'"Click" Ponds 11/10/12

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.

Snowy Egret 

Black-crowned Night Heron

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.

Zebra Longwing

There were hundreds of Zebra Longwings fluttering around.

Zebra Longwing

Friend or Foe

 Was the turtle showing off or trying to convince the gator to attempt something new.....

Please Obey All Signs

We took a trip out to Moccasin Island today, and it was just one of those days. You know, the kind of day when you feel like someone is always watching you. As we began our ascent up the road we encountered this adult Caracara schooling her young on how to keep the traffic moving.(I assure you I didn't stop to take this photo)

Adult & Juvenile Crested Caracaras

The patrols were definitely out today. We encountered this Red-shouldered Hawk at the next sign along the road.

Red-shouldered Hawk

The hawk initially seemed very serious about enforcing the sign, even gesturing to it to be sure we saw it.

Red-shouldered Hawk

But, the hawk decided to abandoned its post about a minute later to retrieve something of interest.

Next, we came across some cattle that had gone AWOL. They stood in the road for a few minutes, staring at us down, forcing us to ignore the sign and stop. They eventually moved and we continued on.

White-tailed Deer

We came across this handsome young man as he wandered along the road. He took off in bounding leaps as  we drove along, but it wouldn't be the last we saw of him.

Common Ground Doves

These little Common Ground-Doves, along with a handful of others, found the middle of the road to be a wonderful place for a rest.

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallows were everywhere. Many of them were resting along this pretty wire, tired from their daily high paced activity.

Eastern Meadowlark

We arrived at the empty parking area, and decided on a walk up the southern trail. The area surrounding the parking field was full of Eastern Meadowlarks. We didn't end up walking to far as the mosquitoes were really hungry and my son decided stomping in a huge puddle was more fun than going for a walk.

We saw the young deer again as we were leaving. It was about a mile up the road from where we first saw it. Once again it decided not to stick around.

We made a loop around the Click Ponds on our way out. Things were very low key there. We did see nearly a dozen young Green Herons.

And one juvenile Night Heron.

This gator decided it was time for his morning exercise, a few laps around the pond!

Birding Fun

Here is some additional birding fun from last weekend.  This beautiful Fish Crow seemed more than happy to strike a pose.

Fish Crow
Click Ponds

 The Fish Crow is one of two Crows found here in Florida. The Fish Crow is smaller than the American Crow with shorter legs as well as a shorter bill. It also has longer wings and a longer tail.

Fish Crow
Click Ponds

This Tricolored Heron is developing its breeding plumage. During breeding season, the heron's bill becomes  deep blue with a black tip. The heron also displays buff-colored plumes from the back of its head and crimson red legs, which were just developing for this heron.

Tricolored Heron
Click Ponds

Catching a fish and eating it on the go was quite a task for this Cormorant as his fish repeatedly got away from him.

Double-crested Cormorant
Viera Wetlands

Well, this next scene is not really birding fun, it is more like birding terror. I'm happy to report there was no loss of life for any Coot. It sure had me on the edge of my seat, as well as wondering  why over the past few weeks this scene seems to be playing out each time I visit the ponds or wetlands...

The part I found quite strange was, after the gator passed, the Coots began to closely follow gator, all the way to the shore. I would be running, if not flying, the opposite direction...

This group of Coots at the wetlands seemed to be a little more on the concerned side as they conducted an evacuation drill, or maybe there really was a gator on the prowl. Most of the large flock of Coots was lined up wing to wing on the shore.  The Coots often fall prey to the gators here as well as some of the raptors that patrol the wetlands, such as Bald Eagles and Crested Caracara.

American Coots

The Blue-winged Teal found the whole ordeal amusing, but he wasn't getting in the water either!

Blue-winged Teal
Viera Wetlands

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

Life & Death at the Wetlands (contains graphic material)

If you visit the wetlands around dinner time, chances are you may not be the only one with a grumbling stomach. This is also the time when the American Alligators like to eat. You will notice the majority of the Coots and Ducks all gathered on the shore as they also know what time it is. Being opportunistic feeders, Alligators regularly consume Coots and ducks due to the abundant numbers of them at the wetlands.

Without having to move a foot, as I watched the new lives of the Great Blue Heron chicks unfold, I also observed of the end of a life of an American Coot. An alligator happened to bring its dinner ashore where a group of us were standing watching the chicks. Turned out consuming the Coot was going to be a lot of work for this gator, for more reasons than one.

The gator happened to catch a Coot that was much larger than what it was able to swallow. Gators will usually drowned their prey then bring it to the shore to swallow it. Alligators typically swallow their prey whole.

The alligator turned the bird in an attempt to swallow it head first.

The gator was still unable to swallow the prey after several attempts. The gator took frequent breaks, where it was seen breathing hard from the effort it took to try and consume its meal. The gator then tried to reduce the size of the prey. I have never seen this process at such a close distance.

The Gator twisted, flipped, and slammed its prey trying to remove pieces. The Gator will usually eat the pieces it removes, but this Gator left the pieces aside as it was more interested in the body of the bird.

The gator continued to struggle; he worked and rested, and worked and rested for a long period of time. That's when things got even more interesting.

A second, much smaller gator with a very BIG attitude showed up. He walked right up to the larger gator with the intent to steal its meal. The larger gator jumped in the water with its prey, scaring off the smaller gator. The larger gator returned a few minutes later and continued to work; it got really close to getting the Coot down.

But the delinquent, this time with a little more stealth, was back. He got a bit closer this time, but the larger gator took off again. The smaller gator then decided to just eat the leftovers.