On the hunt, and on the run.
Reddish Egrets hunt much different than the other wading birds. They run, kick their feet, and dance around. No standing around for them.
Above is part of the hunt, run after and scare up some fish.
I’m not sure we even had actually entered the marshlands be fore came up on these Cranes. A good omen on how the day would be.
An adult and juvenile ( a colt).
Standing tall, and looking thin.
This one is in his ‘summer suit’ already.
Tricolored Heron.
Bright sun on clear salt water reflected back up on this Ibis.
Here you get an idea of just how colorful they really are.
Glossy Ibis.
Follow the noise, when it’s loud and from different locations there will be great photo ops.
And there were.
The local above was loud, profiling, and either looking for a mate or trouble. But he was not the one I was looking for. He was the one being ‘called out’ by a gator much closer to me. He was just answering the call.
If he wasn’t so worked up and loud I never could have seen him. But he poked his head up out of the marsh and growled. This was the one that seemed to have started all the trouble.
An Alligator ‘profile’ is when they push their head, and tail, into the air and growl. It’s really a deep vibrating drawn out groan.
All the others in the area were answering back. I’m not sure how many but I did manage to photograph three I could spot.
April thru June is mating season and frisky gators are common.
We don’t see Limpkins often so I don’t know too many details about their behavior, flight methods, etc. What I do know is each year is a learning curve. They are always bigger than I remember.
This year I heard them for the first time. Good Grief !!! Loud !!
I heard him long before I spotted his path.
Basically I had a screaming banshee zoom by in low light.
Totally lucky shot.
Here is the entire family, together at dinner time.
Two adults and three young birds. Baby Spoonbills, they are actually cute.
Below two juveniles push to get fed at the same time. Not easy raising chicks like this.
This Roseate Spoonbill was part of a ‘pair’ strolling along a salt marsh.
Most interesting was his friend, it was a Tricolored Heron.
The Tricolor was a little shy, but he still followed behind the Spoonbill like a puppy.
An odd couple.
