Viera Wetlands 3/18/13

Monday morning I had an early morning training near the Viera Wetlands, so I made a very quick trip over there. Heavy cloud cover stalled the arrival of the morning light, so I had to take what I could get.

The sounds of these early morning calls are unmistakable to anyone who has spent any time around a Limpkin. I came across  the top one first who seemed  to be mimicking a rooster and trying to wake the place up.

Just around the corner, I encountered another Limpkin; this was obviously the recipient of the first Limpkin's calls. She alternated some preening with some calls of her own.

This pair of Caspian Terns was engaging in some early morning squabbling. The tern on the left looked somewhat annoyed by the other terns nagging.

Soon after, the terns took flight and seconds later this Crested Caracara swooped in to retrieve a fish the terns must have left behind.

The tern quickly came back to try and get the fish back.

The Caracara took off and the tern went after it. I was very surprised to see how aggressive the normally docile tern was toward the Caracara as it attempted a midair strike.

Soon I'll be heading to the Texas (El Paso)/New Mexico region. Any birding tips for this region would be greatly appreciated!

A Buffle Bath

I went out to the wetlands yesterday, hoping to see the lone male Bufflehead that has been around the past few days. I spotted him in middle of the southern end of cell 2. We observed him for a little over half an hour. The Bufflehead mostly went about his business, foraging alone, but occasionally tagged along with a nearby group of Hooded Mergansers.

Bufflehead

Watching the Bufflehead preen was amusing. He rolled on to his side and swam in circles as he cleaned his feathers.

Bufflehead & Hooded Merganser

Bufflehead

The Great Blue Herons are hard at work these days. The females are perched upon their chosen Palm Trees.

Great Blue Heron

The males are gathering materials to construct their nests.

This Limpkin was searching for apple snails.

Limpkin

This scene made me smile. Coots are very common and numerous this time of the year at the wetlands. This was the first time though, that I saw a Coot eating off the back of a turtle! The turtle didn't seem to mind the free cleaning.

Eastern Phoebes are also common this time of year.

Eastern Phoebe

Ruddy Duck

Red-tailed Hawk

I saw this young Red-tailed Hawk on a light post near the wetlands.

Viera Wetlands 5/11/12

We look a long, early morning walk at the Viera Wetlands Friday morning. The wetlands were open only to foot traffic, which happens periodically after heavy rain. The heat and humidity had let up and the weather was perfect. We didn't see any new species, but the regulars were out in full force. We made our way over to the Great Blue Heron nesting area first. All six of the original juveniles were  still hanging out in their nests. They are now a little over three months old. The GBH chick that hatched about a month and half ago in a nest across the way was putting on quite a show.

I had a few thoughts while I was watching this guy....what kid doesn't enjoy jumping on the bed (or nest in this case) when mom is not looking, or maybe he was just afraid of a bug he seen crawling in his nest.

This was my favorite move. I was now thinking maybe he had some sort of music playing up there. This reminded me of John Travolta's "Saturday Night Fever" pose.

Well, I never really concluded what this guy was up to, but I did start to worry that he might fall out of the nest if he kept this up as there were some really large gusts of wind blowing through. I felt better later when I saw him settled down safely in his nest.

This tiny turtle was resting right in the road as we approached.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Viera Wetlands

The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are returning in moderate quantities. We saw and heard a few flocks whistling around.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Viera Wetlands

After a long trek around the wetlands, we made our way back to the GBH nesting area, where we were excited to see that 2 of the young Great Blues had made there way down to the water to forage.

Immature Great Blue Heron
Viera Wetlands

While watching this guy, I heard a little rustling in the reeds, only to discover this sweet little one.

Limpkin chick
Viera Wetlands

 Mom and sibling were close by feeding on some tasty Apple Snails. This was a great way to end our visit!

Limpkins
Viera Wetlands

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there, especially the one I admire the most, my mom!

Say What???

I took a mid morning stroll through the wetlands yesterday with my now 2-year old. We didn't cover a very large area, but we did enjoy the interesting birds and behaviors we observed, particularly this pair of terns.

Caspian Terns
Viera Wetlands

Caspian Terns
Viera Wetlands

We came upon these terns as they stood in the road engaging in what appeared to be a heated discussion. These terns produce some interesting loud, harsh croaking sounds.

Amidst the discussion, this tern regurgitated something...

While Caspian Terns are known to provide for their offspring for extended periods, I don't believe that was this tern's intention. Caspian Terns typically feed their young whole fish. Both birds seemed perplexed by the strange object excreted by the tern.

The second tern tried to get a better look.

There was some discussion about what sort of things this tern has been consuming....meatballs???

He decided to plead the fifth...

Blue-winged Teal
Viera Wetlands

The Blue-Winged Teal and Limpkin were both so kind to pose for us.

Limpkin
Viera Wetlands

Northern Mockingbird
Viera Wetlands

The caterpillars don't stand much of a chance against the hungry birds!

Great Blue Herons
Viera Wetlands

This adolescent GBH appeared to be letting mom know it was time for lunch!

Viera Wetlands 03/03/12

Limpkin

I didn't have a lot of time for birding this past weekend, but I did  managed to slip in a few short trips the wetlands and Click Ponds. Here are a few feathered friends I caught up with, and one reptile.

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Male Red-winged Blackbird

Savannah Sparrow

Hooded Merganser

American Alligator

Viera Wetlands 01/29/12

I took a drive through the Viera Wetlands Sunday afternoon. I saw the usual variety of water birds, including Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Limpkins, Anhingas, Cormorants, and Ibises.

Limpkin
Viera Wetlands

Digging down as  far as its neck would go, this Limkin brought up and consumed 4 snails in the 15 minutes I was watching. Limpkins feed almost exclusively on Apple Snails. I didn't get any decent photos of the Limpkin with a snail.

Immature White Ibis
Viera Wetlands

This immature White Ibis was foraging for bugs in the grass. The wetlands is home to numerous White and Glossy Ibis.

Anhinga
Viera Wetlands

The Anhingas are beginning to nest at the wetlands. This one is displaying its breeding plumage.

Northern Shoveler
Viera Wetlands

There were several Northern Shovelers present, as well as Blue-winged Teals, and Hooded Mergansers. There are also thousands of American Coots making the wetlands their home right now.

Great Blue Heron
Viera Wetlands

Looks like I wasn't the only one tidying up the house on Sunday! I saw 4 pairs of Great Blue Herons currently nesting.