Tag Archives: great blue heron with fish

Yellow flowers and birds

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It was mid-May and I was hoping the yellow flowers were out at Myakka River State Park. Tickseed is the official Florida state wildflower and blooms naturally in central Florida during May. The park is one of the best places to see it blooming. Huge fields of yellow as far as you can see. I was hoping to see some birds as well since migration was still going on.

I ran into some other birders when I first got there and they were heading into the swamp just off the main road to see some barred owls (you could actually see the owls from the road if you knew where to look through the trees). We couldn’t find the adults but the 2 juveniles were easy to spot. They both still had a little baby fuzz on their heads. The oldest was trying to take an early morning nap until the sun hit his face. The younger one in the bottom shot was wide awake and looking around. 

We then found one of the adults. She took off quickly farther into the woods.

The thistle was also blooming.

Some black bellied whistling ducks flew overhead.

There were several limpkins feeding along the bank of the river.

I watched this great blue heron play with his food for 15 minutes before leaving.

I saw a record number for me of alligators on this trip to the park. More on them and the tickseed later.

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Around the house

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We had stacked up the outside chairs next to the hanging plant when we were having the house painted and the squirrel found it really easy to sit there and eat the plant. Half of the purslane plant had been eaten before I realized what was going on and caught him red handed.

This guy visits the backyard occasionally. I call him Notch.

I hadn’t seen a northern parula in a couple of months and then this guy showed up in early August. I was able to get a shot through the window right after it stopped raining.

This young cardinal had caught a lizard.

We had a lot of Carolina wrens in the backyard in early spring when they were nesting and then they disappeared. Then in early August we had a few show up again.

I was out riding my bike with my camera and saw this guy crossing the street. I was able to get a few shots of him with this huge meal before he took off down the creek so I don’t know if he ate it. I would have never thought there were fish that big in the small pond nearby.

Front yard skies in early August.

Inspire Me Monday

More of the same at Circle B Bar Resesrve.

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Red shoulder hawks are everywhere. Soon they’ll be nesting.

Same for the great blue herons.

The usual turtles and gators.

A few white pelicans fly overhead.

Not sure what this is but I think it’s a cocoon of some kind. How did this bug get those sticks so perfect?

The marsh is full of bur marigolds in November and December.

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

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The morning I drove through Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive in late June the lake was full of wading birds. Great egrets, snowy egrets, great blue herons, little blue herons and lots of alligators. But only at the start of the long drive.

While most of the birds were far out on the lake, there wasn’t a lot of them close to the trails.

There were lots of gators close to the trails including the bottom one that I spotted when I got out of my car to take some pictures. At a place like this, I always look around first before snapping. He wasn’t really as close as this seems, I cropped it up. But it still felt close.

The clouds started moving in. There wasn’t a lot of wildlife in this wildlife park on this particular morning.

Above is a pano of one of the side drives that I took just to get away from the traffic. The only thing I saw was the alligator above with his head poking out of the weeds. Even though I was there early on a Friday morning, the main drive was backed up with cars. There are places to pull over every so often but people tend to block the drive instead of pulling off and getting out to walk around. Patience is an extreme virtue at this park especially when it’s a quiet morning and there’s not a lot of wildlife to take pictures of. I spent half the morning answering emails on my phone. I would just park and walk the entire drive but it’s 11 miles one way and you come out at the other side of the lake. So needless to say, this isn’t one of my favorite places although people who live close by and go frequently get a lot of great pictures. It’s more than an hour from my house so I only go once or twice a year.

SkyWatch Friday

Everyone was eating except me.

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Typical awkward teenager, this several month old sandhill crane was so funny to watch. He was trying to be brave and walk off on his own and then go running back to mom.

It looks like this great blue heron bit off more than he could chew but he got it all down. His neck was bulging for a while.

A grackle with a snack.

This night heron was trying to hide in the reeds along the pond but it was hard not to miss those bright red eyes.

It was weird seeing this purple gallinule hanging over the trail. He was eating something on this plant.

These hawks were across the marsh. Looks like they were fighting over a snail.

Breakfast was going on during my walk at Circle B Bar Reserve in mid May.

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Squirrels do it, birds do it…..

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I just happened to be walking down the trail when I saw 2 sandhill cranes walking around. I didn’t think anything of it until one of the cranes started spreading her wings. I thought “Oh well, they’re going to fly away.” but no, they had something else in mind. By now there are hopefully crane babies out there somewhere.

All the other birds were busy eating fish and bugs along the trails.

Great blue heron cruising by.

Busy morning for the birds in mid March at Circle B Bar Reserve.

SkyWatch Friday

“Don’t play with your food” and a broken rule.

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I watched this great blue heron play with this fish for a while. He kept flipping it over, dropping it and then picking it up several times on to flip it again. I was hoping to catch him swallowing it but after I while I gave up.

Even the black bellied whistling ducks that were close by stopped to watch him.

I broke a cardinal rule when out on the trails.  Not paying attention to what’s around you. I saw the heron above with his fish and was moving around trying to get a good shot in between the trees before he swallowed it. After snapping a few pictures, I saw the above out of the corner of my eye. He was inches from my head. He probably wouldn’t have done much damage other than to my mental well-being but I should have looked around first. Their bite on humans is mostly like a bad mosquito bite. The trees along the trails at Circle B Bar Reserve are full of these silk orb weavers. “Look up for spiders and snakes and down for alligators before taking shots.”

Another walk on Alligator Alley

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All lush and green, this was taken in early April before the drought started taking a toll on the marsh.

I did not change the color on this glossy ibis. They were in their breeding feathers and the colors were so deep. When the sun hits them you can really see the patterns.

So many purple gallinules lately. They are so much fun to watch.

One lone baby limpkin. Mom was close by looking for food.

Far out in the marsh, this great egret caught a stick with his fish.

Mom moorhen feeding the baby.

Now that’s lunch! He caught the fish but then moved locations. I caught him right as he was swallowing it.

Early April at Circle B Bar Reserve.

SkyWatch Friday

Cool morning at Circle B Bar Reserve

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The very common palm warbler. They were falling from the sky. I’ll try not to take too many pictures of them this winter, even though they are the most accommodating birds.

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Even though you can’t see his legs in this shot, this is a yellowlegs. He’s a shorebird that should be at the beach. He was all alone in a small marsh.

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Another missed baby black bellied whistling duck opportunity. They were far out in the marsh and getting ready for a nap. They were probably going to stay in that spot for hours.

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I counted six but I think there were more hiding in the reeds.

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Phoebes where everywhere and you could hear that distinct call all over the reserve.

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This common yellowthroat sat still for 20 seconds. Long enough for me to get the above. Then he took off.

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A barred owl was sleeping close to the trail and everyone was stopping to watch him. He would not wake up and he was hidden behind a lot of branches. We kept going down trail and an hour later when we came back, he was still sleeping.

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“This is how I eat my dinner. Bang the fish on the branch so he won’t wiggle when he goes down my throat.”

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Yes, I have a ton of blue-gray gnatcatcher shots. But they are so cute and there were so many of them.

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The great blue heron doesn’t bang his fish before swallowing. He flips it over a few times and swallows it wiggling.

More of the usual stuff from Circle B Bar Reserve. The first weekend in November was perfect. Although we were a little cold starting out. 50 degrees at 8am. I didn’t even take my jacket off until we got in the car at noon.

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