juvenile purple gallinule | Dina's Wildlife Adventures

It’s fairly rare to see purple gallinules in Pinellas county. Occasionally one pops up in a weird spot but doesn’t stay long. I usually only see them in central Florida, at Circle B Bar Reserve or Lake Parker. Now there seems to be several families living near the dock over the lake at Chesnut Park. They’ve been reported there for several weeks and they have a juvenile with them. They were really close to the dock.

The juvenile doesn’t quite have his bright colors yet.

This squirrel was missing his tail.

Little critters along the dock.

These dogs at the end of the dock looked at me like “We don’t know what they are staring at. Would you play with us?”

image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Our World Tuesday Graphic

The purple gallinules are so much fun to watch. They are like little purple clowns trying to navigate the plants. If they walk out on a stem that can’t hold their weight, they slide down to the end and try to hang on. They stop to check you out for a second and then continue to try to eat the plant. They are pretty scarce until the fall and then there is usually a few families hanging out in the plants close to the trail.

The above is a juvenile purple gallinule that was born early this past spring. He hasn’t quite gotten his bright feathers in yet but he already has those big yellow feet. He was still trying to climb around without falling down.

These were all taken in mid-November at Circle B Bar Reserve.

Saturday's Critters