Ibis and Egret

After our potty break we continued on around the Black Pond Wildlife Drive. The bathrooms are located at about the half-way point, but I would say that most of the best birding opportunities are on the first half. The second half of the drive is drier and better suited perhaps to the black bear and bobcat that live there. However, there is still water and there are birds to be found.

I had hopped out to shoot this adult Little blue heron, one of the lesser seen residents of the marsh, being far out-numbered by the egrets and tri-colored herons. But I was soon distracted by the two birds to my left.


I glanced over and noticed this White ibis probing for insects in the shallows. Following along behind was a Snowy egret.


The egret made no attempt to feed itself, merely followed the ibis as it moved back and forth through the water.




Egrets are also insect eaters, so one could assume it was just waiting for the ibis to stir something up.


Or maybe the egret, who is more of a stalker of its prey, was looking for a new hunting method.


In any case, the egret followed the ibis round and round....


We saw similar behavior at the end of our trip involving two Brown pelicans and some dolphins, but that is for a later post!

Of Egrets and Grackles

After spending some time watching the young Little blue heron chase down lunch, and after realizing that my neck was on fire from the hot Florida sun, I turned to head back to the van. There, on the other side of the road, against a backdrop of a dead palm frond, was this Snowy egret. The composition took my breath away!




I took several shots until the bird moved past the spiky frond.


We made a pit stop at the Cruikshank trail head to use the bathrooms. There were several people seated in the car next to us, and the back driver's side door was open. Perched upon the car next to them, watching intently as they ate their lunch, was this immature Boat-tailed grackle.



I would have found his stare rather unnerving, if it had been my sandwich he was eyeballing!





After I put the camera away he actually hopped onto the top of the open door. I am pretty sure the person in back gave him a bit of bread for his efforts.

Little Blue Gets a Little Lunch

When I saw the immature Little blue heron fishing the shallows near the road I hopped out of the van and quietly set the camera up. It was a fascinating show to watch, as the bird would alternately stand still or run like mad through the water.

(Note: since writing this post I have realized this is not an immature little blue but a non-breeding adult. Immature little blue heron's are white as snow.)



 I was pleasantly surprised when he stopped dead and mantled!



 Herons are known for this behavior though I have only seen it myself a few times and never managed to get a photo of it. There are a few explanations for it. One is that, in warm, shallow water, fish are attracted to shady places to cool down.

In the photo below a Black heron in Bostwana takes this to extremes--

Photo by Gerald Friesen

--our little blue only paused for a moment before rushing on.

 But then he stopped abruptly and did it again! It seemed to me, watching as he tucked his head under his wing, that this was less about providing shade for the fish and more about improving his vision--either reducing the glare on the water, shading his eyes, or both.



 And then he struck--splash!



 I'll be darned if he didn't come up with a fish!



 I cheered quietly--well done!



 The fish wriggled and squirmed while he got it turned around, moved it down his bill, and in a flash, gulped it down.



 Next!

Tri-colored Heron

The silences in the marshes of the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge where vast. No quacking ducks, no peeping coots, no wind, no disturbance. The sky was devoid of clouds and the only ripples on the water were made by the birds as they hunted in the shallows.

A Tri-colored heron plied the marsh, looking for lunch.








Down the road a piece we came upon a Great egret. Interesting how the light has passed through its eye, sending out a spark at the bottom.


And this? This is just absurd.

Heron Yoga

Along the Black Pond Drive we came across this Great blue heron, preening atop a mangrove. I moved around so there were no cars behind him, just in time to get him doing a little heron yoga.

I love the fluffy bits blowing away in this shot.

This one's just because....

Florida Birds Return

Let me start by saying that we had a wonderful trip to Florida last week. The weather was the nicest, most pleasant I've ever experienced there, and we had six consecutive days of it. And then seeing what the weather was doing here in Michigan (cold, cold, and did I mention, it's cold?!?) I really didn't want to come home.

However, I was also looking forward to writing about spring in Michigan, or at least not writing more about Florida for a while. Well...the weather here has not lent itself to growing things, much less to wanting to get outside and see if anything is growing. So back to Florida I go. Not that this is really a hardship.

Our first stop was a return to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. As I had feared, the waters were low and most of the waterfowl were gone. There were still lots of wading birds around, and we spent lots of time enjoying them.


While we watched this diverse group of birds that included a White ibis, a Tri-colored heron, a Snowy egret and a pair of Pied-billed grebes and an unidentified shorebird in the grass, this Snowy egret flew up and strutted past.


The water was like glass, and it seemed as if the bird was standing on a mirror.



Mirror mirror on the wall....


I could have watched for days....

Artwork--"Wave Runners"

I've been a busy girl! Through a head cold and sore throat I managed to get this new piece done after our return from Florida:

"Wave Runners", 5" x 21"

While the images I used for this piece came from last year's Florida trip, I was inspired by this year's trip to get the piece done.

I think that my most favorite thing to do on a beach in Florida is to watch the Sanderlings run in and out with the waves, probing for crustations as the water drains from the beach. I have yet to see one get caught up in a wave, and they rarely even get their feet wet. They speed along the beach, ususally in small groups but sometimes singly, their stout legs a blur. I could watch them for hours. As a matter of fact, I think I have!