Great Egret Reflections – Swamp Habitat
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Whether it’s birding the wetlands or the swamps, both afford astounding finds. Including reflections!
Here are two photos of a Great Egret reflecting in a swamp in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park.
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Great Egret in a swamp
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Great Egret in a swamp
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Yellow-crowned Night Heron – Juvenile
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A fun post! Scanning the trees, what do you see?
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A juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron hiding amongst the leaves!
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“Peek-A-Boo!”
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Five On The Wire – #1
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As another occasional post, I’m beginning this new five bird species series with the theme of birds perching on those not-so-pretty communication wires.
With 360° views for hunting and resting, we can’t blame the birds for liking them. With a creative composition and catching the light in their eye, birds and wires can prove to be very pretty!
So on with a set of five bird beauties enjoying a swingin’ moment!
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Loggerhead Shrike
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American Kestrel (male)
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Eurasian Collared-Dove
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White Ibis
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Red-shouldered Hawk (juvenile)
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“So many birds sitting around, on a dead wire, a bare branch, a cold ground, a drifting seashore; never realizing the glory in their wings and where it can take them, nor the envy as we look on them.” — Anthony Liccione
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One Little, Two Little, Three Little Warblers
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For you warbler lovers missing your birdies, here are three warbler species from the past several weeks.
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Palm Warbler
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Yellow-rumped Warbler (female)
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Yellow-throated Warbler
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Just to show they are enjoying their winter here in Florida and will soon be coming back home to many of you this Spring!
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Wood Stork Foraging Past A Reddish Egret
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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.
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Wood Stork and Reddish Egret
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Staying perfectly still, the Reddish Egret allowed the Wood Stork to stroll behind him without incident.
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Two Smiles For The Camera!
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The Elusive Green Heron
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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?
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Green Heron in a swamp habitat
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
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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.
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Green Heron
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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.
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Green Heron in a wetlands habitat
Everglades 10,000 Islands NWR
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I think because it is such a challenge to find and photograph this heron is why I love it so much!
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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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