Five On The Wing – #3
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Continuing with my series of five bird species in flight, pulling more of my favorites taken in the past several weeks.
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Osprey
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Anhinga
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White Ibis
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Great Egret
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Red-shouldered Hawk
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If they are going to fly by me and my camera, you can bet I am going to attempt to take their photo! 😊
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Common Gallinules
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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.
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Common Gallinules
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Even though it’s long toes have no lobes or webbing, the Common Gallinule can still swim like a duck.
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Common Gallinule
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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.
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Common Gallinule calling from mangroves
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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.
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Common Gallinule
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Close Encounter with a Red-shouldered Hawk
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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.
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Red-shouldered Hawk
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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.
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Red-shouldered Hawk
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Red-shouldered Hawk
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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.
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Red-shouldered Hawk
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Red-shouldered Hawk
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“Kissed by the Sun”
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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?! 😊
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A Pair of Crested Caracaras
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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.)
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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.
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Crested Caracaras
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OMGosh! I had to drive a little further to make a U-turn and went back to them.
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Crested Caracaras
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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.
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Crested Caracara
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Crested Caracara
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The falcons were watching me and suddenly both swooped down to the side of the road in front of me.
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Crested Caracara with some type of road-kill
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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.
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Crested Carcara carrying off what looks like a dead snake
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First the Reddish Egrets, and then the Crested Caracaras! Oh yeah, that Cloud 9 lasted the rest of the day…..
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Reddish Egrets – Adult and Juvenile, What An Incredible Treat!
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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.
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Reddish Egret (adult)
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Reddish Egret (adult)
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Reddish Egret (adult)
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And here’s one of my photos of the juvenile Reddish Egret.
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Reddish Egret (immature/juvenile)
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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!
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Chasing Breakfast
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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.
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
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The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was hunting for insects on branches full of thorns. Look at those intense focuses!
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
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The bugs are fast, and so isn’t the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher!
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sees that bug! Do you see it?
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
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I love the bonus of flowers and berries in images of birds! 🙂
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Ibis – White and Glossy Comparison
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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.
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White Ibis (adults)
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White Ibis (adult) in a strand
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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.
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Lone White Ibis (juvenile) visiting our campsite
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White Ibis (immature molting into adult plumage)
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White Ibis (adult)
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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.
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Glossy Ibis
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The plumage appears dark, almost blackish, at a distance or in poor light.
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Glossy Ibis
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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.
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Glossy Ibis
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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.
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Glossy Ibis
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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!
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Five On The Wing – #2
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Continuing with my new series of sharing five birds in flight, here are five birds that have some of the largest wingspans in Florida.
They are in order of the smaller to the larger in wingspan, along with their approximate wingspan measurement.
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Wood Stork – 59-71 inches (150-180 cm)
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Osprey – 59-71 inches (150-180 cm)
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Great Blue Heron – 66-79 inches (168-200 cm)
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Brown Pelican – 78-90 inches (198-228 cm)
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American White Pelican – 95-120 inches (241-304 cm)
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Shhhhh……here’s a bonus sixth photo, another one of the Brown Pelican above. That Brown Pelican was coming straight at me on the dock, to get as close as it could to land next to the fishing table, where a guy was standing with equipment, waiting for incoming boat. I just loved the wingspan partially closed.
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Brown Pelican coming in for a dock landing
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More to come in another later Five On The Wing series post!
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Busy, Busy Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
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It’s been about three weeks since I shared the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird enjoying her winter so far in the Hong Kong Orchid trees along The Broadway in Everglades City.
She is still here to my delight, and I hope yours!
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)
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“Peek-A-Boo”
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)
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“Nailing the Back-Arch Competition”
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)
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I overexposed this next image but loved the overall bird framing. So I tried my hand at a black and white process, then with two crops. I couldn’t decide which I loved better so I’m sharing both.
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)
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By golly, we’ve got great news! This pretty gal now has a male friend who is also hanging around the same orchid trees.
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male)
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male)
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male)
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“Look Ma, No Wings”
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male)
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“Going In For The Prize”
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male)
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Maybe there’s more to this winter meet-up between this pair! hehe 😉
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Male Red-bellied Woodpeckers Collecting Berries
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The palm tree berries in Everglades City are ready for the picking, and the male Red-bellied Woodpeckers are collecting them as fast as they can, then stashing them in tree trunk crevices and holes for later consumption for him, the Mrs, and soon to be babies.
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Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) collecting berries
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Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) collecting berries
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Red-bellied Woodpecker on a palm tree trunk peppered with
holes they create to suck out tree sap and also use for food storage
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Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) delivering a berry to the nest
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“A Brief Break”
Male Red-bellied Woodpecker
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These are taken along “The Broadway” where there are lots of Red-bellies and lots of berries. Needless to say, this is pretty awesome entertainment to watch and have fun trying to photograph! 😃
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Bay Photos by Donna 