Babcock-Webb Day 2

Babcock-Webb WMA is so close to Connie's sister's house that I can't resist spending the morning there. There have been Snail Kites reported at the lake for the past few months so I thought I would try to see them. Spoiler alert: I dipped 2 days in a row. But I did manage to have a great time anyway. Day 2 started with heavy fog. This Red-shouldered Hawk was none-too-happy with it.

Foggy Morning

The park's habitat is a mix of open pine forests and shallow swamps which you can see in the above photo. The shallow marshes support tons of herons and egrets. Maybe I'm becoming a photo snob but I rarely take photos of Great-blue Herons because they are usually in boring poses and and pretty easy to photograph. That said, I took a few on Day 2. This one just because the bird was posing with such an elongated neck.

Great Blue Heron

And this one because the bird bit off more than he could chew. Literally, he spent 10 minutes figuring out how to swallow that huge fish. I didn't stay around to see if he succeeded.

Heron with a mouthful

I also usually don't photograph Great Egrets either. Not because they are boring but because they are very difficult to photograph. The white bird is usually over-exposed. To compensate, you end up making the rest of the photo dark. Today's fog was a perfect opportunity to get a good one. Fog flattens out the light so that the exposure can be good for the bird and the background too.

Great Egret

The Great Egret was crafty too. He was following a juvenile White Ibis along the edge of the water. Presumably waiting for the Ibis to stir up the fish for the Egret to have an easy meal. Juvenile White Ibis are not white. They are mottled so that they blend into the environment more. Here is the one that the Egret was following.

Juvenile White Ibis

The pine forests are great habitat for some species of warblers including well, Pine Warblers. I would come across flocks of a few dozen at a time. A few posed nicely. This guy was low in the grass.

Pine Warbler

This guy was low in a bush. 

Pine Warbler

This juvenile Pine Warbler followed Dad bush by bush, tree by tree. I guess he's not ready to go it alone.

Juvenile Pine Warbler

This Pine Warbler was acting like a Palm Warbler in the palm tree.

Pine Warbler in a palm

It wasn't all about birds at the park. I also saw a few alligators. This was the biggest - probably 7 or 8 feet long. Funny that he hustled into the water when he saw Peanut on the bank. Sissy.

Big Daddy Gator

 I found this water snake sunning himself after the fog cleared.

Water snake

I have one more story to share another day.

Unpredictable

That is what the weather is down in Florida. The weatherman said rain for Sunday but it didn't. Clearing on Monday but (you guessed it) it rained. Guess when the rain started? Hint - not when I was indoors. It started to rain when I was halfway across the Orlando Wetland Park (not a Disney thing, a nature thing) looking for a Vermilion Flycatcher. I don't know what made me bring a plastic Wawa bag with me. Oh, you read that right - a Wawa bag. Uh huh, Wawa has infiltrated Florida. Hallelujah!

Anyway, back to the story.  I was about a half mile out into the marsh when the sky opened up and it started to pour rain. I tried to hide under an observation platform but that didn't work. I tried to use a palm frond as an umbrella without success. I ran back to the car but was soaked through to the bone. The camera was snug in the Wawa bag but I looked and felt like a drowned rat. So, what's a grown woman to do?  I ran to the bathroom, stripped down to my skivvies and used the hand dryer to dry out my clothes of course.

The rain finally stopped. Not many photo opps but I had to shoot this bug. Look at the size of it. I put that quarter on the ground next to it for size comparison.

Mutant Grasshopper

A few of the larger birds. This White Ibis strolled across the path in front of me.

White Ibis

This Wood Stork showed off his flesh colored foot in the shallow water.

Wood Stork

These Coots were very skittish. They made a tight group when I got close.

Coots

 This Common Gallinule showed off his white  tail feathers.

Common Gallinule

I did get to see the Vermilion Flycatcher which was brilliant red. Unfortunately, the bird was very far out in the marsh making a photo impossible. I couldn't resist taking a shot of this young gator.

Lying in wait

Looks like he is waiting for someone to make a mistake. I hope for better weather over the next few days.

Gators! With Video

The new camera shoots high definition video as well as photographs.  Here are a few that I shot in Florida.

The first one show all of the alligators basking at the end of the boardwalk trail in the Everglades National Park.  Double click to start the video. 

I counted over 30 gators in this group. That didn't include the dozen other gators that I had to walk past on the trail. Here are some photos of those:

Check out those teeth!

Here is a Momma with babies. They just laid around right off of the main path.

Close up of a few babies

 Momma and babies

These gators are so tame that they just lay around next to the path.  This next photo is the bottom of one of the gator's "paws".

Gator Paw

The next video shows an Anhinga that spent a good 20 minutes trying to swallow a fish that was too big for it.  Don't worry, the video is only a minute or so long but you should get the idea:

More later.  We are at The Villages now without too many birding opportunities.  Going to Fort Myers tomorrow afternoon, so we should have something then.