Egrets, Cormorants, Canada Geese and Tri-colored Heron

Great Egret and Cormorants

Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Canada Geese, and Double-crested Cormorants, are here this Winter at many of our ponds and lakes in The Villages, FL.  Most of these birds are now in the beginning of their breeding season and the egrets will be developing long billowing plumage with which to attract their potential mate.

Egrets hunt by wading in shallow water to spear a small fish or frog with their sharp bill.  They also will occasionally root in the mud for aquatic worms and snails.  On land, the Great Egret sometimes hunts for mice, lizards and snakes in the landscaping around yards and parking lots.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Great Egret & Canada Geese

Great Egret

Snowy Egret, Tri-colored Heron

 

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

More Birds Arriving

Sandhill Cranes

The Winter migration is underway and more and more birds are arriving here in recent days.  This will continue through December or early January.  I have been seeing small flocks in the skies and on the shorelines of local lakes.  I also have included a photograph of some smaller freshwater turtles that happened to be sunning themselves on the shore of a local golf course pond.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Canada Geese

Cooter Turtles

Adult White Ibis

 

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Egyptian Geese

Mottled Ducks

Wordless Wednesday: Canada Geese

Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Flight

Double-crested Cormorants

Just a few snap-shots of various kinds of birds in flight.  Have a safe happy holiday weekend!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Bald Eagle

Canada Geese

 

Seagull

 

 

Osprey with fish

White Pelican

Turkey Vulture

Bird Watching at Dusk

Whistling Ducks, a Glossy Ibis, and Mallard Ducks

Newly hatched Canada goslings, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Mallard Ducks, a Glossy Ibis, an Anhinga, and a tree full of Great Blue Herons were all spotted here in The Villages during the past two evenings at twilight.

Please click on the thumbnail image to see the very slightly larger version of the picture.  Wishing everyone who celebrates, a happy Passover, and a most happy Easter!

Great Egret and Anhinga

Great Egret Roosting

Newly Hatched Canada Goslings

 

Snowy Egret

Great Blue Heron Rookery

Great Blue Heron Rookery

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Canada Geese

Mallard Ducks

Great Egret

Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Freshwater Cooter Turtle

Hen Hooded Merganser Duck

Great Egret

Wordless Wednesday: Winter Waterbirds

Great Egret in breeding plumage

Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

White Pelicans

Canada Geese

Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage

 

Double-crested Cormorant

Tri-colored Heron with Seagull

Northern Shoveler Ducks

Wild Geese!

Canada Geese

Egyptian Geese, and Canada Geese are the two types of geese seen commonly here in The Villages, FL. The Canada Geese are the larger population with some ponds seeing twenty or more individuals.  There perhaps are about fifteen Egyptian Geese here as well.

Interestingly, there are a few hybrid Canada Geese around that are likely a mix of Greylag or Chinese White and Canada.  These geese eat grass and some aquatic plants.  The also love grains.  We have a solid population of all of these geese here all year around.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Hybrid Canada Goose with Great Egret

Canada Geese

Egyptian Geese

What Did I See at the Nancy Lopez Legacy Golf Course in The Villages, FL Today?

A flock of Double-crested Cormorants; several Wood Storks; a flock of Canada Geese; several Egyptian Geese; a lot of Mottled Ducks; a few Great Egrets; a few Snowy Egrets; a few Mallard Ducks; and a small pod of White Pelicans.  I also spotted a Southern Bald Eagle up on a nearby electrical tower.   Today’s post is part one of two showcasing all these birds.  I will show part 2 on Friday.

Our migratory Winter visitors, the true “Snow birds” are coming in droves daily here.  I spotted all these birds on the driving range pond of the beautiful Nancy Lopez Legacy Golf Course here in The Villages, FL today.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Wordless Waterfowl Wednesday: Canada Geese

These Canada Geese and goslings were photographed this past weekend at Paradise Lake in The Villages, FL.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!