These Herons Are Handsome Wading Birds!

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Great Blue Herons, a Green Heron, Little Blue Heron, a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, and a Tri-colored Heron are some of the most prominent Herons here in the United States.  I am happy to be able to see many of these birds here in Central Florida fairly often.  The Black-crowned Night Heron was spotted at Lake Apopka, and the others here in The Villages, FL.

These wading birds primarily eat fish, frogs, crayfish, aquatic snails, aquatic insects, salt water crabs, ducklings, bird eggs, and tender small turtles.  All are great at flying.

The herons walk along the shoreline of lakes, ponds, rivers, and even the ocean, and try to spear their prey for a meal.  The birds tend to feed early in the morning and from late afternoon into early evening hours. Herons tend to spend the day by themselves or in small numbers.  They roost in a larger flock in tall trees like Cypress, Pine and Oaks.   I love spending time outside observing the herons!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Great Blue Heron

Tri-colored Heron

Green Heron

 

Great Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

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White Egrets and Little Blue Herons

Little Blue Heron and Great Egret

 

A Little Blue Heron in its juvenile white phase, a Cattle Egret, a Snowy Egret, and a Great Egret are all egrets that to some degree are similar in looks.  The juvenile Little Blue Heron is white with greenish-yellow legs and a pale bluish-grey bill with a dark tip.

The Cattle Egret is a smaller white-colored egret but is stocky in build and has a rust-colored streak and yellow bill.  The Snowy Egret is also a small white egret, but it has black and yellow legs and feet with a mostly black bill.

The larger egret is the Great Egret which is white with black legs and a yellow bill. So here are the photographs which hopefully show these differences.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

 

 

 

Great Egret and Snowy Egret

Great Egret

 

Cattle Egret

More Lake Apopka Wildlife

Great Blue Heron

The North Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, Apopka, FL, visit last Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, was a huge success!  I enjoyed seeing a lot of birds and alligators.  Here are the last few photographs I enjoyed taking.  I hope you will enjoy seeing these beautiful birds!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Osprey

Anhinga in Flight

 

Little Blue Heron

Alligator

Tri-colored Heron

 

North Lake Apopka Birds (‘Gators too)

Little Blue Heron

Herons, egrets, alligators and more were spotted in Lake Apopka along The North Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive.  The drive is an absolutely wonderful bird watching spot here in Central Florida!  We visited it on Sept. 1, 2018 in the afternoon.

The North Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is about eleven miles long on a one-way narrow dirt road that is sometimes on the top of a levy.  The wildlife is abundant!  I can only imagine what variety of birds will be there later on in the Winter months when so many birds migrate here to Florida.

I took over 100 photographs on the slow drive around the marsh.  This drive is free of charge and is fairly close to Orlando and The Villages.  It is near Apopka, FL.  I highly recommend visiting if you are in the area.  I will be sharing more photographs from my visit for this week’s blog posts.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Alligator

Great Blue Heron

 

 

 

White-phase Juvenile Little Blue Heron

View from the road with Little Blue Heron flying past in the distance

Hen Common Moorhen

Herons at Lake Okahumpka County Park in Sumter County, FL

Little Blue Heron

Two Little Blue Herons and a gorgeous Tri-colored Heron were spotted on Sun. August 26, 2018, at one of the small arms of Lake Okahumpka in the Lake Okahumpka County Park near The Villages, Florida.

This county park is beautiful with fitness and hiking trails through the natural areas, a canoe and kayak launch, a Disc Golf course, picnic areas and pretty Florida scenery.  Admission is free and there seems to be good parking. The lake is very marshy, by the way.

The best time to visit the park now, is probably in the morning as we often have afternoon thunderstorms in Summer months.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Little Blue Heron in the smaller arm of the lake (pond like area)

Little Blue Heron at the Canoe/Kayak Launch Ramp

One of the Scenic Park Views

 

 

Tri-colored Heron at the Smaller Arm of the Lake

Little Blue Heron and Try-colored Heron perched on the Gazebo Structure

Tri-colored Heron and Little Blue Heron at the Gazebo Structure

A Little Blue Heron and Two Tri-colored Herons

Tri-colored Heron

This Little Blue Heron was spotted at a small pond near Morse and CR-466 in The Villages, FL.  I also saw two Tri-colored Herons on Lake Paradise also in The Villages.  Both types of these herons are occasionally seen here in The Villages on several lakes and ponds here.  I believe the Little Blue Heron is one that probably lives in the medium-sized nearby Lake Sumter and the freshwater marshlands around that lake.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Tri-colored Heron

Tri-colored Heron with Great Egret

Little Blue Heron

Almost Wordless Wed.

Great Blue Heron

A nice bunch of members of the heron family of wading birds was spotted in the past few days here in The Villages, Florida on Lake Mira-mar, Freedom Pointe Lake, and Lake Paradise.  Please click on the thumbnail images to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Tri-colored Heron

Little Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron