The Strike of a Shrike

I arrived at the entrance of the Click Ponds near the Viera Wetlands just as this Loggerhead Shrike did with a scrumptious meal. From the car, I was able to snap a few photos of the shrike as it wasted no time impaling its prey on one the fence's sharp barbs. Shrikes are known to use sharp objects to hold the prey they have captured. Shrikes do not have strong enough feet to hold the sizable prey they capture, therefore they hang it somewhere so they can consume it.

I didn't stick  a round to watch the shrike eat the grasshopper as it took notice of me...

I did notice that this shrike appeared some sort of fungus or injury on its bill.

More Black....

Well, more black skies that is, if you live in this part of Florida. The Sunshine State has definitely not been living up to its name! There has been a tropical storm lingering in the gulf, which is now finally making its way across northern Florida. We have resorted to doing some of our usual activities in the rain....running in the rain, bird watching in the rain, hiking in the rain....We usually start out when there is a brief break in the weather, fooled by the almost decent looking skies. Yesterday, however, seeing black at the Click Ponds turned out to be a good thing! 

Black Tern

We came across 2 Black Terns!!! I have never seen them at the ponds, so I was super excited to get a chance to watch them racing about (in the rain). They didn't come very close, so I only ended up with these poor photos, taken from the car...

Black Tern

About ten minutes later, it was not longer raining and the sun was fighting with the clouds as it attempted to break through.

Common Gallinule family

I also saw this Common Gallinule, which is quite common here, with its brood of seven chicks! The typical familes I've seen here and at the wetlands usually only have 2-3 chicks. Sorry Gallinule, but these are probably the least cute chicks I've seen...

Green Heron

There continues to be a healthy population of active Green Herons feeding on frogs, fish, and even dragonflies.

Green Heron

Queen

There are also very large numbers of dragonflies and butterflies.

Florida Soft Shell Turtle

The wetlands have been closed to cars for the past few weeks so we have been walking, but we usually don't make it too far before the rain returns.

The weather has not been too kind to the migrating seabirds passing by this area. There have been numerous news stories this week about the unusually high numbers of migrating Greater Shearwaters (close to a hundred) that are showing up on the beaches in very poor condition. Even with treatment at the local wildlife hospital, most have not survived. Hopefully the weather will be improving soon!

Black-crowned Night Herons

We headed back to the Click Ponds once again yesterday. If you like herons and egrets, you would not be disappointed at the ponds right now. In addition to the large numbers of Great and Snowy Egrets, there are also numerous Little Blue Herons, juveniles and adults, Least Bitterns, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, and Black-crowned Night Herons. Today I saw three adult and two juvenile BCNHs.

Black-crowned Night Herons are stocky, medium sized herons typically found in wetland habitats. They most often forage for fish, frogs, lizard, and snakes.

Black-crowned Night Herons typically forage at night or early morning, however these BCNHs were out late morning.

This juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron made several passes above us as it searched for a place to land.

A Fabulous Fulvous Surprise

After a trip around the Click Ponds this morning, I decided to make one quick loop through the wetlands. We came across our regular egrets, herons, Grackles, Coots, etc. We saw about a dozen Black-bellied Whistling Ducks occupying the tops of dead Palm trees. As I drove along, a small group of Coots huddled together caught my eye as I noticed one cinnamon colored duck standing out among the crowd.

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

I stopped to get a better look and was surprised to see this lone Fulvous Whistling-Duck, a new life bird for me!

Immature Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Herons are actually pure white their first year, then change to their dark blue, adult plumage. I saw two Little Blues in the process of this transformation at the Click Ponds.

Green Heron 

I also saw 5 Green Herons in various sections of the ponds. This guy was posing nicely; if only the reeds could have cooperated! 

Great Blue Heron

 This Great Blue walked about 5 feet in front of me as I sat in the grass watching the Green Heron.

Green Heron

There is a pumping station at the ponds and the Green Heron tend to congregate beneath the structure. 

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.

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.

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.

Snowy Egret

The Snowy Egret finally settled back down and the third time was a charm!

Least Bittern

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.

juvenile Northern Mockingbird

This young Mocker was quite intrigued by a nearby dragonfly.

The Click Ponds: Part I & II

 Saturday afternoon's dreary and dismal weather was a stark contrast to Monday's sunny, blue skies. I went to the Click Ponds, located adjacent to the wetlands, on both of these days. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary on Saturday, but I did enjoy the variety of birds I was able to see.  I spotted two Common-ground Doves in a tree near the entrance. These doves are a bit more interesting than their Mourning counterparts; they have bright chestnut primaries that are visible when in flight. They are also the smallest of the dove family.  The trees and bushes to the right of the ponds were loads with birds. There were large numbers of Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers and probably quite a few others that I missed. Boat-tailed Grackles and Robins were also abundant throughout the area.

Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird
Click Ponds

I also saw two juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds who appeared to be under the guidance of an adult RWBB.

American Robin
Click Ponds

The visiting Robins were on mission to consume every berry in the area and a Green Heron was fishing from some old pipes.

Green Heron
Click Ponds

While I was sitting in my parked car observing some Hooded Mergansers, a Wilson's Snipe flew right in front of my car. It then proceed to loop around me again, land in the reeds right in front of me, and, strangest of all, just stare at me. This is the second one I've seen in the past week.

Wilson's Snipe
Click Ponds

Monday I spotted this American Bittern who was relatively out in the open, for a Bittern anyway.

American Bittern
Click Ponds

Female Boat-tailed Grackle
Click Ponds

As I was watching some Boat-tailed Grackles dance around I noticed a small Sora hiding in the reeds. This is the first time I have seen one here. I wasn't able to get a decent photo as the Sora was doing its best to stay concealed.

Hiding Sora
Click Ponds

This Palm Warbler appears to be developing its breeding plumage noted by the rufous cap that is developing.

Palm Warbler
Click Ponds

This young Mockingbird was waiting at the exit to wish us farewell.

Northern Mockingbird
Click Ponds

Click Ponds and Viera Wetlands

Sunset
Viera Wetlands
Brevard County, Florida

Enjoyed a short, early evening visit to the Viera Wetlands and Click Ponds this past weekend. Just a few of the regulars...



Great Blue Heron
Viera Wetlands



Looks like nesting time for the Great Blue Herons! The herons can be seen nesting on these palm trees each year.

Drying Anhinga
Viera Wetlands

Green Heron
Click Ponds

Blue-winged Teal Pair
Viera Wetlands

Double-crested Cormorant
Click Ponds

Belted Kingfisher
Viera Wetlands