Hot Weather Bird Watching

 

Sandhill Crane

Birds cool off by opening their beaks or bills to breathe cooler air into their system.  So on a hot day or evening if you see a bird panting, they are just trying to keep cool.  They also will often try to sit or perch in a shady spot or wade in a stream, pond or lake.  I took these photos last night at dusk here in The Villages, Florida. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Great Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Mottled Ducks, White Ibis, Trio-colored Heron

 

Sandhill Crane

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

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Fresh Out of the Camera: Wading Birds

White Ibis at Silver Lake Park Pond

This evening here in The Villages, FL, I took a bunch of photographs of various wading birds, water birds, and waterfowl at several small ponds and small lakes.  We had a partial view of the Solar Eclipse yesterday but it only got a little dim; about like it would be at say, 6:00PM here (same as when I snapped these photographs tonight).  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Snowy Egrets, Trip-colored Heron at the Silver Lake Park Pond

Great Blue Heron at the Silver Lake Park Pond

Great Blue Heron at Lake Paradise

Herons

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, and Little Blue Herons are the most commonly seen herons here in The Villages, Florida.  The Great Blue Heron is the most frequently seen, followed by the Little Blue Heron.  I think I have only seen one Green Heron here and that was a year ago.

All of these herons are wading birds that shuffle along in the shallows of the lakes and ponds to spear fish, frogs, or turtles with their long sharp bills.  They also eat larger insects, small lizards, and large aquatic insects or snails.

The herons roost up in tall trees.  Many prefer the Cypress Trees here.  Some also will roost in the medium-sized trees where there also are Ibis or Egrets.  We used to have a large area of roosts on Morse Blvd. (I had photographed it and posted about it many months ago) but that area seems out of favor with the birds in recent months.  I don’t know the reason for the big move.  It could be a case of too much threat from coyotes or other predators.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger version of the photo.

Tri-colored Heron

Little Blue Heron

Tri-colored Herons and Great Blue Herons

Great Blue Heron

Tri-colored Heron

Great Blue Heron

Tri-colored Herons and Great Blue Herons make their home on the lovely little Lake Paradise here in The Villages, FL.  This small private residential lake often hosts a few of the large wading birds.  I took these pictures mostly from Swartz Park.

The Tri-colored Herons are steel grey, cream, and have maroon highlights on the upper neck and back.  They have yellow legs and a brownish-yellow bill.  These birds eat fish, frogs, turtles, aquatic insects, aquatic snails, and occasionally ducklings.

Great Blue Herons are among the larger of the wading birds.  These birds are medium-grey, with black and white.  They often have a few back hanging feathers off of the crown of their head like a long mohawk.  They occasionally are seen in an all white color, which is quite similar to the way the Great Egret looks.  These herons eat basically the same foods as the Tri-colored Herons do.  The Great Blue Herons sleep and nest up in large trees, preferring evergreens or Cypresses.

I took these pictures during the late afternoon on a couple of days in the past week.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture.  Enjoy!

Great Blue Heron

Tri-colored Heron

Tri-colored Heron

 

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Tri-colored Heron

Great Blue Heron and Tri-colored Heron

Great Blue Heron

A Great Blue Heron was spotted along with a lovely Tri-colored Heron, at the tiny neighborhood Swartz Park on Lake Paradise, in The Villages, Florida, on Tuesday evening (9/20/16) at about 5:30PM.

The Great Blue Heron was perched on the top of a neighboring residential fishing dock gazebo.  The Tri-colored Heron was out successfully fishing for its dinner.  The Great Blue Heron never moved in the five minutes I spent birding at that location.

The Tri-colored Heron was always in motion – stalking in the shallow water;  perching on the top of a cypress; or flying between lake shore areas.  Both of these herons fish for their meals of fish, frogs, tadpoles, small tender turtles, and snails by stabbing with their sharp sword-like bills.  Occasionally, these wading birds will also eat smaller shoreline animals or large insects.

I always have a lot of fun bird watching in this neighborhood lake.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

Tri-colored Heron

Tri-colored Heron

Reflection of the Great Blue Heron on the lake

 

Great Blue Heron

Tri-colored Heron with Fish

Tri-colored Heron

The Tri-colored Heron at Lake Mira Mar in The Villages, FL

When I spotted the Snowy Egret a few days ago in The Villages (my post of June 12, 2016), I also saw a handsome Tri-colored Heron on the opposite side of the little bridge I was standing upon.  I took turns taking pictures of both of the wading birds without disturbing either one.

The Tri-colored Heron is a medium heron with a soft grey-blue coloring mixed with a bit of maroon red and creamy white.  It primarily eats small fish, frogs, crawfish, tender small turtles, eggs, and larger aquatic insects.  These birds wade in the shallow water of ponds, lakes, small creeks, rivers, and both fresh and salt water marshes.  Tri-colored Herons are excellent at flying and fly home to roost in tall trees at the close of the day.

I really enjoy the rare chance to spot this bird here.  I saw this Tri-colored Heron, and the Snowy Egret,  behind the Sharon theater in the Spanish Springs area on June 7, 2016 in the early evening hours at the man-made stream that empties into Lake Mira Mar.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo.  Enjoy!

 

Some Wildlife in The Villages, FL

 

The Mallard Duck

I saw this drake Mallard in my back yard one early evening.  I snapped that particular picture through my window.  Imagine my surprise as I live about a half-mile from the nearest pond or lake.  After having seen this duck, I noticed that there have been a few of these ducks roaming around this neighborhood in the last couple of weeks.  Perhaps in search of a honey or maybe just different food?  Who can say.

I spotted the Killdeer, Tri-colored Heron and the Great Egret at Santiago Golf Course pond, and the Wood Duck drake at Paradise Lake at Boone Park in The Villages, Florida. This Wood Duck is one of the few Wood Ducks I have ever seen in The Villages.

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

A Tri-colored Heron at Santiago Golf Course Pond

A Great Egret Hunts

A Great Egret at Santiago Golf Course Pond

 

A Killdeer at Santiago Golf Course

Canada Geese at Boone Park

A Wood Duck at Boone Park