Wordless Wednesday

Here are some shots of the Double Crested Cormorants.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

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Double Crested Cormorants

Double Crested Cormorants are local resident birds but there also are quite a few flocks of migrating birds here in this area during the Winter months.

Double Crested Cormorants are meat-eating birds.  They dive and catch fish, frogs, turtles and baby alligators.  They often are spotted with flocks of White Pelicans or among Great and Snowy Egrets.  They spread their wings to dry them after coming out of the water.

These birds closely resemble the Anhinga but they are larger bodied and have a broader bill that has a slight downward hook on the end.  I took these pictures last week here in The Villages at a pond in the Polo Ridge neighborhood and also at the small lakes at Freedom Pointe.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

 

More Big Birds

Great Egret

A Great Egret ,White Ibis, and Double Crested Cormorants, and a Turkey Vulture, were spotted a few days ago.  The Ibis are numerous here in Florida and love being around the water.  The White Ibis eat aquatic snails, aquatic worms, land worm, and assorted insects. The White Ibis also will eat aquatic plants and some grains.

The Double Crested Cormorants are meat-eating birds that are water birds.  They love to follow White Pelicans and also the herons and egrets in search of food.   These birds dive into the water for fish or frogs.  The Double Crested Cormorants look quite similar to the Anhinga birds but the cormorants are a bit blockier and also have the hook on the end of their bill.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Double Crested Cormorants

Turkey Vulture

White Ibis

 

Some Water Birds at Tuscawilla Park

Wood Storks

Tuscawilla Park in Ocala, Florida has two medium-sized ponds that have a variety of water birds, and wading birds in and around them.  I was there at Tuscawilla Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 in the afternoon for about five minutes.  No, I did not see hundreds of birds as I have in past visits during the Winter months.  Many birds have gone elsewhere on their migratory journey.

I did see several Great Egrets, a couple of Wood Storks, Snowy Egrets, a lot of White Ibis, a lot of Common Cormorants, a few Wood Ducks, a few Muscovy Ducks and a Great Blue Heron.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Great Egret, Snowy Egrets, and Double Crested Cormorants

Juvenile White Ibis

Adult White Ibis

Water Birds and a Gator on a Local Lake

Mature White Pelican

White Pelicans, an American Alligator, Egyptian Geese, Sea Gulls, and a lot of Double Crested Cormorants all were spotted here in The Villages, Florida on the lovely little lake behind Freedom Pointe off of El Camino yesterday at Noon.  Don’t worry, that ‘Gator seemed to be a smaller one!  The alligators often can be seen here in the lakes and larger ponds.  The pelicans and cormorants are migratory visitors to the area but the geese, egret and ibises are year-around residents.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Small Alligator

White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants

 

 

 

 

 

Egyptian Geese

Sea Gull

Cormorants and Pelicans

 

 

 

 

Big Birds at the Lake Part 2

The White Pelicans with the accompanying Double Crested Cormorant flock has been here on the rapidly shrinking Lake Paradise in The Villages, FL, for several days. We are in a slight drought which is why the smaller lakes are drying up.   I spotted the big birds flying-in at the lake on Dec. 22, 2016.  The lake is drying up so there is great fishing for these birds!  The White Pelicans are migrating South and likely will rest here a few days before moving on down the peninsula.  The Pelicans are here from up North, likely from the Mid-west.

I want to wish all who celebrate, a happy Hanukkah!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy.  Part 3 of 3 will appear here on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

Lots of Double Crested Cormorants

Double Crested Cormorants

There is a huge flock of Double Crested Cormorants here at one of the little community lakes here in The Villages, FL. The Double Crested Cormorants have migrated South for the Winter.  These kinds of cormorants also can be seen in fresh water marshland and salt marshes  in Florida and along the Gulf of Mexico and some areas of the Atlantic.

The Double Crested Cormorants often accompany the White Pelicans and sometimes, the Wood Storks in their migration.  The cormorants are fishing birds.  They dive into the water to catch their fish or frogs.  Wading birds and pelicans often help herd the fish into the waiting bills of the cormorants or vice-versa.

This bunch of cormorants are presently on the two little lakes behind the Freedom Pointe Assisted Living Facilities on El Camino here in The Villages.  I believe these birds are also roosting in the large trees along the shore.  I took these pictures on Nov. 17, 2016 late in the afternoon.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

A large part of the big flock of Double Crested Cormorants

Cormorants drying their wing feathers

Double Crested Cormorants