I ventured over to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive yesterday which is somthing I will probably never do on a weekend again. It is a great birding spot that is only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The issue is it is a one lane dirt road and I ended up getting stuck behind someone going 2 miles an hour and stopping every 2 feet. They backed up a good 30 cars behind them. Anyway I did find a few cool things including some Stilts with young and a Lifer Mississippi Kite.
Catching a Least Bittern in the open is always a win. They are very shy.
A little gator and a big gator that was rumbling.
An Osprey preening his feathers atop a telephone pole. I did remove a telephone wire that crossed the tail feathers.
Fulvous Whistling Duck with little one. Mad I didn’t wait long enough for the little one to look up.
Purple Gallinule with baby.
Black-necked Stilt
Calico Little Blue Heron
Black-necked Stilt in flight
Tricolored Heron with tadpole
Black-necked Stilt among the flowers
Florida Softshell Turtle crossing the road.
Florida Softshell Turtle crossing the road.
Baby Black-necked Stilts
Mississippi Kite-a Lifer for me. In Florida, the Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) is a sleek insect eating raptor. They are most commonly spotted breeding in the Florida Panhandle and northern regions of the state during the spring and summer. They spend their winters migrating all the way to South America.
I never knew Florida had such a variety of birds until I saw all of your photos. I always find several birds that are new to me, but they are probably common birds to you. Every new set of photos I find something new and always something unusual and beautiful. I like the photos of the stilts. What a set of legs on those birds. They look like small birds with a pair of long and skinny legs. The calico blue herons are such pretty birds.