One Little, Two Little, Three Little Warblers
.
For you warbler lovers missing your birdies, here are three warbler species from the past several weeks.
.
Palm Warbler
.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (female)
.
Yellow-throated Warbler
.
Just to show they are enjoying their winter here in Florida and will soon be coming back home to many of you this Spring!
.
.
Wood Stork Foraging Past A Reddish Egret
.
To add to the delightful sighting of my first Reddish Egrets I shared last week, I got the added excitement of watching a Wood Stork foraging towards the egret. Here’s my two favorites from the series of photos I took.
.
Wood Stork and Reddish Egret
.
Staying perfectly still, the Reddish Egret allowed the Wood Stork to stroll behind him without incident.
.
Two Smiles For The Camera!
.
.
The Elusive Green Heron
.
The smaller Green Heron is more elusive than its towering cousins. With its dark colors and stocky bodies, the Green Heron blends in to its surroundings very well.
Can you see the Green Heron in my full frame photo below?
.
Green Heron in a swamp habitat
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
.
I’m sure most of you found it with your eagle eye. If you weren’t sure, the Green Heron is dead center. 🙂
Here’s the above photo cropped below, sharing that pretty little heron.
.
Green Heron
.
Usually you come up on them without knowing, and they flush out in flight. The above and below photos are the only two I could consider to share from the past month, they’ve been that elusive for me.
.
Green Heron in a wetlands habitat
Everglades 10,000 Islands NWR
.
I think because it is such a challenge to find and photograph this heron is why I love it so much!
.
.
Five On The Wing – #3
.
Continuing with my series of five bird species in flight, pulling more of my favorites taken in the past several weeks.
.
Osprey
.
Anhinga
.
White Ibis
.
Great Egret
.
Red-shouldered Hawk
.
If they are going to fly by me and my camera, you can bet I am going to attempt to take their photo! 😊
.
.
Common Gallinules
.
Formerly called the Marsh Hen or Common Moorhen and closely related to moorhen species in the Old World, the Common Gallinule is in the rail family.
.
Common Gallinules
.
Even though it’s long toes have no lobes or webbing, the Common Gallinule can still swim like a duck.
.
Common Gallinule
.
There are a lot of these birds at the 10,000 Islands NWR Marsh Trail. In the morning, no matter who’s there at the refuge, you’ll find these birds there, calling the loudest and almost nonstop.
.
Common Gallinule calling from mangroves
.
They may be loud, but the Common Gallinule is also a shy bird, so its been fun trying to capture them when they popped out from their mangrove hidings. These are my favorite photos from several visits the past month or so.
.
Common Gallinule
.
.
Close Encounter with a Red-shouldered Hawk
.
Just cruising around Everglades City in my birding mobile 😎. In front of me without warning, a Red-shouldered Hawk crossed my path within feet at eye level. I slammed on the brakes, grabbed my camera, and got this full frame shot of it already landed on the tree to my left.
.
Red-shouldered Hawk
.
With our sudden close proximity, the hawk shifted to another branch that had some shading. I backed up slowly, then pulled forward left to better my angle, plus get a little closer. I was so glad to get rid of that harsh afternoon sun!
It was breezy, so I shot a series to try to get the hawk with as little or no sunlight on it from the shading of moving branches.
.
Red-shouldered Hawk
.
Red-shouldered Hawk
.
The hawk was so cooperative, I couldn’t believe it. I was still worried with the lighting, so I backed up slowly again and pulled forward more left and was now sitting face to face, shooting through my golf cart’s opened front window.
.
Red-shouldered Hawk
.
Red-shouldered Hawk
.
“Kissed by the Sun”
.
And with those last shots, I expressed my thanks, backed up slowly, and U-turned away, leaving the hawk to its mission…..and probably wondering, what the heck was that?! 😊
.
.
A Pair of Crested Caracaras
.
My last post ended with me on Cloud 9 from experiencing an awesome photo session with two Reddish Egrets, with the hint of another incredible opportunity of another bird I’ve been looking for, a falcon called a Crested Caracara. (I last photographed it in 2016.)
.
And so, there I was, driving back from the grocery store, when I see perched up in a tree alongside the highway, a pair of Crest Caracaras.
.
Crested Caracaras
.
OMGosh! I had to drive a little further to make a U-turn and went back to them.
.
Crested Caracaras
.
This tropical-looking falcon primarily lives in Central and South America, but some are now residing year-round in southern areas of Florida, Texas, and Arizona.
.
Crested Caracara
.
Crested Caracara
.
The falcons were watching me and suddenly both swooped down to the side of the road in front of me.
.
Crested Caracara with some type of road-kill
.
These falcons act similar to a vulture in having an appetite for carrion. I have a feeling they were watching that road-kill from the tree, then I showed up and threatened them on losing it. (yuk, not me!) They flew down and took off with it, the first one with the piece in its mouth, followed by the second carrying the rest of what looks like a dead snake.
.
Crested Carcara carrying off what looks like a dead snake
.
First the Reddish Egrets, and then the Crested Caracaras! Oh yeah, that Cloud 9 lasted the rest of the day…..
.
.
Reddish Egrets – Adult and Juvenile, What An Incredible Treat!
.
Heading out yesterday early morning for our an essential grocery store run, I grabbed my camera equipment, thinking, well, maybe I’ll just make a quick stop at the 10,000 Islands NWR Marsh Trail while enroute, see what might be out in the wetlands. (It’s hard to pass and not want to stop for a quick look, you know? 😉)
I am so glad I did stop….peering through an opening along the trail, look what I found!
Welcome to my photographed bird lifer list, #219 the Reddish Egret! Not only was there an adult in the beginnings of its breeding plumage, but just further up the trail was also an immature/juvenile.
It was so hard to leave; but I finally did, 45 minutes and 300+ photos later. 😉
It’ll take time to go through all those photos of the prancing, dancing, and feather displays for some future posts. But here’s a few so I can calm down from the excitement of sharing. 😊
Here are three photos sharing the adult Reddish Egret’s beautiful coloring and feather displays.
.
Reddish Egret (adult)
.
Reddish Egret (adult)
.
Reddish Egret (adult)
.
And here’s one of my photos of the juvenile Reddish Egret.
.
Reddish Egret (immature/juvenile)
.
Would you believe I was still walking on Cloud 9 at the grocery store?!
On the way back, I saw another awesome sighting of another bird species I’ve yet to share this winter from Florida. Next post!
.
.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Chasing Breakfast
.
One of the recent mornings I looked for the Cape May Warbler at the Everglades NP Gulf Coast Visitor’s Center, another welcomed treat was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in one of the two Sweet Acacia trees.
.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
.
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was hunting for insects on branches full of thorns. Look at those intense focuses!
.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
.
The bugs are fast, and so isn’t the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher!
.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sees that bug! Do you see it?
.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
.
I love the bonus of flowers and berries in images of birds! 🙂
.
Ibis – White and Glossy Comparison
.
Two of the three Ibis species in North America are seen in Florida, the White Ibis and the Glossy Ibis.
Many times the common White Ibis roam in small flocks and can be very easy to find, including residential communities.
.
White Ibis (adults)
.
White Ibis (adult) in a strand
.
During their first winter, a White Ibis is actually brown above and white below with a streaky brown neck. As they molt into adult plumage, immatures (first summer birds) are splotchy brown and white above as they molt into their white adult plumage.
.
Lone White Ibis (juvenile) visiting our campsite
.
White Ibis (immature molting into adult plumage)
.
White Ibis (adult)
.
Not too easy a sighting is the Glossy Ibis, let alone finding several together at a time. And it is the one of these two Ibis that birders get excited on finding. They are very skittish and remain in hiding most of the time in remote locations.
.
Glossy Ibis
.
The plumage appears dark, almost blackish, at a distance or in poor light.
.
Glossy Ibis
.
At close range and with the lighting hitting just right, you’ll find much of the body is maroonish, with the wing coverts showing metallic green, bronze, and violet tones. During breeding season, all these colors become much more vibrant.
.
Glossy Ibis
.
The next shot was definitely a right place right time moment for me and two other bird photographers when it came around the mangroves and in front of us 100′ away. As soon as it saw us, the Glossy Ibis quickly disappeared back into the mangrove root thicket out of sight for good.
.
Glossy Ibis
.
I couldn’t wait to check the series of that last shot to see if I lucked out and didn’t mess up a sweet encounter!
.
.
Bay Photos by Donna 