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 […]
Category Archives: Nature
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!
Last time we traveled to Merritt Island NWR, I went to some of the usual locations where we’ve seen Florida Scrub Jays in the past. I was about to give up when I decided to try one more very likely spot, the Scrub Ridge Trail. I walked half-way around the 1-mile loop without seeing or […]
I just had the pleasure of spending two lovely and serene days at one of my favorite places, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. . . . As always, I found this to be true: “Photo opportunities are available at every turn of the boardwalk trail”~! “Visitors will find a gentle, pristine wilderness that dates back about 600 […]
Mr. and Mrs. Red-winged Blackbird, above, take turns feeding the nestlings, and chasing off intruders. ‘Females build the nests by winding stringy plant material around several close, upright stems and weaving in a platform of coarse, wet vegetation.’ (All About Birds) Sometimes, as shown here, it is remarkable that the nest is sturdy enough to stay […]
