The family life of tricolored herons.

"I still look good for my age." An adult tricolored heron strutting.

"We're hungry!!!"

"Contemplating life." These babies are getting big.

He's saying "What's that big black thing attached to your face?"

Three siblings being quiet for about a second.

Newborns.

A short video of a tricolored heron parent bring in food to the babies who are pretty big at this point. They are very aggressive and were attacking her for food.

Tricolored herons are my favorite babies to take pictures of. They're so animated and have the funniest looks on them. Tricolored herons are not as common as great egrets or great blue herons. I see those birds everywhere. Only occasionally do I see a tricolored heron. It's weird to watch a group of them fighting over sticks for nests and space on the bushes. I guess it's like The Truman Show for birds. We stand on the boardwalk and watch all of these birds live their life. Getting food, making nests, raising babies. They seem to tolerate us watching but could probably get nasty with that sharp beak if we got too close. Do they know that humans don't want to cross that water with alligators in it? Hopefully, they'll all come back next spring.

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Kapok Park after work.

Limpkin with a snack.

Follow the leader. Baby mallards following mom.

Red bellied woodpecker. You can barely see the red on it's belly.

It's checking to make sure it's a red bellied woodpecker as well.

Baby blue heron. This was taken in bad light but I thought it was interesting to see how the blue is starting to come out.

Tri-colored heron standing guard.

I stopped by Kapok Park in Clearwater on the way home from work last week. There wasn't anything unusual there. It was a nice walk anyway. It's a challenge to photograph there after work because the sun is going to down on the opposite side of all the best stuff. There's a lot of shade as well. The best time for the light is in the morning but I can't make it there before work so I go after work. I was really disappointed there were no great horned owls there. For the last 2 spring seasons a couple have raised a baby there. No owls this year. I'm going to try and get to the park quite a bit this summer. It beats sitting in traffic.

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Nature's fashion show at Gatorland.

The great egret gets the lime green color above the beak. Normally, that is a dark yellow that blends in with the beak. They grow the white feather strings that hang down in the spring.

Cattle egret with beige feathers on his chest and head. Normally this would be all white. The beak turns bright purple and orange. His legs get turn brighter.

That little white feather on the head pops up and the tri-colored heron gets a little more burgundy in his feathers. His red eye becomes much brighter.

The snowy egret's yellow beak and feet turn pink and orange.

Pretty pink face.

The adult breeding birds are really pretty this time of year. Bird rookeries are fashion shows for birds. I guess it's their nature's makeup. A couple of weekends ago I headed back to Gatorland to see if there were any more babies. Lots of adults birds with beautiful faces prancing around. Most have coupled up and are either building nests or already have babies. I'm going to try and get to Gatorland one more time to catch the tri-colored heron babies before the season winds down.

Boardwalk at Carillon - My World Tuesday

After work last week I stopped at a park close by for a walk. I was walking along this boardwalk where there are always a lot of joggers. The above anhinga is so use to people now she would not move for me. I was afraid to get that close to walk by the tight boardwalk. After a few minutes I shooed her away with my camera.

This is the first time I've seen moorhens preening each other. My cockatiels at home do it all the time but I've never seen wild birds like these do it. That shows how use to people they are here.

The above tricolored heron was strutting along the lakeshore.

Dragonflies are still everywhere.

This small lake has a few small alligators.

I wanted to get some exercise in before the drive home one day last week after work. Now that it's getting darker earlier I have to hit some places really close to work. Carillon Park is an office park that has a small lake with a boardwalk around it. After work it's full of joggers and walkers so most of the big water birds are use to having people around. It started out sunny then the clouds moved in right before I left.

Hot night at Lake Seminole Park

The usual dragonfly.


Great egret posing. He must be used to all of the people at the park. He didn't even flinch when I stopped to take his picture.

Tri color heron landing in the reeds. Taken into the sun right before sunset.

Great egret flying across the lake.

Juvenile moorhen screaming for a snack. I love their big yellow feet.

A large group of ducks waiting for a handout. The stick in the upper middle is a big sign that says "Do not feed the wildlife, including ducks." People ignore it. There's a spot at the lake near a small parking lot that the ducks congregate at. People park there and feed the ducks. The ducks are very aggressive and will charge at your ankles if you don't feed them.

I stopped off at Lake Seminole Park one day last week to check on the limpkin nest. I had been there 2 weeks before and there were several eggs in a nest built on a shallow section of the lake. I wanted to see if the eggs had hatched. Since it had been raining every day for a week the nest was under 2 feet of water. I couldn't see from the boardwalk if the eggs were still there so I don't know if they had already hatched and the family had moved on. I didn't see any limpkins on that end of the lake which is unusual. Sad, hot and depressed I started the walk back to my car. I was thinking I wouldn't find any birds around but I did manage to see a few before I left.

Baby birds at Gatorland

Baby great egrets

Baby snowy egret born the morning I was there with one more to go. I love the way it looks like the snowy egret feet look like they have been painted yellow.

Blue heron mom on the right and baby on left. Baby blue herons are white when they are born. As they get older they start to get blue patches until at least 6 months where they start to turn all blue.

Great egret babies being fed by mom.

Tricolored heron babies.

Tricolored heron mom with her baby.

Bird moms are very busy right now. Gatorland is full of wild baby birds. Constantly yelling and needing to be fed. They look so funny with their fuzzy feathers and beaks that look to big for their bodies. I need to try and go back in early June to see the birds growing up and learning to fly.

Nesting birds at Gatorland

Cattle egret gathering sticks for a nest.


Cattle egret counting her eggs.

Tricolored heron also counting her eggs.

Snowy egrets making a nest together.

It's a busy time for wild water birds at Gatorland. The alligator lake there is full of mangroves that make a great nesting place. The alligators keep the raccoons from getting to the nest so the birds are pretty safe there (unless a flightless baby falls out of the nest). The birds are very busy flying around with sticks and fish. They are still building nests there. Many of the nests had 3 -4 eggs on them. There was also a handful of nest that already had babies on them. I might have to make another trip there in June before nesting season dies down.

Tricolored Herons at Gatorland

Tricolored herons are starting to fly in and breed at the Gatorland bird rookery. I shot these pictures in mid-March there during a Flickr meetup. There were only great egret babies at the time but the tricoloreds where starting to show up. The blue around their beaks get much deeper blue and their eyes get redder during breeding season. They develop that feather tail that sticks out of the back of their heads. They really are pretty birds. I'm going to try and get back to Gatorland in early May to see if they have had their babies yet.

Feature: "Bird Island" At Matanzas Pass

A kayak trip to "Bird Island," postponed for a week due to cold and windy conditions this early spring 2010, resulted in calm pre-dawn conditions and 39 degrees Fahrenheit at launch.

The Great Egret above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

The water in San Carlos Bay felt extremely cold, much more so in fact than I've experienced at any time anywhere leisurely.

I've made a handful of trips to this mecca northwest of Matanzas Pass Bridge from the Bunche Beach Preserve parking area as well as from Bowditch Point just north of Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

The Great Blue Heron above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

Unusual conditions temperature wise for otherwise warm and sunny southwest Florida which has been persistent since the beginning of the year.

There has been commentary of late that bird activity has not been as prevalent as in years past in this area.

The Great Egret juvenile above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

Observations have not indicated that to be the case in my three years of Florida wildlife observation.

The nesting success observed at Bird Island observed today seems to indicate that all is well.

The Great Egret with juvenile above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

I have noted in the past that a kayak or canoe launch to the island is preferred from the Bunche Beach Preserve parking area.

My experience today has me conclude that one should embark from Bowditch Point.

The Great Egret with juvenile above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

From the latter, your distance traveled is greatly shortened, but keep in mind that you will have to potentially deal with much larger watercraft and their wake with extreme care.

The commute should last no more than a half hour and offers a wildlife experience quite exhilarating at times.

The Great Egret juvenile above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

Once near the island approximately 300 feet in diameter, the calls of the juvenile birds become more evident.

The smell of a very active colony wasn't as pungent as in the past with the cooler conditions for sure.

The Great Egret juvenile above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

The predominant nesting species include the Great Egret with a Great Blue Heron observed to compete for a nest as they each took turns to make placement of a particular twig within it before eggs are laid.

I knew immediately that I should have been prepared to document my observations of the wildlife without the 1.4X teleconverter I had attached to the camera that somewhat limited the appeal I was looking for.

The White Ibis above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

There was an egg observed outside of a Great Egret nest that will never hatch.

It appeared the egg was either intentionally or inadvertently displaced by one of the offspring.

The Double-crested Cormorant above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

The only species I hadn't observed but expected on my most recent trip to the island was the Tricolored Heron.

The regulars in very close proximity included Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, White Ibis, Snowy Egret, Double-crested Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Reddish Egret (solitary) in flight, and Grackle.

The Great Egret above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

Much of the time on the island was spent observing nests more than birds in flight.

Fallen trees from storms of past are still accommodating for an improved view of the activity on the island.

The Turkey Vulture above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

One in particular was much more overgrown than I remember from a visit last year where climbing it for better photographic advantage was impossible as egrets had commandeered it for their own.

Glass bottles of various sizes and shapes were seen as well with fishing line observed in a nest and entangled on a fallen tree that could have only gotten there intentionally.

The Black Vulture above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

I did not see the arrow piercing a nest and bird that was found last year.

An entangled Brown Pelican hung from fishing line in a mangrove at the water's edge near the southeast of the island.

The Black-crowned Night-Heron above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

My departure from the island was from the same oyster shell laden side as I had arrived.

The trip back to the parking area was eventful as I encountered a very strong head wind from the west.

The Great Blue Heron above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

I was only able to make very slow progress back to the Bunche Beach parking area.

After I passed the east channel, I chose to walk the last mile, but not before falling out of the kayak in my successful attempt to protect the camera.

The Great Blue Heron juvenile above was photographed on "Bird Island" at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve in March 2010.

It was a very long, cold and uncomfortable walk thereafter.