him to his home to meet her, which I did. She had not idea that she was being watched by a Bobcat (and incidentally, me, for which I apologized even though she is not identifieable). She was thrilled, looked at the blog on her computer and then couldn't wait to tell her fellow employees about her "adventure."

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