I always love watching the young Great Blue Herons practice their in-flight navigation skills, and this handsome fellow at Merritt Island NWR was no exception.The Great Blue Heron gazed up at a little tree island, as if to gauge its height in preparation for a landing. All of a sudden, the GBH lifted up and spread his […]
This charmer was seen wading – and posing – at Merritt Island NWR. Of the world’s six species of Spoonbills, the uniquely beautiful Roseate Spoonbill is the only one found in North America – and the only one that is pink! Like many other wading birds, Roseate Spoonbills were victims of the plume hunting trade in the […]
This Great Egret was enjoying a festive first breakfast of 2017 this morning at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge! After one successful foray, he strutted back out full of confidence for another fish course.The water was utterly calm and smooth. The crystal clear surface made for wonderful reflections, and probably made it quite easy for […]
This elegant Great Egret circled overhead and then flew right past me yesterday afternoon. It seems inconceivable that this beautiful bird, along with other egrets, herons and ibises were once “harvested” in order to make fashionable women’s hats! In fact, the Great Egret “a dazzling sight in many a North American wetland” (All About Birds), was hunted almost […]
My husband spotted this beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk enjoying the waning moments of sunlight at the Refuge the other night.The Hawk seemed quite undisturbed by our presence as he gazed down at us from his perch.We enjoyed every moment, as the setting sun continued to cast that wonderful golden glow. Before long, the sun was too low […]
Northern Mockingbirds are well known for their melodious non-stop singing. They are expert mimics of other birds, and are continuously adding to their repertoire of sounds. In fact, male Mockingbirds may learn more than 200 songs over a lifetime (All About Birds).But I caught this lovely Mockingbird just resting quietly on a branch at dusk the other evening, occasionally fluffing […]
Although we knew mid-August in south Texas wouldn’t be the most ideal time for birding (!), we took a 2-day trip from our kids’ home in Houston to Aransas, a remote and wonderful 59,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge along the Gulf of Mexico. Aransas’ bays, fresh and salt water marshes, savannas, sloughs, and woodlands boast 165+ species of wildflowers, scores […]
When I first moved to Florida, I thought surely some of the Blue Jays in our local preserves were actually Scrub Jays – they just looked so much gentler and prettier than Blue Jays in New York! But I was wrong . . . This is a post about the REAL Florida Scrub Jays, and […]
All of sudden, there they were – a flurry of pink as several juvenile Roseate Spoonbills came swooping in, jockeying for the best position as they settled onto the pond.The population of these magnificent birds was greatly reduced a little over a century ago, when they were hunted for their feathers at the height of […]
Didn’t bring a camera with me last Thursday on a visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, but when my son started taking photos with his iPhone, I realized I ought to be doing the same! Below are a few iPhone 6 images we took at this wonderful place, which my daughter introduced me to a […]
Birder's Journey 