A Cormorant with a Catch

These two Double-crested Cormorants were diving in a local pond for fish.  One was successful and the other was out of luck.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Almost Wordless Thursday: Wading Birds

Great Egret

These photos were taken last week in The Villages, FL.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Little Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron, Tri-colored Heron &  Double Crested Cormorants

Snowy Egret

 

 

 

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Great Blue Heron

Double-crested Cormorants in The Villages, FL

Double-crested Cormorants are water birds that are often found in the company of White Pelicans here in The Villages, Florida during the Winter months.  These dark brown and grey birds have an orange bill that has a slight hook at the tip, blue eyes, and orange-brown legs and feet.  Their feet are webbed like a duck.  After diving for food, they need to spread their wings out while perched to allow their feathers to dry out so they may fly.

Double-crested Cormorants mostly eat fish and are found here in lakes and ponds as well as marshes and along the sea coast.  They are great fliers and roost in tall trees.  Here in The Villages I often see many of these birds at Freedom Pointe Lake and at the little Golf View Lake pond near Lake Paradise.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Water Birds Around The Villages, FL

White Ibis

Migratory ducks, pelicans, cormorants, cranes and more have been spotted here in The Villages, FL, in the last several weeks.  So exciting to drive a few miles and visit several ponds teeming with wildlife!  Most of our small ponds, lakes, and prairie marshes, have at least a few exotic birds hanging out along the shoreline, so chances are great you will have a successful outing while bird watching!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Bald Eagle

Great Egret

 

Northern Shoveler Ducks

 

Double-crestedCormorants, egrets, white Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Wood Storks

Sandhill Cranes

White Pelican

Wading Birds at Freedom Pointe Lake in The Villages, FL

Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Tri-Colored Heron

Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Wood Storks, Anhingas, and a Tri-Color Heron were spotted this past week at the Freedom Pointe Lake in The Villages, FL.  This little lake borders a golf course, an assisted living complex, and a boulevard with golf cart multi-modal pathway.  It is often busy with wading birds during the Fall through Spring months.  I enjoy visiting this area as it is easy to see the birds from the path or the parking area.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Great Egret

Tri-colored Heron

 

Wood Stork

 

Great Egret

Snowy Egret, Cormorant, Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Water Bird Wednesday: The Differences Between Cormorants & Anhingas

Cormorants

Cormorants are mostly seen in groups or even in large flocks while Anhinga birds are seen by themselves or a mate (occasionally in a small flock but spread-out).  The Cormorants often travel with White Pelicans to hunt fish cooperatively.

The Cormorants have a chunky thick body and a slight hook to the end of their bill.  Anhingas have a thinner body and have a thin sword-like bill.  Female Anhingas have a light brown ruff of feathers on the underside of their neck.  Both birds are diving birds and their appearance in the water when surfacing is snake-like.  Both bird must spread their wings to dry them after diving.  Both are great fliers and perch in water-front trees.

The Anhingas are considered to be tropical birds and are most often here in Florida or very near.  The Cormorants can be found in many places throughout the United States.

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

Anhinga

Cormorant

Anhinga

 

Anhingas and Cormorants

Double-crested Cormorant

Anhinga birds and Double-crested Cormorants are very similar aquatic birds.  The differences are the bill and body size with only faint differences about the feathers.  The Anhingas are more slender and have a very straight slender sword-like bill.  The female Anhinga is more brown in color with a light tan throat.  These females are also nicknamed “Piano birds” for the pattern of their feathers.

The Double-crested Cormorants can be distinguished by the slightly hooked tip of their long also sword-like bill.  The cormorants also are much heftier and blocky in body than the Anhingas.  Both eat fish, frogs, and small turtles.  Both are experts in flight as well as swimming.  Both the Anhingas and Double-crested Cormorants are referred to as “Snake birds” as they come up from diving with only their long sinuous neck and their head peeking out of the water.

The Anhingas are here all year long but the cormorants mostly are migratory with the White Pelicans.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Anhinga

Anhinga

Double-crested Cormorants