The same drizzly morning that I saw my first Smooth-billed Ani, I also photographed my first Snail Kite! These birds have been hard to find in recent years, due to the diminishing Apple Snail population.
Category Archives: Birds
Though I’d heard about local sightings since last year, I’d never seen the Smooth-billed Ani until a recent rainy morning. This unique-looking member of the Cuckoo family is found only in certain parts of south Florida, Central and South America, and the Caribbean (All About Birds). According to the Audubon Society website: “John James Audubon and other early naturalists failed […]
The little Green Heron is undeniably one of the most patient hunters in the wetlands.We often see Green Herons, like this one, sitting on a low branch for the longest time, just watching the water below.When he spots a tasty morsel swimming by, he stretches out his neck – his whole body, really! – and . […]
Gray Catbirds, like this handsome guy perched above, were everywhere. They are unique songbirds in that their song actually sounds more like a mewing cat – really helps in identifying them! I love this very apt description of them from All About Birds : “Catbirds are secretive but energetic, hopping and fluttering from branch to branch . . .”We […]
The smallest member of the falcon family, this handsome little American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) can be found throughout North America and much of South America (Arkive.org).Only about 9-12″ in length, the elegant but fierce little bird of prey feeds mostly on insects, small rodents and amphibians, and small birds. Yet, due to its petite size, the American Kestrel itself sometimes […]
Sometimes the weather doesn’t look great for birding when you set out in the morning. But you just never know what you will see . . .A few minutes into my walk, a fellow birder pointed out that a Roseate Spoonbill had just flown in near the entrance – so I turned back, of course!Right there […]
The other evening, we were lucky enough to watch a Great Horned Owl family high up in the trees at our local Refuge. What a thrill when the adult male Great Horned Owl arrived, landing silently in a tree not far from the nest! “Great Horned Owls are covered in extremely soft feathers that . . . help them fly […]
I recently posted about the heavenly Roseate Spoonbills, and the elusive Florida Scrub Jays we saw at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Now I must include one last post about this natural treasure. We saw Northern Shovelers, Avocets, Greater Yellowlegs, and more – What a visual feast! And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, scores […]
Can we call a bird “genteel”?? This delicate little Snowy Egret at the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Everglades looked so graceful and elegant, in such an unaffected and unpretentious way, that somehow the word genteel came to mind 😉
I had stopped to take a photo of some other birds wading in a roadside pond, when all of a sudden . . . . . . this charming American Bittern suddenly appeared out of nowhere and walked right in front of me on the path.He looked this way and that ;), and then continued on his way, […]
Birder's Journey 