More pictures from Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Posted on March 25, 2021 by dinajohnston

I pulled over and got out for these guys. The fulvous whistling ducks are rare here in central Florida. I’ve only seen them here and rarely at Circle B Bar Reserve (although they could also be hiding out in lesser known smaller ponds). Although they are not as pretty as black bellied whistling ducks, they are still pretty fun to watch. A section of the marsh along the drive had a big flock of them and the ducks were busy feeding and chasing each other around. It seemed like everyone wanted to be in someone else’s spot. They were easy to spot, making all of that loud whistling noise.

Along the back side of the drive, things got quiet. Mostly coots and moorhens before you leave the drive. I was out on a rare Friday off so the traffic through the drive wasn’t too bad.

A new bird that looks like an old bird

Posted on March 23, 2021 by dinajohnston

I had heard of the gray headed swamphen that you could find down in south Florida but hadn’t heard until recently that they are moving into central Florida. This bird originates from southeast Asia. The audubon thinks that many escaped captivity from a zoo during Hurricane Andrew years ago. It looks a lot like the purple gallinule but has an all red nose and his legs are pink vs. the yellow legs on a purple gallinule. Two had been seen at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive so I headed over in late December. The pair were easily seen right at the beginning of the drive. I pulled over and jumped out the car and walked over and spent a while watching them. It felt freezing this morning. I had a warm hoody on with sweats but had not brought my gloves since I didn’t think it would be that cold. I finally got back in the car and the temp read 39 degrees on my car. It had gotten colder since driving up from Tampa. What was I thinking?? Not prepared for this cold morning.

I managed to catch one of the swamphens catching a tiny fish. He walked over to the vegetation and ate his breakfast there.

He kept cruising back to the water, running off any other birds in his way including a grackle and a coot.

It was interesting to watch him pull up the vegetation with his foot and then use his foot to eat it. He used both feet to do this. I’m assuming he’s eating the seed pods in the water. The couple were busy feeding for a while. They eventually ventured farther in the reeds and disappeared after an hour of feeding.

The morning did warm up and I was able to get out along the drive to enjoy the beautiful morning out. Just like the comical purple gallinules, the swamphen was fun to watch.

Swamphen on the left and a purple gallinule on the right. Subtle differences are the all red beak (the purple has a light blue spot on his head) and the legs are different colors.

Driving along Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Posted on March 8, 2021 by dinajohnston

A green heron was all alone with his reflection.

Some of the wintering ducks at the wildlife drive include a blue winged teal couple, a female northern shoveler and a grebe.

The coots seemed to be in couples all over the drive.

A glossy ibis in the bur marigolds.

Some of the smaller birds include a flicker and many blue gray gnatcatchers.

I got out of the car and was walking around watching the ducks when this kingfisher flew right by.

Shooting right into the sun, the marsh looked like it had a layer of gold on top. Those tiny black dots were coots which were all over the place. It really looked like winter on my drive in late December with all of the leaves off the trees and bushes here. The wildlife drive is just north of Orlando and is a little hike from my house so I don’t get here often. It’s been worth the drive recently since I was trying to stay off my hip due to hip bursitis at the end of last year.

A drive along the lake

Posted on January 4, 2021 by dinajohnston

Everyone was eating breakfast at Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive in late October.

A great blue heron off in the distance.

A young purple gallinule showing off his big feet.

A kingfisher sitting still. I took this from the car since I knew the second I opened that door he would be gone.

A tricolored heron guarding the sign.

A few of the smaller gators along the drive. I never seem to see the really big ones there.

More along the drive. I was having hip pain in late October so I decided to head over to the wildlife drive in Apopka and stay off me feet for a while. I ended up with hip bursitis which has slowed me down for a while in early November. It was taking forever to heal since I can’t seem to sit still very long.

More from my drive along Lake Apopka.

Posted on November 12, 2018 by dinajohnston

I rarely see baby purple gallinules. They are very skittish. I caught this little one running in between the reeds. Look at those big yellow feet!

The parents were close by.

Two juvenile common gallinules (or moorhens) hanging out.

The only birds I saw along the drive were common ones.

Turkey vultures are also common along the drive but it’s not often you get to see one up close and with a snack.

Young tree swallows perching on the utility wire. It’s rare to see these guys resting.

Another common site along the drive, an anhinga with a fish.

A beautiful morning to be out.

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Posted on October 4, 2018 by dinajohnston

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.

Driving around a lake in central Florida

Posted on December 29, 2016 by dinajohnston

The Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is an 11 mile drive along a lake north of Orlando. The weekend Brett and I stayed in Orlando, we got up early and drove through the area before heading back to Tampa. The 11 miles zig zags back and forth with channels running on either side.

The first things we say were birds of prey. A northern harrier, a young red shoulder hawk and a kestrel right when we drove in.

A great egret fighting with a snake.

Fulvous whistling ducks were far out in the lake.

Alligators of all sizes were along the drive including that big one in the last picture. His head was huge. I wish his entire body was out of the water. He has got to be the biggest one I’ve seen out in the wild.