Road Trip Day 4

Wow, Florida is chocked full of wildlife, especially birds. After oversleeping Saturday morning I drove the 2 hours to Merritt Island NWR and spent most of the day there. The place was hopping and sometimes I was so caught up with watching the birds that I was forgetting that my primary reason for being here was to photograph the birds. I spent the last hours of the day at Viera Wetlands, another birding hotspot down near Melbourne. To my delight, there was a pair of Crest Caracaras nesting in the area AND a pair of Sandhill Cranes among all of the other species. I was able to photograph both the Caracara and the Cranes but only from a distance.

Then we got word that it was raining in California and therefore the shuttle was coming to Canaveral to land and .... the entire Merritt Island NWR and the Canaveral National Seashore were closed down to the public. With no Sunday access to Merritt Island I proceeded to the Orlando area to try the Rookery at the Gatorland and, boy, did I strike paydirt. What an absolutely fantastic place with hundreds of nesting and roosting birds: Egrets of every shape and size, Herons also of every ilk, Wood Storks, Ibis, Comorants, Ahhingas, etc., etc., etc. You can purchase a photographer's pass good for a year and gain early entry and late visitation rites or you can pay an extra $5 for a normal day pass which allows you to stay after closing until sunset. This is necessary to view and photograph what can only be described as a spectacle...hundreds of Ibis and other species flying in at sunset to roost. I will definitely be back here again and again. Ran into Art Morris (Birds as Art) there today. He was also mesmerized by the place.

Snow Days for the Herons

I awoke this morning to a fairly decent snow for this part of the country. I immediately grabbed the camera and went about trying to capture the morning. Then I thought of the Herons and grabbed a bigger lens (500mm and 1.4 extender) and proceeded to slip and slide over to the hillside overlooking the rookery. Most of the inhabitants were just standing around looking cold but one pair was busy building (reinforcing) their nest with no regard for the weather that I could see. I was surprised to see the male take a few visits to one of the not yet occupied nests and proceed to take twigs (building materials) from it and take them to his mate to use in building their nest. To me this is akin to taking shingles from the house next door (knowing no one is home yet) and using them to repair your roof!! I was also treated with a Red-shouldered hawk who decided to stop for a while.
Some days are better than others!!

The Herons are Gathering

Adjacent to the 4 Mile Creek Greenway (Milepost 1) is a rookery of Great Blue Herons. Last year there were 18 nesting pairs and I really enjoyed observing the raising of the family and photographing the rookery. I drove by this morning to see if there was anything there and, lo and behold about 10 of the nests are already occupied. And the best news of all, if you go into the White Oak neighborhood off Elm Street, the homeowners association have built a viewing platform out over the marsh and beyond the tree line so there will be some great views even when the trees began to leaf out. I ran home, retrieved my camera, and took a few shots this afternoon. Hope you enjoy them!

Crowding the nest!!

Spent a couple of hours with the herons today. I reported earlier that there were quite a few nests with 4 chicks in them. I know at least one of the families of 4 lost the runt somehow but I don't believe any of the others have had similar tragedies.
I am amazed though at the patience shown by the "teenagers". Here is a shot of 2 nests, each with 4 "teenagers" in them. These guys are getting big and when the adults arrive there is precious little space in the nest to move around and there is a lot of jockeying for food. You would think that one would lose their balance and be forced to try flying earlier than desired. Just imagine having four growing chicks in one nest...they must get very fed up with one another...just standing there every day growing and waiting to leave the nest. Incredible!!