I never really thought of Anhingas as soft and cuddly . . . till I saw this one this morning 😌
Author Archives: Birder's Journey
When I tell visitors to our wetlands that this coy little bird is a Green Heron, they almost always ask why it’s called a Green Heron, since “it isn’t green”. Truthfully, until today, it always appeared quite grayish-blue, chestnut, and white to me, and in the shadows looked even darker. The Smithsonian Birds of Florida […]
This buff-colored juvenile Purple Gallinule with the wet head feathers is enjoying his freshwater environment of pickerelweed and other aquatic vegetation. He’s just beginning to show the Purple Gallinule‘s characteristic blue shield above his beak, and a faint bluish hue is beginning to appear in his wing feathers. Before long our young bird will begin […]
A variety of lovely blooms seen over the HOT summer in some of my favorite places in Florida: Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Green Cay Wetlands, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary . . . . . . and below, two special finds at Staten Island, New York’s wonderful Snug Harbor Botanical Gardens.☀️
Anhingas are often seen diving into ponds and open water, as underwater fishing is their specialty. But this fellow looked a little awkward, leaning WAY over the railing, apparently peering at something tasty among these densely growing emergent plants in very shallow water. We frequently see Anhingas dive into open water, swim around, and then […]
Mid-August to mid-September hasn’t been much of a birding month for me this year. It’s been – and still is – very HOT 🥵 here in Southeast Florida, and the birds don’t seem to like it any more than the humans. But the Double-crested Cormorants are always out and about, no matter what the weather. […]
I remember the lovely morning back in early May when I saw these two fellows. But I lost track of them over the busy birding spring, and just re-discovered them today on a VERY HOT August afternoon 🥵. The sweet bird above is one of the many adorable Great Egret fledglings growing up in our […]
It’s summer in Florida, time for those adorable Black-bellied Whistling Ducklings. Last month I spotted the little fellows above huddling close to Mom (or Dad?) as s/he herded them toward the water. Last week we encountered lots of noisy adult Black-bellied Whistling Ducks circling loudly overhead, and hovering like sentinels as they landed on the […]
We recently encountered this handsome Great Blue Heron fishing off a concrete wall at the Orlando Wetlands. Even though I’ve blogged about Great Blue‘s more than any other species, he was just too good looking to pass up~! I used to think of the Great Blue Heron as THE iconic Florida bird, but later realized […]
As noted on the website of Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, visitors are often surprised to discover a century-old connection between Japan and South Florida. “Yamato Colony was once a small community of Japanese farmers in present-day northern Boca Raton. The story of the Yamato Colony begins with Jo Sakai’s visit to Florida in 1903. Sakai […]
Birder's Journey 