As I stepped out of my car at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge recently, this Red-shouldered Hawk zipped by at eye level out of nowhere, and quickly disappeared into the trees lining the road. At first he stayed hidden, but then he emerged cautiously, peering out as if to get his bearings. The eBird entry […]
Category Archives: Florida
This Limpkin sat clicking away on the railing for a very long time. Only after several minutes did I notice that he appeared to be trying to get the attention of this other Limpkin strolling casually below! But despite his best efforts, he was getting no response She (?) just did NOT seem impressed! 😅 […]
“Every day I walk out into the world / to be dazzled, then to be reflective.” (excerpt from Long Afternoon at the Edge of Little Sister Pond, by Mary Oliver, Owls and Other Fantasies, 2003)
Like so many of our wading birds. “the Tri-colored Heron faces many threats to its population, such as the continued development of wetlands.” (Florida FWC) This fellow is one of the many Tricolored Herons who are fortunate enough to frequent our local constructed wetlands, a win-win for the birds as well as for the visitors […]
Try a little morning yoga in the shade! ☀️🧘🏽♀️
These beautiful Wetlands are home to many of the birds I write about on Birder’s Journey. But they are also a favorite habitat for several species of turtles and fish, American alligators, and mammals such as river otters, the occasional bobcat, and of course, our local Raccoons, like this little family below.☺️ Unlike up north, […]
The charming and photogenic Green Heron is one of my favorite wetland birds. Almost any day of the year, you can see one (or several!) sitting on the boardwalk railing, like this one above, his legs covered with duckweed. Just as common is the sight of Green Herons perched on the Pond Apple branches, popping […]
Rather solitary and secretive, according to Audubon, Yellow-crowned Night Herons are frequently spotted hiding in the Cypress trees surrounding the ‘Alligator Hole’ at our local wetlands at this time of year. Although ‘their range extends inland as far as the Midwest’ U.S.(All About Birds), the Yellow-crowned Night Herons are year-round residents of Florida, nesting and […]
The Great Blue Heron on the left above is a very common sight, of course. We know that Great Blue Herons eat fish and other aquatic life. But when I spotted the GBH on the right, I couldn’t quite tell what he had in his long sharp bill!?🧐 As the Heron lifted up his prey, […]
Somehow I didn’t manage to get any shots of the Black-bellied Whistling Ducklings when they were still fluffy little black and yellow ‘bumblebees’ ☺️ this year. But this week I was delighted to see both the adults and the growing kids – what a treat!
Birder's Journey 