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Taking Wing!

I am by no means what one would call a “birder”, but I couldn’t help by becoming intrigued with the different types of birds to be found at Big Cypress National Park.  There were many more varieties than what I managed to capture, but here are some of the beautiful collection we saw here, in the wild…..

Anhinga

I never heard of this bird before, but he sure is an attractive one.  And, yes, this is a male bird – the females are a sort of drab brown, hardly noticeable.  Which is a good thing when they are sitting on the nest in the grassland!  This bird is sometimes called a Snakebird, because when he’s in the water, sometimes only his long neck and head are visible, making him look like a snake…..

Drying Wings

Often, they will be seen in trees, with their wings outstretched, drying them.  Jeff saw this guy “fishing”.  He said he would sort of snatch the small fish out of the water, toss them into the air and then catch and eat them.  I missed that – darn!

Turkey Vulture

I felt sorry for the turkey vulture.  He’s not a very attractive bird, you have to admit, which is why I felt sorry for him.  Still, he does have that sort of cool red head with the bit of decoration around his eyes….

Turkey Vulture in Flight

….and a pretty decent sized wingspan!  They aren’t as large as a regular vulture, I don’t think, but still pretty darn big!

White Ibis

It was very cool in Big Cypress because it seemed that everywhere you looked, there was something really cool to see.  This guy tends to hang out near the water (we’re on the same road where we saw all the alligators) because he likes to eat crawfish.  And, isn’t he wonderfully accessorized, with his legs matching the color of his beak?

Watching

At the end of the boardwalk thru the cypress strand, in the open area where all the wildlife was, sitting high in a tree, was this hawk, I believe.  Altho the day was bright and sunny, this image doesn’t look like that.  Still, it sort of matches the feel of this bird, watching, sitting in the mossy branches of a tree.

Intensity

I believe this is the same type of bird as the previous image – a red shouldered hawk.  This guy was perched up high just behind our RV in the campground at Big Cypress.  I love the look of intensity as he scans the landscape.

Great Egret

There were egrets all over the place in Florida!  Here’s one sort of hidden away under some mangroves along the scenic road we explored.  I love how he reflects in the still waters in which he was standing.

Double Crested Cormorant

Also hidden in the mangroves along the scenic road was this little double crested cormorant.  I never knew this, but the name cormorant comes from the Latin words corvus and marinus, and literally means “sea crow”.  Altho his feathers look sort of bluish in this image, it must be the lighting (he’s in the shade), because he’s really black.

Patience

This is one of my favorite birds, the Great Blue Heron.  Here he’s sitting in a grassland, just patiently watching for some food to come along.  This was at the end of the boardwalk in the cypress strand.  If he were stalking something, he’d have his neck extended as he sort of crept along, sneaking up on lunch.  But, he must have been in his mid-afternoon slump right now!

Wood Stork in Flight

Here’s another bird I never saw until this trip – a wood stork!  This guy was a fairly good distance from us on another scenic road, but I was able to catch him in mid-flight just as he was approaching some trees.  Lucky me!

Little Blue Heron

This isn’t the best image I’ve ever taken (sort of blurry), but I did manage to capture it of a little blue heron while we were on one of our airboat rides.   These birds tend to be in Florida only during the winter months, so I think I was lucky to see him, as it's getting close to the end of winter down here!

Enjoy!