They grow up so fast.

On July 11, 2016July 12, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Scruffy looking baby egrets. I think these were snowy egrets.

Baby blue herons sticking close together.

Baby anhingas already grown up.

Tiny baby wood stork on the nest.

Baby great egrets in various stages of growing up.

I was watching this almost grown baby great egret exercising his wings. I don’t think he had fledged yet. He kept practicing flapping but never made it off the bush. He was probably gone in another day or so.

It’s fun watching the baby birds grow up in the bushes along the lake at Gatorland. The trip in late May provided babies from all stages of growing up.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

Annual spring fashion show at Gatorland

On June 22, 2016June 7, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Cattle egrets have their flirting makeup on.

The tricolored herons were showing off as well.

The snowy egrets were still in the early flirting stage.

The storks across the lake already had their babies.

This great blue heron was too busy stuffing his face to care about nesting.

I love the way the birds all change colors during the nesting season. Their feathers and faces get brighter. I didn’t make it to Gatorland in Orlando this year until early May. This was my 7th spring to visit the bird rookery there over the alligator lake. The great egrets nest first and most of those babies were already grown. Cattle egrets and snowy egrets were just having their babies. Tricolored herons were sitting on nests but didn’t have any babies yet. It’s always fun to see the birds all interacting together. And yes, I took a ton of pictures that morning so there’s more to come.

Breakfast with Mom

On May 10, 2015May 4, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

These moms go without a thanks or please. Just constant screaming of “Feed Me”. When you first walk on the boardwalk at Gatorland, you can hear the baby birds loudly clacking and it echoes across the lake. Mom’s are busy feeding the babies. I think in the middle pictures, the snack is a frog. The last several pictures, the snack is a lizard. I’m sure it’s a delicacy for them. For us, it would be like eating chocolate cake, except without a tail.

An amazing transformation

On May 9, 2015January 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography13 Comments

This little bird is all the same bird. The one you see hanging around the cow pastures. They eat the bugs that the cows stir up when the cows are eating the grass. They have an amazing transformation during mating season. They get bright color beaks, red eyes and pink legs when they are looking for some action as you see in the first 4 pictures. The bottom 2 pictures I took the same day of cattle egrets that are either done with mating are just getting started. The bottom one still has the pink legs but has lost most of the bright colors in his beak and face. Gatorland was full of cattle egrets in early April. Some were sitting on nests with eggs already. Some were still flirting. They are so much fun to watch. Soon they will all be plain ole white like the one below I took several years ago.

Weekly Top Shot #176

Putting on the “Ritz”

On April 27, 2015April 28, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography19 Comments

Sexy anhinga ready for some fun.

Guarding the nest.

A very young little blue heron. Soon he will lose all of those white feathers and will be all blue.

During mating season, the snowy egrets have a pink beak and orange feet.

What a beautiful face.

Great egret’s gotta itch.

Showing off for the ladies.

A male anhinga showing off.

A cormorant sleeping on the nest. He was high in the tree next to the observation tower. On the top level, I was face to face with the nest.

Snowy egret fly by.

Cormorant nesting tree from across the park.

Faces from my trip to Gatorland in Orlando to see the baby birds. The adult birds all have their mating feathers on. Lots of colors during nesting season.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

White fuzz balls everywhere.

On April 22, 2015April 18, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

The main reason to go to Gatorland in Orlando is the babies. In the spring, wild birds come to raise their babies in the mangroves along the lake full of gators. The gators keep the raccoons and snakes away. I wonder if there is safety in numbers there. With all of the babies, I’ve never seen a hawk cruising around looking for a snack. I guess because there are so many adult birds in a concentrated area to fight off attackers. All of the above are great egret babies. The last picture above is probably the oldest ones. Maybe a month old.

The above 3 are of a snowy egret family.These babies are just a few days old.

Thrown in to the mix of all of the different white birds was a baby grackle.

I took a ga-zillion pictures on this trip. So many fun things to see. I’ll be posting a lot about this trip.

Last trip to Gatorland for 2014

On July 14, 2014July 15, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography15 Comments

Yummy snack!

This great egret was gulping down the crawfish.

This picture was taken on the 3rd floor of the observation tower. There’s a tall tree right up against the tower. The cormorants and anhingas nest in the upper branches and the snowy egrets nest in the bottom branches. I didn’t see any eggs or babies yet with this couple although the one on the left sleeping could be a juvenile. It’s kind of cool being high up in the trees hanging out with the birds.

A male and female anhinga were either fighting or flirting. Not sure which.

This great egret found a shell in the mud. I’ve only seen these shells on the beach so it’s weird that it was in this lake. I didn’t see him swallow it.

Taking off.

A cattle egret couple were just starting to nest. The one on the left looks grumpy.

They did have a go at it so there should be late eggs coming soon.

Afterwards, they ignored each other.

A male anhinga up in the tree next to the tower.

A very young anhinga that was born months earlier. It hasn’t got any color yet.

These were all taken in late May during my 2nd trip to Gatorland in Orlando. The bird rookery was still full of babies and eggs with a few couples getting a very late start. It was a nice quiet morning with just a few photographers there. Most of the winter crowd had gone. That’s because it was starting to get hot. I got there when the back gate opened at 7:30 am with my early access pass and was gone by 11am. By then all of the birds were napping. That was my last trip until next spring but I did take a ton of pictures.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday Our World Tuesday Graphic

Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

The crazy baby birds at Gatorland.

On July 2, 2014June 20, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

Baby tricolored heron babies hiding in the bushes. These are the fun babies to watch.

Look at those faces! They were screaming for Mom to feed them.

What was this one thinking? He’s thinking “Man, I need some hair gel.”

These two looked bored. Look at those long yellow feet.

The front one is thinking “Save me, please!”

Proud parent trying to sleep. These guys were actually pretty quiet.

Two to three-day old great egrets. I don’t know what Mom was feeding them.

“Come on Mom, we’re hungry”.

This one is about ready to go, or at least he thinks he is. He’s thinking “That’s it. If Dad doesn’t bring home McDonald’s for lunch, I’m outta here.”

On my last visit to Gatorland for the season in late May, the baby tricolored herons were just getting big enough to be funny. They all have that crazy, feathers sticking up everywhere look. They are very animated and even when they are quiet, they have a personality. There were also a few late baby great egrets as well. The season starts to wind down in mid-June. All of the babies start to leave the nests. Then the parents take off until next spring.

More than just gators at Gatorland.

On June 23, 2014June 24, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography14 Comments

“Gimmi a kiss.”

“To the left a little.”

“That hits the spot.”

Gatorland bunny has the run of the place. But he better watch out and not go into any of the alligator exhibits.

Pretty in pink.

“Wassup?”

Sexy emu

Bees were buzzing.

The swamp walk was full of ferns.

New growth.

Getting crispy.

There are lots of other things at Gatorland besides alligators and wild baby birds. They have parrots out in the open hanging out together and playing. Rabbits and wild ducks can go where ever they want. The swamp walk is a boardwalk that goes through a swamp filled with ferns. Red bellied woodpeckers were flying high up in the trees. I get there early to take pictures of the baby birds in the mangroves along the alligator lake but before I leave I take a walk around the rest of the park to see what else I can find.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday Our World Tuesday Graphic

Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

Warning – circle of life picture below – Gators and birds

On June 13, 2012October 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals7 Comments

Juvenile snowy egret sitting on a post.

Two adult snowy egrets fighting in trees. Could be a territorial dispute, or maybe she just has a headache.

Juvenile male cardinal just starting to get his red feathers.

I didn’t see him catch the bird. I heard splashing around in the water and turned around and saw this. An alligator had gotten a bird and other alligators were thinking about trying to steal it from him.

The alligator swam off away from the other alligators but came pretty close to the boardwalk.

This was another alligator I saw just as he was swallowing. You can just barely see one last feather hanging out of his mouth.

On my last trip to Gatorland in Orlando back in mid-May, the alligators were very active. I guess it’s the heat that had finally set in. Mating season is just starting up for them. They are well fed at the park but occasionally the wild birds get too close and the alligators do what they are born to do. This trip I saw it happen twice. It’s sad because those birds could have babies waiting for them to bring back food to the nest. There are hundreds of nest along the boardwalk and across the lake and I’m sure the park doesn’t take roll to see who is missing. They will just let nature take it’s course. These are wild birds that come to nest near the alligators because the alligators keep other predators away such as raccoons and snakes. But there are risks. By now, most of the baby birds have grown up and are leaving the nests so I probably won’t make it back to Gatorland (or as I like to call it “Birdland”) until next spring.