Recent Happenings

The Click Ponds have been the place to be lately. Birds of all shapes and sizes are congregating in large numbers. Sandpipers, Dowitchers, Avocets, Blue-winged Teals, Shovelers, an assortment of herons and egrets, Cranes, Wood Storks, a plethora of Spoonbills, Forster's Terns, White Pelicans....and the list goes on.

The cranes were a little edgy.

This adult Caracara was being summonsed by its offspring.

Dinnertime for an Ibis!

My first sighting of a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Florida. It made a brief two day stopover near the ponds for two days. Unfortunately I didn't manage to capture any decent photos of it.

Lots of foraging Forster's; I forgot how fun it can be to try and photograph these erratic fliers.

This Sandhill Crane was having a bit of an identity crisis!

A few more Spoonbills joined the crowd just before sunset!

Wandering the Wetlands

A pair of Black-necked Stilts had been tending to a nest over the past month at the Viera Wetlands. Last week all four eggs hatched! She was still sitting on the fourth egg the one morning I was there, but it hatched soon after. They are on the other side of the pond, so these images are very heavily cropped. 

Mama Black-necked Stilt & 2 of her chicks

The next day I went back and didn't  see any of the chicks. A little while later, I saw this adult Stilt with a few extra legs!

There are several Mottled Ducks and Mottled families around the wetlands right now.

 This Tricolored Heron was snapping up some breakfast...

...as was this White Ibis!

There are so many species of dragonflies and butterflies every where!

Four Spotted-Pennant

I loved the appearance of eyes on the back of this dragonfly's head.

Spicebush Swallowtail

Not Your Typical...

American Robin.....On Sunday, I saw the normal winter mass of American Robins feeding on the Brazilian Pepper berries at the ponds. As I was scanning the mass, I noticed one particular Robin stood out from the group. It was this leucistic Robin whose very light coloring stood out against the dark leaves. This was the first time I've seen a Robin with this condition.

White Ibis...On Monday morning, the not so typically hued bird sightings continued. I was pulling out of a parking lot, 7-11 of all places, when a brightly colored bird among a group of White Ibis caught my eye. My view was somewhat obstructed and my first thought was what in the world is a Spoonbill doing foraging in the mulch???

I decided to go back and take a closer look. It turned out to be a "Pink" Ibis, a White Ibis with some Scarlet mixed in there somewhere. I had never seen one these before, but it turns out these are seen around Florida from time to time.

The Ibis with the lizard cracked me up. There was actually a little lizard tug-a-war going on between an adult and juvi before I took this photo,  but I didn't have my camera out of the bag yet.

Well, Tuesday came along and it was back to work and back to the normally hued birds!!!

Viera Wetlands 7/27/12

Things seemed to have picked up quite a bit at the wetlands this week. We saw large populations of the regulars as well as a handful of birds we do not see quite so often. The first cell near the entrance was packed with Great Egrets, we counted close to 50, as well as a mix of Wood Storks, Snowy Egrets, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Great Blue, Green, and Little Blue Herons, and Common Gallinules.

Little Blue Heron

This young Wood Stork was relaxing right next to its parents. The juveniles are almost as adorable as their parents:)

Juvenile Wood Stork

I rarely see Black-necked Stilts at the wetlands , but I counted 8 of them today. This one, which I believe is an immature one, was foraging near 2 adults. These shorebirds are quite intriguing looking. They have such delicate features; got to love those super long, thin legs!

Black-necked Stilt

Roseate Spoonbills are occasionally found at the wetlands. This one was enjoying spending some time all alone, away from the other birds.

Roseate Spoonbill

I wonder how hard it is to clean your feathers with a spoon...

This guy then came along with an apparent disregard for the Spoonbills personal space. The White Ibis looked sort of like a lost, confused tourist, as it walked right into the photo and just stood there...

Speaking of Ibis, there are tons of White and Glossy Ibises at the wetlands right now. Other species noted include: Ospreys, Black Vutlures, Cattle Egrets (tons and tons of them), Tricolored Herons, Red-winged Blackbirds, Boat-tailed Grackles, Least Terns, Mottled Ducks, Belted Kingfisher, and lots of American Alligators.

White Ibis

Gulf Fritillary

Crab Fishing

I drove over by the Max Brewer causeway for a few minutes this morning to see if any birds were around. I was of course wishing I had enough time to visit the very near by MINWR, but I didn't today. I found this one lonely White Ibis doing some crab fishing in the shallow river water.

I've observed White Ibises consuming a variety of things, but never a crab.

The Ibis had an interesting technique for consuming the crab.

It spend quite a bit of time crushing and disassembling the crab.

As the Ibis removed the legs of the crab, it would drop them into the water.

The Ibis then dropped the body of the crab into the water and retrieved all the legs.

White Ibis

The White Ibis is a distinctive bird found commonly in Florida. Ibis can be seen here year-round probing in yards or wading in the water.

White Ibis
Rockledge, Fl

 Ibis are tactile feeders; they use their long, down-curved bills to feel for insects, frogs, snails, snakes, and small fish.

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.

Random Birds in the Florida Keys

I had a little bit of time each day to explore a few areas of the Keys for some birds. I visited an area called "Tea Table Relief", as I noted in a few earlier posts, twice, seeing an interesting mix of birds each visit. The birds seen in this area included: Brown Pelicans, a "Great White" Heron, Cormorants, Ospreys, gulls, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black Vultures, Palm Warblers, Magnificent Frigatebirds, a Northern Mockingbird, a Belted Kingfisher, White Ibis, and several European starlings.

Northern Mockingbird
Florida Keys

White Ibis
Florida Keys

European Starling
Florida Keys

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Florida Keys

Palm Warbler
Florida Keys

Palm Warbler
Florida Keys

A visit to the Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park didn't turn up any birds, but there was some really cool fossilized reefs to check out. There are three quarries and several trails that you can explore on your own or they have guided tours. The park is a good place to see migrating songs, but they have all apparently migrated on.

Fossilized Reef
Windley Key

This Warbler was hanging out in a tree at the hotel in Islamorda. I think it is a Prairie Warbler. Poor guy had some large growth on his leg.

Prairie Warbler
Florida Keys

This is where I was hanging out!

Palm Warblers were found at all the places I visited. This one was at Founder's Park.

Palm Warbler
Florida Keys

Another area I made a very quick trip through was "Anne's Beach" located around MM 74. It is a great place to bird watch as it offers a boardwalk through the mangroves that parallels the shore. Here I only saw 2 birds, but migrating songs can be found here at other times of the year. I'm not quite sure what this one is.

White Rumped Sandpiper
Florida Keys