Florida Top Ten Photos: #5

The Wood Stork is the dinosaur of birds. It's head truly gives it an ancient look (which my wife Lisa thinks is ugly :). The white of the Wood Stork is quite brilliant and contrasts beautifully with the jet black of the flight feathers. My favorite part of watching the wood storks was seeing a peculiar feeding habit they would use. While standing in shallow water, a stork would hold one wing out to the side, creating a shadow on the ground. At the same time it would use its opposite side foot to "tap" the ground/mud, raising it up and down. Presumably, the foot would stir up prey which might head for the shadows created by the wing? At one time I was close enough to hear the hollow "clop" of the storks bill shutting. Apparently, they keep their bill submerged until prey touch it, when they close it at an incredibly quick rate.

We were a little early for the Storks to be nesting, but I suspect by this time in late February/early March they are in the thick of things. One of the best places to see them  nest most years is Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary .

Florida Top Ten Photos: #6

The Anhinga is a bird that is hard to avoid in southern Florida. If you're near any type of water, they seem to be around. While at first appearing similar to a cormorant, they are easily distinguished by their longer, straight, pointed bill and long, almost turkey-like tail. Like cormorants, Anhingas often are seen with wings spread on a low branch above water. They spread their wings to help they to dry more quickly.

At one point during our trip we watched an Anhinga attempt to swallow a catfish it had caught. For at least a few minutes it tried to flip the catfish just so that it would begin to slide headfirst down the bird's throat. The problem was that this catfish was just a little bit too large. After repeated attempts (and presumably frustration), it finally gave up and left the catfish on the bank.

Another interesting thing to note about the above picture is the blue orbital (eye) ring on this bird. This is a male in bright breeding plumage. I was surprised to find that though it was only January, the Anhingas were very much in the middle of their nesting season. We saw many nests (fitttingly, on the Anhinga trail in the Everglads), and some with young as well (here a male sits on the nest with chick).

 

Florida Top Ten Photos: #7

This bird was one of the ones I most wanted to see on our trip. The Limpkin is found almost exclusively in Florida in the US. It feeds primarily on Apple Snails, one of which we saw this Limpkin eat! Though not nearly as brilliant as Florida's many other wading birds, I was very excited to find this one at Anhinga Trail in the Everglades.

Florida Top Ten Photos: #8

While butterflies weren't our main pursuit in the Everglades we did happen upon several of these striking Zebra Longwing Butterflies along the Snake Bight trail. This is the state butterfly of Florida. They were not the only insects on the trail. We got bit pretty good by mosquitoes, which even got Lisa through jeans!