Busy Great Blues

The Viera Wetlands is the place to be right now if you enjoy watching Great Blues carrying out mating rituals! There are nests atop palms scattered throughout the wetlands. The most popular area has a cluster of 8 palms with four of them currently under construction with nests.

The Great Blues come and go frequently. They take off to near by berms to search for just the right stick for their partner. Mates can be eagerly waiting for the arrival of a "gift", usually a stick or twig.

Some pairs were repeating the gift giving over and over...

Some pairs seemed to be just adjusting to the awkwardness of sharing such close quarters with another heron. 

And for this pair, the bonding seemed to be off to a rough start.

A nosy neighbor checks in on the squabbling pair.

Some pairs already appear to be incubating eggs. With the incubation period being 25-30 days, maybe we will see some offspring soon!

Viera Wetlands & Click Ponds

I spend a few hours exploring the Viera Wetlands and adjacent ponds this past weekend. It was fun to see such a great variety of species!

This Red-bellied Woodpecker was hanging around the entrance of the ponds. It made its way up a Sabal Palmetto palm to snack on the small black berries produced by the tree.

If you look carefully you can see the (usually difficult to see) red patch on this male's lower belly.

Across the way from the way from the WP, this Mockingbird was enjoying some berries from the invasive Brazilian Pepper trees.

Palm Warbler were everywhere.

This Swamp Sparrow was hanging in the reeds near the water.

I saw at least 10 Eastern Phoebes, such cute little fellas!

This shrike was resting on a post near the road and didn't seem to mind the passing traffic.

There were a TON of ducks hanging out in the low waters of the ponds. Green-winged Teals were by far the largest group, but there were also Northern Shovelers, Lesser Scaups, Blue-winged Teals, a Canvasback, and I'm sure a few other species I missed.

The quiet, calm scene quickly changed to this...

...when this Northern Harrier made a pass over head.

A group of 10 American Avocets came in for a landing.

This American Bittern was on the move. It was nice to have a different view of one as I usually just see them hiding in the reeds.

Weekend at the Wetlands

I was able to spend a little bit of time enjoying the wetlands and ponds over the past few days.

I didn't notice the very faint double rainbow until I uploaded my photos.

Yellow Warbler

I saw several species of warblers taking cover under the thick underbrush in the northeast corner of the Click Ponds. I saw this bright Yellow Warbler, a beautiful male Redstart, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, lots of Palm Warblers and a Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Palm Warbler

Tricolored Heron

juvenile Little Blue Heron

I was surprised to see half a dozen White Pelicans visiting already. They were foraging alongside a few Wood Storks.

Wood Storks & White Pelicans

There are still quite a few species of dragonflies at the ponds. This pair of Common Green Darners was mating. 

Common Green Darners
Anax junius

Eastern Pondhawk
Erythemis simplicicollis

Halloween Pennant
Celithemis eponina

Happy weekend:)

Viera Wetlands 4/27/13

I made an early morning trip to the Viera Wetlands and adjacent "Click" Ponds this morning. This Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a sign along the narrow road leading into the wetlands. I thought it would take flight as I made my way through the entrance but instead it just glared at me. Maybe it was trying to figure out how to hang me on the fence as it does its other prey.

There are still a handful of active Great Blue Herons at the wetlands. This heron was spending its Saturday morning doing what many of us do, making home repairs. This heron had two young chicks that appeared to be less than 2 weeks old. Mom made multiple trips to some nearby shrubs to gather additional material for the nest.

Across the gravel drive was an active Anhinga nest. This mass of woven sticks was sitting delicately on the side of a palm tree, overhanging the water. The tops of these same palms had earlier in the season been occupied by nesting Great Blues.

I saw four mostly white, fluffy chicks in the nest. Three of them were very active, but I didn't see any movement from the fourth chick. Young Anhinga typically stay in the nest for up to 3 weeks.

In addition to the GBHs and the Anhinga, I also saw a few Green Herons gathering nesting materials. There is also a massive Cattle Egret nesting area at the wetlands. The air space in that area is quite congested with Egrets coming and going as they gather materials. Grackles can also be add to the nesting list. The crows were causing a disruption among the Grackles this morning. I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted eggs for breakfast...

 Black-necked Stilts are still hanging around the ponds and wetlands. I just love to see these long-legged beauties!

Hope you have a great week!

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.