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

The Snowy Egrets

Snowy Egret

Over the last couple of weeks, I have spotted Snowy Egrets at several lakes here in The Villages, Fl.  The Snowy Egret is one of the smaller of the egrets, and it is the one that has yellow feet.  Snowy Egrets are white in color.  In breeding season this egret has spectacular long, very lush plumage in its feathers.  By the way, I am beginning to see a few of the Cattle Egrets here now.  The Cattle Egrets are just a wee bit larger than the Snowy Egrets.  By the way, we have had a lot of rain here in my local area and our lakes are refilling (Hooray!).

These wading birds eat a variety of fish, crawfish, frogs, tender smaller turtles and larger aquatic insects, as well as near shoreline mice, lizards and smaller ducklings.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

The Great Egrets

Great Egrets are seen here in The Villages, FL, all year around.  The Great Egrets are the larger of the egrets.  One picture here is showing the Snowy Egret next to the towering Great Egret.

The Great Egrets frequent the marshes, lakes, golf ponds, and even flowerbeds and landscaping around buildings here in The Villages, FL as well as other places in the USA.

Great Egrets enjoy eating aquatic animals such as fish, frogs, smaller turtles, some aquatic snails, baby alligators, ducklings, goslings, and shore critters such as mice, lizards and smaller snakes.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!  This is dedicated to the memory of those who died in service to the country.  Happy Memorial Day to all.

 

 

 

 

Great Egret

The Limpkin Visits Lake Mira-Mar in The Villages, FL

This Limpkin has visited the little Lake Mira-Mar in The Villages, FL near Spanish Springs several times.  I have previously photographed the big wading bird at this same location.  I usually see the Limpkin at the Veteran’s Park area next to the golf cart path at the approach to the golf cart bridge.  The bird is pretty secretive and is usually nocturnal so the best times to see it would be early in the morning and at dusk.  I took these pictures at dinner-time last night.

Limpkins are a wading bird that love eating the aquatic Apple Snails found in the small lakes here in The Villages.  There are not very many Limpkins around at all.  I have only seen three (and one of my sightings may well have been this bird at a different spot).  The Limpkins are marsh birds that are primarily living here in Florida in the USA.

These birds are vaguely similar in looks to juvenile White Ibis, juvenile Green Herons and Bitterns.  All are about the same size and have a streaky brown coloring.  The Limpkin the only bird of its family type and is not related to rails or even the cranes.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!