I made a trip up to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park (an hour north of Tampa) in mid-January. It’s a fun place to walk around and see wild manatees and lots of different Florida wildlife. It’s more of a refuge or home for permanently injured wildlife. A lot of injured pelicans call it home and live on a small island along the river that runs through the park. I was walking on the boardwalk and was surprised to see a baby pelican this early in the season. This pelican couple built a nest right up against the boardwalk so I was trying to get shots of the baby eating in between the slats. Mom had just coughed up a partial eaten fish for the baby and the baby was having a tough time getting it down. The baby couldn’t be more than a day or two old. It was still blue and purple and partially hidden under Mom.

Nearby, other pelicans were mating or sitting on nests.

One last look at the alien looking baby as he was trying to figure out how to gulp that piece of fish down. The area is not enclosed so when the babies here grow up they can freely leave.

White pelicans were also flirting and working on nests.

They are cool looking birds with those blue eyes surrounded by yellow and an orange beak. That horn near the end of the beak is like a fingernail and only grows during breeding season and then falls off.

This pelican had a droopy wing. Many are missing a wing or an eye.

Wild black vultures hang out in the trees above the boardwalk. They come down to steal snacks (bait fish) when the pelicans are being feed. There was a dead vulture on the ground and a pelican was guarding it from the other vultures. He was standing over it and wouldn’t let the vultures get near it. A ranger came and got the dead vulture. It could have been sick (hopefully not bird flu) or died of old age.

I spent the morning at the park and took a lot of pictures so more to come on this trip.