Today’s almost wordless Wednesday offering is view of the White Ibis flock, a Wood Stork with the White Ibis, Mallard/Mottled Duck hybrids, a couple of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a Great Egret, and a Canada Goose. All were at the little Lake Mira-mar at Spanish Springs, The Villages, FL, a few days ago. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Last evening I did a bit of bird watching at Paradise Lake, Lake Mira-mar, and the Golf View Lake here in The Villages, Florida where I spotted many wild ducks. Most of the ducks were the native wild Florida Mottled Ducks, Mottled and Mallard hybrid ducks and a few Mallard Ducks.
All of these are dabbling ducks that tip their head into the water to grab small insects, worms and aquatic plants to eat. These ducks are here all year around. They are enjoying our many small ponds and lakes and have made themselves quite at home here. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Mottled Ducks and Whistling Ducks were seen at a couple of ponds here in The Villages last week and also a couple of weeks ago. These ducks live at our ponds here all year around and are wild ducks. They eat pond insects, small tadpoles, tiny fish, grains and seeds.
The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are the one with the gorgeous pink bill and feet. The Florida Mottled Ducks resemble their cousins the Mallard Ducks and the Black Ducks. In fact, there are many hybrid Mallard Mottles here. Florida tries to keep the population of wild Mallard Ducks very low to help prevent inter-breeding. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo. Enjoy!
Snowy Egret
This Snowy Egret was hanging out near the shore of little Lake Mira-mar at Spanish Springs in The Villages, Florida. After a few minutes it flew over to another area of the lake where it was joined by an adult White Ibis.
The Trip-colored Heron was spotted at the Freedom Pointe Lake while the Great Blue Heron was seen at a water retention pond area at the Nancy Lopez Legacy Golf Course near the driving range pond there. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Tri-colored Heron
Tri-colored Heron
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
White Ibis and Snowy Egret
Tri-colored Heron
Double-crested Cormorants at the Freedom Pointe Lake
Wading birds, ducks, exotic geese, cormorants, and egrets were all spotted in The Villages, FL this past weekend. It was so fun to see five resident White Pelicans at the Nancy Lopez course. Those pelicans have now been here for the past three years and apparently do not migrate North with the hundreds of other White Pelicans that spend the Winter here.
Bird watching is such a pleasant hobby! I so enjoy sharing the views of the many different birds here in The Villages with you via this blog. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo. Enjoy!
Great Blue Heron at the Freedom Pointe Lake
Great Egret at the Glenview Country Club decorative pond
Snowy Egret at the La Hacienda Golf Course Pond
Egyptian Geese at Nancy Lopez Driving Range Pond
White Pelican and Cormorants at the Nancy Lopez Driving Range Pond
Florida Mottled Ducks at the Nancy Lopez Driving Range Pond
This Wood Stork was hunting for dinner at the small pond at Freedom Pointe in The Villages, Florida when I photographed the exotic bird on Saturday, July 20, 2019 in the later afternoon. The Wood Storks have seldom been around the community in recent months. Some are beginning to come our way as the weather changes.
Wood Storks hunt by wading in very shallow water and scooping small fish, aquatic worms, aquatic snails, frogs, small alligators, aquatic insects, and small crayfish. They use their very hard scoop-like bill and filter out unwanted objects and water and then they swallow. These birds have been on the endangered species list until recently and I believe they are now considered as a threatened species. I love seeing them here! Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly smaller version of the picture. Enjoy!
Great Blue Herons are now beginning to raise young and are molting (losing breeding feathers) so they are mostly on their nests unless hunting for a meal. They wade in shallow water in the early morning and late afternoon to catch fish, frogs, ducklings, shoreline snakes, lizards, and nearly anything else they can catch to eat.
We have a year-around population of Great Blue Herons here in The Villages, Florida. These birds nest in colonies way up in sturdy Oaks and Pines near ponds or lakes. Many are now proud parents and will be raising chicks for several more weeks. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo. Enjoy!
