On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Winter Wren
Part 2 of photos from our visits this year to the Orlando Wetlands. Who knew that visiting a sewage treatment facility could be so rewarding? (btw, there is no discernible smell).
As the wading bird breeding season wanes, the wintering birds like teal and coots as well as the smaller birbs such as yellow-rumped and palm warblers head north. Black-bellied whistling ducks pair off and mate and produce the cutest ducklings.
All the parent birds of the rookery spend a lot of time in the nearby marshes and pools gathering food for the hungry young. It is fascinating to watch the various hunting techniques. Wood storks shuffle their feet along the muddy bottom with their bills open and close on anything that they stir up.
Green Herons hold very still and then pounce suddenly.
This snowy egret was taking a break resting on the boardwalk. They have an interesting technique here of flying just over the water and dipping their beaks in to catch minnow-sized fish within the schools as they fly along.
A little blue heron also taking its rest on the boardwalk. The little blue has an interesting fishing technique where they sway their head and neck back and forth slowly – kind of like a snake being snake-charmed.
This alligator mama was watching over its progeny as they sunned themselves on the concrete access pipe. There were several more also sunning, but they scattered when I stopped my bike to take a picture.
The summer days get hot and uncomfortable quickly and there is no shade. One reason to visit are the “bumblebee chicks” of the black-bellied whistling ducks as well as the gallinule chicks. The herons and ibises are more scattered and spoonbills are nowhere to be found at the wetlands during the summer.
Purple gallinules are less common here than their aptly named cousins the common gallinule, but they can be seen daily and are stunning in the right lighting. They walk on the lily pads and aquatic vegetation using their huge feet. They are very fond of lily pad buds.
Black and Turkey vultures nest among the rookery and also use the dead palms to get some morning sun before their later day soaring searching for food.
A mid-morning scene overlooking the marsh with a little blue resting in the water.
Great blue heron resting on the palm stub admiring the sunrise. The sunrises and sunsets in Florida are amazing.
Geo Wilcox
Beautiful photos. We have several species of heron here and a pair of green herons have bred successfully at our front yard pond for decades.
OzarkHillbilly
I lurvs me the wading birds. Thanx Winter Wren. Some real wall hangers here.
AM in NC
Wow. What a great series! Thank you.
JeanneT
I’m enjoying this series! What a rich environment for the birds and beasts….
eclare
I also love the wading birds. All the photos are great, but those last two are amazing, letting the wetlands be the star.
stinger
Hunting techniques is a great theme to tie photos together, and you’ve caught so many in the act! And the bumblebee chicks are really cute.
KSinMA
Thanks for the photos. Wonderful!
Winter Wren
@Geo Wilcox: Very cool. I love to see green herons and also the night herons. The night herons are unusual here, but they nest at a rookery in the Viera Wetlands, so we see them there when we can.
Winter Wren
@stinger: I find the different techniques and specializations fascinating. There is a facebook group where visitors submit photos (and sometimes videos) taken at the wetlands and pictures of successful hunts by birds and alligators are common. They are generally too graphic for my taste; I prefer captures of the hunting behavior itself, or resting or courtship displays and of course pictures of chicks or juveniles.
mvr
These are cool photos! And the commentary is good as well.
Thanks!
munira
Beautiful photos and love your comments.
StringOnAStick
Lovely! The composition of the last two is painterly.
Rob
I love your bird photos, Winter Wren!
way2blue
Love the yellow shoes on the snowy egret and the matching eye trim. Very cool. Hate to ask, but what happened to the palm trees missing their fronds? Hurricane X?
Winter Wren
@way2blue: Good question, but don’t know the answer about the palm fronds. It does seem pretty typical of the various Florida wetlands I have visited however.
BigJimSlade
The mid-morning marsh is beautiful.
The baby alligators seem like cute, little monsters.