Little Blue Heron Continued...

Here are some more photos of the very cooperative Little Blue Heron.

This photo happened as I shot from the back of the car. After this shot, I had to change to a smaller lens to catch the action.

Day 2-Part 2: Roseate Spoonbills and Friends

After leaving Ding Darling, we set off for Lovers Key State Park. We heard that there were Dolphins and Manatees there, and wanted to make a stop. As we approach the entrance, we see some pink creatures along the parks grassy area and find an entry road to where they were. All of these shots were taken from the car window.



Seeing these guys was a thrill of a lifetime!




I had only seen them through other peoples lenses, and now I get to see them for myself!



The roseate spoonbill spends a lot of its time in shallow water feeding. It sweeps its open bill from side to side in the water to sift up food like small fish, shrimp, mollusks, snails and insects. It has touch receptors in its bill that help it feel its prey. Like the flamingo, the roseate spoonbill's pink color comes from the food it eats. Some of the crustaceans it eats feed on algae that give the spoonbill's feathers their rosy pink color.



The most distinctive characteristic of the roseate spoonbill is its long spoon-shaped bill. It has a white head and chest and light pink wings with a darker pink fringe and very long pink legs. The roseate spoonbill is about two and a half feet in length with a wingspan of about four and a half feet.






We also found a Little Blue Heron feeding with the Spoonbills!

The little blue heron is a small heron. It is about two feet tall with a wingspan of about 40 inches. It has slate-blue feathers with a maroon neck and head. Its bill is gray with a black tip and it has gray to blue legs and feet. Its long bill is gray with a black tip and it curves slightly downward. It has yellow eyes and black legs. Males and females look alike. Young little blue herons are white and have blue bills with a black tip and dull green legs.





Another friend with the Spoonbills was this White Ibis!

The white ibis about two feet tall and has a wingspan of about three feet. It is entirely white except for its black-edged wings. Its blacked tipped wings may not be noticeable when the ibis is at rest, but are easily seen when it is in flight. It has a long, down-curved reddish-orange bill and a reddish-orange face. It wades in the water sweepings its heads form side-to-side in search of food. It uses its long, curved bill to probe in the mud for crabs and crayfish. It swallows its prey whole. It also forages for food on land and it may also eat insects, frogs, snails, marine worms, snakes and small fish.



Tuesday was absolutely the best day for new wildlife! Ding Darling, along with roadside stops made this day amazing! We saw just about everything on the list we needed to see in waders on this day! The only wader I didn't get was the Anhinga. We saw one in Fort Myers at a pond on a busy highway, turned around to take a few shots, but it flew out of sight. Oh well, 7 out of 8 is pretty darn good!

Tomorrow: Plenty-O-Peeps!

Day 2- Ding Darling Explodes with Wildlife!

Being much better prepared for our second day, we headed for Ding Darling in the morning with greater expectations than last nights visit. A few wrong turns later, we finally arrive at around 9 a.m, not exactly early morning, but anyway...


Our first photo op was a very cooperative Little Blue Heron. The bonus was that he was in the midst of catching a crab. Again, this guy was right next to the road, so anybody with any kind of lens could get a great close up. We left him to his feast as the excitement built for what could possibly be around the corner...




(Click on photo to see the crab!)







It just so happened that another little blue heron in it's white morph phase was fishing. I thought it was so cool to see the different stages of the little blue. You would not get confused with ID, as I thought I might, when you take a look at the blueish bill. Unmistakable!








And here again, as we went down the road, discovered yet another Little Blue Heron in the inbetween stage of white morph and blue. So freakin cool!








Now this shot is my first look at the Roseate Spoonbill. He was quite a distance off, but not knowing if I would ever see one, I had to get some shots and wish for the best. They came out better than expected, and of course I didn't know I would get much closer shots later that week. This particular guy is what brought me to Florida in the first place. This unusual creature has always intrigued me, along with the various other herons I had yet to see. Add a Burrowing Owl, and the destination was a must see!








Here is another fascinating creature I had never seen with my own eyes before. The White Ibis was alot smaller than I had thought. That blue eye was just as blue as I've seen in pictures, but seeing it "for realsies" was awesome!



(Click on photo to see the blue eye!)







Another amazingly cool wader was this Reddish Egret. Isn't he handsome? That plumage was gorgeous! I still can't believe that all these species were concentrated here in this place!







And last but certainly not least, we stumble upon this Tricolored Heron. He flew to this log after we walked over a bridge. He must have been on the waters edge too close to us and flew just a few feet away for safety. He was completely at ease standing on the log. We took his picture for at least 5 minutes, and he could care less. Yet another handsome guy to mark off my list!



And that concludes the trip through Ding Darling. I will continue Tuesdays sightings tomorrow with a new post, as the day got even better!

I will also share so many more photos that I got from Ding Darling, but I didn't want to overwhelm the post with too many photos to look at, so I will save them for additional postings after I get through posting about each day. I loved this area!