We did Fine!

Try-colored Heron at Boone Park Flooded Lake Paradise on Street

We just got our Internet back on so I am able to post here.  We had evacuated from our home here for the duration of the storm and returned to absolutely no damage to our house (Hooray!).  We were fortunate.  Our community did fine and there is not a lot of damage here unlike the South of Florida and Jacksonville to the Northeast.

We had minor flooding in a couple parts of our neighborhoods along some of the little lakes and ponds but I don’t think many (if any) houses got lake water inside.  The Paradise Park archery range is flooded and I may not be doing any archery practice for more than a few days.  It can wait.

I am grateful beyond measure for all the wonderful electric line workers who have come from all over to help Florida get power back on!  Also grateful to those disaster workers who are helping in hard hit areas here in the state!

Last night and this morning I went out safely and took some pictures of birds and the little lakes.  Here are a few of those photographs.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Great Egrets on Flooded Lake Mira-mar

Flooded Lake Mira-mar

White Ibis at Lake Mira-mar

 

Tri-colored Heron at Flooded Boone Park on Lake Paradise

Flooding at Boone Park on Lake Paradise

White Ibis at Flooded Lake Mira-mar

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The Calm Before That Storm!

A Squadron of Mottled Ducks sails on the Freedom Pointe Lake

Egrets, Egyptian Geese, Canada Geese, Herons and Mottled Ducks were all spotted here in The Villages, FL on the lake at Freedom Pointe and on the street parkway on Buena Vista Blvd. last week.  I so enjoy getting out an about to spot and watch the birds here.  We often see these exotic birds!  It is amazing.

I have been working on hurricane preparations as we expect to see some type of tropical storm force or hurricane force winds here on Sunday and Monday.  We don’t have a firm track for the hurricane so I cannot say how bad it should be but I think we will be better off here inland as we are 60 miles from both coastlines.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Please understand if I don’t post on Monday – perhaps we will have power but likely not.  Thanks.

A Great Egret Hunts in the Shrubbery on Buena Vista Blvd.

White Ibis, Egyptian Goose, Canada Goose and Great Blue Heron

A Great Egret Roosts at Freedom Pointe

Beautiful Big White Birds!

Cattle Egret

Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets, White Ibis and the grand Wood Storks are large white wading birds that have been here in The Villages in recent weeks.  The Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and White Ibis are here all the time, but the Cattle Egrets are very occasional.  The Wood Storks come and go every few weeks it seems.  The other large white birds are the White Pelicans, which are here in the Winter and early Spring, the white phase of the Little Blue Heron, and the white Great Blue Herons.

The only ones of these listed that really are not truly wading birds, are the Cattle Egrets which prefer being in cattle or horse pastures along with the livestock.  All of these birds are great flyers and the Wood Storks have been known for flying quite a long ways to find food.  I believe many of the Ibis and egrets are now roosting on Lake Mira-mar near the Veteran’s Memorial Park end of the little lake (having probably moved from the now abandoned roosts on Morse Blvd. near Rio Grande).  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.

White Ibis

Wood Stork

Great Egret

Wildlife at Paradise Lake in The Villages, FL

Snowy Egret

A trio of Florida Mottled Ducks, a Wood Stork with a Great Egret, and a hunting Snowy Egret were all spotted at the lovely Lake Paradise in The Villages, Florida.  I spotted these at Boone Park and at Schwartz Park, which is right around the corner basically, from Boone Park.  Both small pocket parks have a nice viewing area and the water at Boone has filled in nicely after the drought.

This is a neighborhood residential lake with three parks on it.  The larger park of the trio is Paradise Park.  I often go to this lake to watch for larger birds.  I also occasionally spot Sandhill Cranes such as the trio I photographed in flight above the adjacent neighborhood.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Sandhill Cranes

Wood Stork and Great Egret

Florida Mottled Ducks

 

Three Kinds of Egrets in The Villages, FL This Past Week

A Cattle Egret

Cattle Egrets, Snowy Egrets and the Great Egrets have been here in The Villages, Florida this past week at several park lakes.  I spotted the Cattle  and Snowy Egrets at the Freedom Pointe lakes, and the Great Egret at the gazebo at Boone Park on Paradise Lake.

The Cattle Egrets have only recently arrived here.  They usually are found in cattle and horse pastures attending those animals.  The Great Egret is large and has the long yellow bill.  The Snowy Egret is the small one with the yellow feet and black bill.  The Cattle Egrets are also small but have a few small rust-colored patches of feathers on the head and chest and sides in the breeding season.

All of these egrets enjoy insects with the Snowy and Great Egret mostly liking aquatic animals, insects and the occasional small mouse, lizard or snake.  I have never yet seen a Reddish Egret here in The Villages, but you never know.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Cattle Egret

A Great Egret Cools Off

The Snowy Egret

A Great Egret Takes Off

I spotted this Great Egret at Schwartz Park at Paradise Lake in The Villages, Florida back in mid-June 2017.  The Great Egret immediately took off from the shoreline and flew across the lovely lake to the opposite shoreline.

These are such graceful big birds.  I think it is a joy to see them in flight!  By the way, we have had some significant amounts of rain which is refilling our local lakes and ponds.  The lakes here are pretty full now!  It is nice to finally see water under docks.

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

 

The Big Birds of May

Great Blue Heron

Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Sandhill Cranes, a Limpkin, a few Wood Storks, and a lot of White Ibis, and Snowy Egrets (not pictured), were all spotted here in The Villages, Florida last month, May, 2017.

We often spot the egrets herons and ibis, but the cranes, wood storks, glossy ibis, and limpkin, are only spotted during certain months of the year (Sandhill Cranes being the most easily seen of this particular group of wading birds).  We also get to see Tri-colored Herons and Little Blue Herons on occasion.

These larger wading birds enjoy the many small and medium-sized lakes here in our community where the food is usually abundant.  We are recovering from a recent drought so the lakes happily are refilling with recent rains.

Most of these big birds eat aquatic snails, frogs, worms, and small fish.  Some of the birds such as Sandhill Cranes also eat grains and seeds.  I always enjoy getting out and spotting both songbirds and these big beauties!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Limpkin

White Pelicans, Great Egret

Wood Storks

 

White Ibis

Great Egret

Sandhill Crane