In Focus Daily

An American Bittern stands still, a silent sentinel in the yellow pond lilies surrounding it on Lake Kissimmee. It took me a while to see it after everyone else on our airboat had focused their lenses on it. I would like to say that the Bittern’s excellent ability to camouflage as it stretches tall and sways with the reeds was what kept me from seeing it right next to our stopped airboat. Sadly for me, that was not the case and Moose went above and beyond, tapping me on the shoulder, and pointing numerous times in the direction of the bird when I continued to peer cluelessly into the lilies. If he lost patience with my inability to locate the bird, he didn’t show it. Rather, he persisted, losing his own precious shooting time to make sure I finally saw it. And, finally, I, too, got the shot! Thank you, Moose.

Snail Kites are an endangered species and their highly specialized diet consists exclusively of fresh water Apple Snails including both native Florida Apple Snails and a much larger, invasive Apple Snail species. At least I thought that was their exclusive diet until the other day. We encountered a female Snail Kite attempting to extricate a small freshwater turtle from its shell. She struggled with it for quite some time. It is fascinating to note that with the introduction of the large invasive snail, the slender, highly specialized bills of the Snail Kites have actually evolved in a couple of decades to enable them to consume the larger snails. The turtle and its shell are very different from the snail and the Kite was not having an easy time separating the turtle from its shell. I wonder if their bills will evolve again for this specialized meal. I hear it tastes like chicken.

Yesterday was our last day on Lake Kissimmee and what a day it was! For the first time this week we had a sunrise as we left the dock, and a gorgeous one at that. While the unexpected (for us) cool weather continued (I was glad I brought a pair of gloves and my down jacket) for the first time in our four days here we actually had some blue skies and sunshine. We had lots of opportunities to photograph the endangered Snail Kite while it was perched, while it hunted for snails from the air, and while it consumed snails (and in one case a small turtle) all from our airboat.

“Mine, all mine!” is what this male Snail Kite seems to be implying with the expression on his face. He had just snatched an Apple Snail from the shallow waters of Lake Kissimmee in Florida and had already shucked the shell. He was clamping the snail body tightly in his talons when he looked up and saw us. I’ve eaten escargot but I’m not a fan so he wasn’t in danger of losing his meal to us. Of course if I’d had a little dish of garlic butter with me, it might have been a different story.

A pair of Sandhill Crane Colts don’t really blend in with their surroundings. The bright green vegetation growing on the tussocks floating in Lake Kissimmee is dense but when the very young russet-colored Colts stretch up to see what is going on, they stand out instead of blending in. Their mother did not shield or hide them from us when we approached on our airboat, but she paced in front of them. The diagonal black line seen in the upper left of this image is Mom’s leg. We stopped only briefly to avoid putting stress on her and her colts.

The intense gaze from the deep red eyes of the endangered Snail Kite in Florida gets your attention. I’m back at Lake Kissimmee photographing these remarkable birds from an airboat guided by Captain Steve. This male Snail Kite had a busy morning searching for Apple Snails (its only food) and resting briefly between searches. He watched us as we watched him. Take a look at that beak. About twenty years ago, a much larger Apple Snail invaded the Snail Kite’s territory, overwhelming much of the native Apple Snail population. Since that time, scientists have discovered that Snail Kites’ beaks are growing larger to enable them to eat the invasive snail, and this evolution has taken place in just a couple of decades. What a remarkable story.

The Great Blue Herons were ahead of the Great Egrets at the Lincoln Rookery and they have already finished building nests and have laid eggs. I don’t think there are any chicks yet. One of the pair comes in for a landing at the nest site, presumably to take over incubation duties.

Great Egrets have an elegant side and a goofy side. I always think of the elegant side of Great Egrets with their elaborate, choreographed mating rituals featuring their aigrettes surrounding them like a veil. This view is usually a side view. Even when I see them flying, most of the time their long necks are outstretched in a lovely s-curve and, in breeding season, the aigrettes are flowing out behind them. If I see them head on, however, their goofy side takes over. This view is not at all the elegant creature I usually think of but rather I see a goofy but endearing bird coming at me.

The Great Egret nests at the Lincoln Rookery are under construction. It’s always a fascinating experience to watch the nest-building process at the rookery. Every time a Great Egret flies away from the nest site, he returns with a piece of building material. I’m never certain what, if any, criteria they consider when choosing a stick for the nest. Sometimes it’s a small, droopy stick; sometimes it’s a short stick with lots of twigs sprouting from it like this one; and sometimes it’s a big stick that seems to be twice the size of the nest site. The pair of egrets seem to manage to assemble the various twigs and sticks into a viable nest platform in which to raise their young. Hopefully there will be eggs soon and then chicks.

The Lincoln Rookery is filled with Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons building nests. Watching these birds building their nests is always fun and yesterday was my first visit to the rookery this year. The Great Egret nests in the rookery I visited in Florida a few weeks ago had eggs and even hatched chicks. It’s hard to tell if any of the nests in the Lincoln Rookery have eggs. Most of the birds seemed to be working on the construction phase of the nest yesterday. The male builds a platform from long sticks and twigs before pairing up with a female. The male attracts a mate in an elaborate display of his aigrettes, the long feathers that grow during breeding season. Once the male finds a mate, both birds work to complete the nest, but the male does most of the foraging for building materials. This Egret flew to a marshy area near the rookery trees and selected a small twiggy piece of vegetation instead of a large stick or small branch. I couldn’t track which nest he returned to so I’m not sure if he used this twig for support or decor.

Song Sparrows are denizens of Ingram Slough and I often see them in the reeds along the Ferrari Pond Trail, in the blackberry brambles, and even, as in this image, perched on the railing of the golf cart bridge that crosses Ferrari Pond. This sparrow’s beak shows evidence of a recent feast on the many wildflowers now in bloom in the meadow and along the edge of the ponds.

A crabapple tree along the Ferrari Pond Trail is in glorious full bloom. When I looked up, a White-crowned Sparrow was pulling on the bright pink petals and consuming them. As the sparrow shredded the pink petals, it occurred to me that since crabapples are a favorite food for many different kinds of sparrows, this destruction of the flowers before fruit has set could mean a smaller crop of crabapples to consume later. I’m sure that wasn’t on this sparrow’s mind and it certainly was enjoying the spring feast. And, since there appears to be an awful lot of blossom clusters on this one tree, it is likely that this early obliteration of a few blossoms won’t matter this summer when the crop ripens.

On your mark. Get set. Go! The other morning, this Black Phoebe suddenly took off from its perch in search of flies. I was happy to see that I captured the sequence.

It’s that time of year. The Rookery here in Lincoln is active with lots of nest-building activity. Both Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons, like this one, are seeking out building supplies. Yesterday morning this GBH flew from the direction of the rookery. I’m assuming it’s seeking building supplies.

“What Big Ears You Have! All the Better to Hear You With.” Little Red Riding Hood had that conversation with the “big bad wolf” in the classic fairy tale. This image, of course, does not depict a wolf but it shows a Coyote and what big ears that Coyote has, one of the reasons they have such acute hearing. Yesterday at Ferrari Pond Trail here in Lincoln it was a two dog day for me because I saw two different Coyotes in different places. It’s spring and we’re starting to see a little more Coyote activity here. I can’t wait to see Coyote pups later this spring.

According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, Limpkins got their descriptive name from their distinctive gait which makes them appear to limping when they are not. They are large birds related to cranes and feed almost exclusively on snails and mussels. When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago, we visited a place near a neighborhood on the water where Limpkins limped through the reeds and long the shoreline seeking those snails and mussels. Once they find one, they use their long beaks sort of like a pickax, pounding the shell over and over, trying to break it open to expose the tasty morsel within. It looks like this Limpkin succeeded in getting this fresh water mussel to open up, exposing itself and rewarding the efforts of this interesting bird.

Sometimes you unexpectedly get a bird’s eye view of a bird’s eye. At the Orlando Wetlands rookery boardwalk a couple of weeks ago, a Tri-colored Heron decided to preen while standing on the boardwalk’s railing, in full view of everyone on the boardwalk. Oddly, a few photographers walked past this two foot tall bird, completely oblivious to its presence. It stayed, preening and ignoring the passersby as well as the couple of us who were intrigued by this fascinating display of bird behavior. I was especially fascinated by the closeup of the upside-down head posture.

The reeds and cattails that surround the marshy wetlands along Ferrari Pond Trail in Lincoln offer perfect perches for songbirds there. The Red-winged Blackbirds are most notably seen clinging to the upright perches but sometimes other songbirds, like this Song Sparrow, find them to be an irresistible resting place.

It’s that time of year when baby birds are hatching. In Florida, the Great Egrets have nestlings; the Roseate Spoonbills have nestlings; and here at home, the Anna’s Hummingbirds have nestlings. I’m home from the Rookery at Orlando Wetlands and by now the chicks pictured above have probably doubled in size, but the Anna’s Hummingbird chicks (I think there are three in the nest) are a bit younger. Their eyes should be open any day and they’ll be ready to leave the nest 25 or 26 days after hatching so I’ll have a couple of weeks to watch them grow.

A little male Anna’s Hummingbird adds a spot of color to an otherwise drab morning at the Ferrari Pond Trail. Overcast skies and leafless trees have been the norm recently so seeing a bit of color, both with budding trees and an Anna’s colorful gorget, is a welcome sight.