Tri-colored Heron
These wading birds and the duck were all spotted at the little Freedom Pointe Lakes on El Camino Blvd. in The Villages, FL this past weekend. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Wood Stork
Anhinga
Tai-Colored Heron and Snowy Egret
Muscovy Duck
Snowy Egret
Osprey and Common Cormorants
This pair of Wood Storks was spotted last Thursday afternoon on the park shore-line of little Lake Mira-mar in The Villages, FL at Spanish Springs. The storks were just hanging out along with a mob of White Ibis and several Mottled Ducks and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
The Wood Storks are here several times a year and this spot seems to be a favorite of theirs. One Wood Stork was up near the parking lot and the other was close to the little dock area. I always enjoy seeing these serene big exotic wading birds! I believe the one closest to the parking area is an older stork. The Wood Storks live about 12 years or so. Their head gets covered with hard bony like growths and their bill gets darker as they age. Always a treat to see the Wood Storks! Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. 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
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!
Limpkin
Roseate Spoonbills, Sandhill Cranes, Wood Storks, Limpkins, a Black Crowned Night Heron, Egyptian Geese, White-phase Little Blue Herons, and Green Herons have all been photographed in freshwater marshes (sometimes referred to as “Prairies”), ponds, and small lakes here in or near The Villages, Florida. I love seeing these birds!
The Roseate Spoonbill (only seen here once in the four years I have lived here, the Black-crowned and White Little Blue Heron have to be the most seldom seen here of all of the above mentioned wading birds. The most common are the Wood Storks and Sandhill Cranes among the ones I am featuring today. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Egyptian Geese
White Phase Little Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Roseate Spoonbill with Great Egrets
Wood Storks
Green Heron
Sandhill Cranes
Great Ergret
Egrets abound here in The Villages and in Central Florida around ponds, lakes, streams and marshlands. Great Egrets sometimes do hunt in landscaped areas near homes and businesses as they will eat snakes mice and lizards if hungry. We mostly have Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Cattle Egrets here in Central Florida. I have included a photo of a white-phase Little Blue Heron which is very similar to the Snowy Egret.
The Cattle Egret is primarily found near cattle or horse pasture lands but also sometimes can be found near lakes and ponds where it drinks and sometimes hunts along the shore.
I have only seen one Reddish Egret here and that was near Dunellon about four years ago. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly smaller version of the photo. Enjoy!
Snowy Egrets
White phase Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
