An Egret feeding frenzy.
On your mark, get set, go!
Water ballet!
A meal on the fly.
Gotcha little fish.
Incoming!
This White Pelican did not receive a warm welcome from the Egrets.
I was happy to see him!
Showing posts with label Great Egret. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Egret. Show all posts
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
'"Click" Ponds 11/10/12
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| Great Egret |
I spend a short time at the "Click" Ponds yesterday. It was really quiet. The Redheads and Ring-necked Ducks were still there. The Palm Warblers were plentiful. All the Egrets were busy preening.
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| American Alligator |
While the focusing isn't so good on this photo, I like how you can see the pollen collecting on the bee's back.
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| Zebra Longwing |
There were hundreds of Zebra Longwings fluttering around.
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| Zebra Longwing |
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Randomness
I have fallen a bit behind in blogging these days as things have been quite busy around here. Here are a few photos of what I have managed to squeeze in over the past few weeks...
A beautiful sunrise over the Indian River Friday morning.
An Osprey on a post near my home...what are you lookin' at???
One of the many Red-shouldered Hawks that hang out near my work. I don't usually take my camera to work...I'd be too tempted to go take pictures of the birds...but I did Wednesday as the plane carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour was going to be flying over head. I happened to pick the wrong side of the building to look for it and missed it. Oh well, at least this hawk flew up next to me:)
This was one of the seven Red Knots that were foraging in the surf along the Atlantic when we made a visit to Jetty Park.
Did this Laughing Gull really catch a fish of its own...or did the gull confiscate it from a tern....
While in Lakeland a few weeks ago, I took a sunrise walk at Circle B Reserve. It is such a beautiful place to visit.
While we mostly saw waders and a few hawks, there were plenty of these spiders around. I was glad I didn't accidentally walk into on of these webs!
I saw this young male White-tailed Deer along the side of the road heading out to Moccasin Island on Friday. I'm thinking it might be the same one I saw and posted photos of on 9/8/12 as it was in the same location. Usually by this time of the morning you don't see the deer wandering near this road. I ave to wonder if something may be wrong with this fellow. We stopped a little ways up the road to watch him and take a few photos. He didn't seem to acknowledge our vehicle, but I figured with the first click of the shutter he would take notice, but he didn't seem to hear anything. Out of curiosity, I whistled to see if the deer would respond and it did not.
I know I'm really focused when I'm hungry...maybe that was the case.
Finally when we drove right past him, he looked at us, but did not run. I hope this beautiful boy is okay.
Not much happening at the wetlands. We did have fun watching a pair of Crested Caracara, but I'll save that for my next post.
We found this well hidden Bittern doing its best to blend right in.
Well, this has nothing to do with birds,but...a pair of Donkeys have appeared near our highway exit...we couldn't resist a visit. They are so sweet!!!
Have a great weekend!
A beautiful sunrise over the Indian River Friday morning.
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| Osprey |
An Osprey on a post near my home...what are you lookin' at???
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
One of the many Red-shouldered Hawks that hang out near my work. I don't usually take my camera to work...I'd be too tempted to go take pictures of the birds...but I did Wednesday as the plane carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour was going to be flying over head. I happened to pick the wrong side of the building to look for it and missed it. Oh well, at least this hawk flew up next to me:)
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| Red Knot |
This was one of the seven Red Knots that were foraging in the surf along the Atlantic when we made a visit to Jetty Park.
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| Laughing Gull |
Did this Laughing Gull really catch a fish of its own...or did the gull confiscate it from a tern....
While in Lakeland a few weeks ago, I took a sunrise walk at Circle B Reserve. It is such a beautiful place to visit.
While we mostly saw waders and a few hawks, there were plenty of these spiders around. I was glad I didn't accidentally walk into on of these webs!
I saw this young male White-tailed Deer along the side of the road heading out to Moccasin Island on Friday. I'm thinking it might be the same one I saw and posted photos of on 9/8/12 as it was in the same location. Usually by this time of the morning you don't see the deer wandering near this road. I ave to wonder if something may be wrong with this fellow. We stopped a little ways up the road to watch him and take a few photos. He didn't seem to acknowledge our vehicle, but I figured with the first click of the shutter he would take notice, but he didn't seem to hear anything. Out of curiosity, I whistled to see if the deer would respond and it did not.
I know I'm really focused when I'm hungry...maybe that was the case.
Finally when we drove right past him, he looked at us, but did not run. I hope this beautiful boy is okay.
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| Great Egret |
Not much happening at the wetlands. We did have fun watching a pair of Crested Caracara, but I'll save that for my next post.
 |
| American Bittern |
We found this well hidden Bittern doing its best to blend right in.
Well, this has nothing to do with birds,but...a pair of Donkeys have appeared near our highway exit...we couldn't resist a visit. They are so sweet!!!
Have a great weekend!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Click Ponds 5/19/12
We went to the Click ponds Saturday morning for a short birding adventure. While the majority of birds we saw were wading foragers, there were a hand full Least Terns dipping and diving from up above.
The ponds were heavily populated with Great Egrets as well as Snowy Egrets. There were probably close to a hundred of these egrets combined.
Frogs were definitely the hot item on the menu. The egrets were pulling up large frogs left and right. The Great Egrets were swallowing them as fast as they were catching them, while the Snowy Egrets took a little more time to enjoy their delicacy.
This Snowy Egret couldn't catch a break and was the subject of multiple harassments. Initially, a Great Egret tried to snatch its frog, then a Crow chased him around for several minutes.
The Snowy Egret finally settled back down and the third time was a charm!
The most exciting encounter of the day was this Least Bittern! While I occasionally stumble upon American Bitterns here, this was my first sighting of the Least. There were a few Black-crowned Night Herons around as well but I didn't manage to snag a photo of one.
This young Mocker was quite intrigued by a nearby dragonfly.
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| Least Tern |
The ponds were heavily populated with Great Egrets as well as Snowy Egrets. There were probably close to a hundred of these egrets combined.
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| Great Egret |
Frogs were definitely the hot item on the menu. The egrets were pulling up large frogs left and right. The Great Egrets were swallowing them as fast as they were catching them, while the Snowy Egrets took a little more time to enjoy their delicacy.
This Snowy Egret couldn't catch a break and was the subject of multiple harassments. Initially, a Great Egret tried to snatch its frog, then a Crow chased him around for several minutes.
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| Snowy Egret |
The Snowy Egret finally settled back down and the third time was a charm!
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| Least Bittern |
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| juvenile Northern Mockingbird |
This young Mocker was quite intrigued by a nearby dragonfly.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
I finally had a chance to visit the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge last week. It's located on the barrier island of Sanibel, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. I've really wanted to visit here for quite some time and was not disappointed. I was only able to visit one day and was lucky to have great weather that day! I made two trips through the Wildlife Drive, one early morning and one at low tide, which is reported to be the best time to visit. The crowds were quite large at low tide, so the early morning visit was much more enjoyable.
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| Great Egret JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge |
This Great Egret decided to start early on his New Year's resolution to eat less.
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| Immature Little Blue Heron JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge |
This immature Little Blue Heron was hoping to do better than the Great Egret.
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| Little Blue Heron JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge |
This nicely hued fellow was fishing right next to his nonhued immature buddy.
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| Osprey JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge |
The Osprey appeared to have really enjoyed his catch of the day. Good to the last bite!
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| White Pelicans JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge |
Apparently personal space is an issue with this White Pelican.
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| Double Crested Cormorant JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge |
Through the crystal clear, shallow water I was actually able to watch this Cormorant swim underwater. Pretty cool.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Birding at the Inlet
Sebastian Inlet State Park is great place to experience some of Florida's finest birds. I was definitely not disappointed on this week's camping trip the inlet. The park is located along A1A south of Melbourne Beach, Florida, nestled between the Indian River and the shore of the Atlantic. The Inlet is most well-known for its premier surfing and fishing, but offers an extensive variety of activities.
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| Juvenile Brown Pelican Sebastian Inlet State Park |
Pelicans, a very common Florida bird, are quite plentiful here.They frequently can be found trying to make friends with the fishermen. The inlet is definitely the place to be for a front row seat of viewing pelicans in action.
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| Juvenile Brown Pelican Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Brown Pelican Sebastian Inlet State Park |
Heron and Egrets of all sizes, shapes, and colors are also quite plentiful for viewing here.
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| Great Egret Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Reddish Egret Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Great Blue Heron Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Snowy Egret Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Wood Stork Sebastian Inlet State Park |
Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Caspian Terns, and Black Skimmers were noted on this visit. The park has a protected nesting area for shore birds where numerous birds are offered a place safe from human traffic during their spring time nesting season.
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| Ring-billed Gull Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Ring-billed Gull Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Black Skimmers Sebastian Inlet State Park |
Shore birds sighted on this visit included Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, and Sanderlings.The only ducks observed were several Red-breasted Mergansers. Northern Mockingbirds, Black Crows, Grackle, and Mourning Doves were also seen populating the area.
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| Red-breasted Merganser Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Red-breasted Merganser Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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| Sanderling Sebastian Inlet State Park |
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