Some Florida Wildlife Selections to prepare for Birdmania 2023

Yes - Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. A dedication to Boca Raton and Delray's Japanese connection - the Yamato Colony, a collective of farmers from Japan that farmed and owned the land that is the current site of Florida Atlantic University, back in the early 20th century. It's why we have a 'Yamato Road' - and the only farmer that stayed after WWII was Mr. Morikami, with a small farm in Delray Beach that he donated, and became Morikami Museum and Gardens.

 

Carrying on with some more of the winter wildlife action, which has really been picking up as nesting is beginning...the following shots were taken on 1/7/23 and 1/14/2023:

Anhinga drying off with its reflection:


Great blue heron coming in to land:


Wood stork arriving:


Cattle egret flying past just before sunset:


Off go the black-bellied whistling ducks just before the sun sets:


If you really want a challenge, try panning with the tree swallows while they buzz over the water at high speed, banking and turning constantly. It's rewarding though when you get some nice shots of them in flight:


If you look close at full size, you can see the little blur of a bug about to get, well, SWALLOWED by the tree swallow:


The lovely male least bittern, on a cold day coming out into the sun to get warm:


A nice, rare visit by the larger royal tern:


A roseate spoonbill, sitting among dozens of ibis, backlit by the late afternoon sun:

 

Some more of the wildlife selections from this year - running from 1/14/2023 to 1/16/2023. With some lovely cold days here and there, marvelous winter light, and the sunset BIF bonanza picking up, this is the prime time for shooting birds and wildlife down here! The low humidity and low rain chance along with cooler weather means super-clear air and super-sharp details.

Great blue heron coming in to land:


Ibises practicing their synchronized flying:


Red-shouldered hawk doing his usual sunset flyover:


Even with no light, the details can pop - this tricolored heron was resting under the trees while the sun had already gone below the treeline, so I needed ISO 6,400 for this one - but the details are still there:


A very cold day - the second time this winter where our high was in the low 50s - meant it was a good day to pop up to Peaceful Waters again to see what kind of wintering duck activity was there. Starting with the lovely American wigeon:


The roseate spoonbill is getting his nice breeding colors going, and stood out nicely against the blue-sky-reflected waters:


I see tons of blue-winged teals, but wish I could see the green-winged teal more often - the male especially is a beauty:


This guy stayed far away, so it's a huge crop - but being only the 3rd time I've gotten to see ring-necked ducks, and unlike last month, finally getting to see the more ornate male, I had to take the shot:


Once again, the cool air had the river otters out playing and romping around. This one was out on the levee rolling around in the grass until I walked up - then it was like a stand-off:


The otter decided, I think playfully, that it didn't want anyone to pass it on the levee - so when I tried to go to the right to pass, the otter would waddle over to the right and lay down in my path. If I tried going left - it'd waddle over and plop in front of me again. Eventually someone else came the other direction on the levee - and tried to get by - and the otter blocked as usual. The face seems to be saying 'You Shall NOT Pass!' like Galdalf:


Eventually the pressure of two people closing in from either side meant Gandalf had to give up the game and waddled into the water.

 

In this case, probably not. The otter was solo for quite a while rolling around in the grass before I got there, then played around in front of me for a bit - the move to block didn't look aggressive or threatening - more 'silly'. Aferwards, it plopped into the water and swam a few hundred yards, then back up onto the levee in front of me for some more rolling around. The otters right now don't have any new pups - the last batch was back in summer and they're all grown to nearly adult size - I think this one was one of the youngsters.

 

More wildlife temptations as we get closer to Birdmania - less than a month now! The following were taken from January 16th to January 28th:

Female red-winged blackbird:


Sneaky and secretive sora:


Beautiful male common yellowthroat:


Grey battleship cutting through the grey seas:


A sneaky forest dweller more often heard than seen - the grey catbird:


A momma raccoon was walking her kits through the forest, and when she came upon me, she started steering them away - one kit was extremely curious about me:


While the other was much more shy, watching me from behind cover:


A few months ago, I encountered my first-ever Wilson's warbler - a female up at Peaceful Waters. Then, amazingly, a male Wilson's warbler showed up at Wakodahatchee and I caught a quick shot on Jan 21st:


The first batch of chicks have hatched - the great blue herons:


A yellow-rumped warbler in the cypress forest after a quick bath in the water below:

 

Closing in on Birdmania - just under two weeks to go. Time for some more pics to whet the whistle. The following were taken on January 28th and February 4th.

Male red-bellied woodpecker hanging upside down to get at the bugs:


Chubby yellow-rumped warbler posing nicely:


Female anhinga getting her breeding colors:


Three male boat-tailed grackles competing for the best mating display for a nearby tree full of females:


Wood stork landing with a stick for its nest:


Great egret, with the green lores and long aigrette feathers for breeding season:


Wilson's snipe - still sticking around:


A very comfy looking marsh rabbit, nestled up against a pond apple tree to get out of the misty rain:


Black-and-white warbler popping out for its portrait:


Who else thinks 'Oh no! Mr. Bill!' when looking at the expression on the fish's mouth?:

 

A last batch of wetlands critters before everyone gets down here to see for themselves. Taken on Feb 4th through Feb 25:

American redstart male:


Wilson's snipe up close:


Red-shouldered hawk being pursued by a female red-winged blackbird:


Cattle egrets have gotten their breeding plumage and become very colorful:


American alligator cloesup:


Great egrets have all started their nests - and the males have been busy displaying their aigrette feathers and performing their elaborate dances to attract mates:


The red-shouldered hawk has been on her nest for about 40 days now - if we're lucky, hawklets may be hatched soon:


Great blue heron very close up:


Cooter turtle in a funny position - almost seemed to be praying:


Just a reminder of how close you get to the wildlife, especially at Wakodahatchee after 4pm when the BIF-palooza really kicks into gear:

 

I admit I don't often see sunrise light! But I'd say Green Cay might be best for that. The angles at Wakodahatchee work out very nicely near the latter part of the day - not that there aren't any things to shoot to the west - just that the best and closest birds and nests tend to be facing east, so the sunset light is better. Green Cay is a larger park and shooting can occur in all directions, so that's the one I tend to hit on the rare chance i'm there that early.