Happy Thankful Thursday

Happy Thankful Thursday

This is my last post on our Florida trip in January 2019. We saw some new places and a few repeat places we enjoyed from previous trips. On this last full day after leaving Key Largo we drove to the Everglades National Park. Our visit happened during the government shutdown but this park was open partially. We visited the Flamingo area of the park, which is the most southernmost part of the Everglades National Park. 

The Flamingo area of the Everglades offers boat rides and tours. I like the sky and reflections of the clouds. 

A nearby Osprey nest. 

A Brown Pelican sitting on the dock. 

The White Ibis with a pretty blue sky. 

A view of the Florida Bay and gulf coast. 

We were happy to see a few Manatees around the boat docks. 

This was a small baby manatee off to the side, he/she looked a little sick to me. 

A sandbar out in the distance held lots of shorebirds, Osprey, Egrets and Herons. 

A Little Blue Heron with a Great Egret. It is hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins. 

Below are a group of Snowy Egrets, a alligator that was making growling noises, Green Heron, Brown Pelican and another Osprey. 

I am thankful for all things nature related.
I am thankful for clear and sunny days.
I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday



Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Everglades National Park

June 29, 2013

 EDIT: I am linking up with Favorite Fotos thanks to Lydia at Where the Wild Things Were 

I hope you will join in on the fun and share your critters and birds.

I enjoyed my Florida vacation so much I have to share some more birds and critters, these are all from the Everglades National Park. We saw a nice variety of birds in the Everglades. On this day we were near the Flamingo Visitor Center.

Osprey's were a common sight in the Everglades National Park

 Blue-winged Teal couple.

 Walk this way...Alligator on the visitor center parking lot . Most of the gators we saw in Florida were laying in the water, this was the first one we saw walking. I am glad he was walking away from us!

Above are two alligators with a turtle nearby.

This was my first time seeing both the Brown Pelican and the White Pelican together. Above, I see six White Pelicans and two Brown Pelicans.

One of the many White Pelicans we saw in Florida.

The American Crocodile we sighted in the Everglades National Park. The Crocodile has a narrow snout is and lizard shaped. The male crocodile can reach 20feet long. They live and thrive in salt water.

A Black Vulture's view of the Everglades wetlands.

 My last photo is my favorite the Green Heron, this shot shows off some of their pretty colors. And I love their eyes. I hope you enjoyed my tour of the Everglades National Park.

Like weekend I am sharing some more of my favorite blogs to read and visit. I hope you have a chance to visit. In case you missed my first time sharing my favorite 5 blogs for the week here is the link 1st Favorite 5

Betty always seems to have something positive or lovely to say Cut & Dry

If you have not already done so visit with Tex at the  Run*a*Round Ranch ..she see awesome birds at her pond.

I am always amazed at Fiona's gorgeous photos on her blog..go and check them out: Lady Fi

Chris at Las Aventuras has some awesome bird reports from Arizona and beyond.

Last but not least, I always enjoy the sky shots at Spare Parts and Pics..always a pleasure to go skywatching on this blog.

 I wish everyone a happy weekend. Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your comments. 

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters

 please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.

The Wood Stork

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird  I am posting about the Wood Storks we saw while vacationing in Florida. They were mostly seen in the Everglades National Park and some in the Corkscrew Sanctuary. I have mentioned before it is one of my lifers from Florida.

The Florida Wood Stork a long legged wading bird and is listed as an endangered species.

They are about 45 inches tall and their wing span is about 60-65 inches. Their head and neck area are missing the feathers. They are mostly white except for the lack on the primaries

Wood Stork rookery in the Everglades National Park.

Love this shot of their large wings stretched out..  Due to adverse water management practices in Florida the nesting Wood Storks have shifted their nesting colonies. The Everglades restoration project includes the needs of the Wood Stork and their nesting success

The Wood Stork is a highly colonial species nesting in large rookeries and feeding in flocks. We saw a lot of Wood Stork babies.They can lay eggs as early as October and fledge by February or March.

I hope you enjoyed my Wild Bird post. Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your nice comments.
Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!

Black Necked Stilts

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes;

For this week, my featured bird is the Black Necked Stilts. We saw these birds at the Eco Pond in the Everglades National Park.
 

The Black Necked Stilt is a shorebird found in the United States down to Central America. The adults have long pink legs and a long thin black bill. They a black cap and the black continues down their back and their tail is white.

The Black necked Stilt forages for food in mudflats, shallow water and lakeshores. It seeks out the crustaceans, small fish and tadpoles.

This is one bird, I have seen many times at Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware, it is a breeding bird there. So the summer months I do not have to go as far as Florida to see these cuties.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the Black Necked Stilts as much as I did.


Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your nice comments.
Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!

Anhinga

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes;

I am featuring the Anhinga  we saw on the Anhinga trail in the Everglades National Park this week.  It seems only right that they have a trail named after them in this park. We saw so many Anhingas, I would think their population is not at risk.

 COOL eyes!

The Anhinga species is found all over the world. They are sometimes called a Snakebird, American Darter, or a Water Turkey. 

Anhinga rookery in the Everglades National Park. They are cute fluffy babies.

Juveniles will stay brown until after the second or third winter.

Within two weeks the tan down is replaced with white down. After three week from hatching the juvenile's first feathers will appear. The baby on the nest a the bald head, the down will appear later.

The female Anhinga has a light brown head and neck and upper chest. And the male is a glossy black-green and it wings and tail a black-blue. The tip of the tail has white feathers. The back upper part of the body is streaked with white.

 Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your nice comments.
Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!

A Variety Show

I am linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin.

I am sharing more birds from my trip, I have not been anywhere since my trip except to work. And I have been waiting to see some spring birds show up in my yard. This is a short report of my yard sightings this week. I am seeing  a lot of Chipping Sparrows suddenly, I had a male Ruby Throated Hummer zoom by my head. The Juncos seem to have disappeared but I am still seeing a few White-Throated Sparrows, Pine Siskins, Red-Breasted Nuthatch. I also see a few Purple Finches and some House Sparrows And my cute Pine Warbler is back. As soon as I get some decent shots, I will do a yardbird post.


So for my post this week these shots are from our quick stop at the Shark Valley, Everglades Nat'l Park.

 There must have been a big fallout of the Palm Warblers in Florida while we were there. We saw Palm Warblers everywhere. LOL, this one fell out of the sky right on the trail in front of us. You see he is looking up waiting for more of his warbler buddies to fall out of the sky.

One of my favorites the Green Heron

Another one of my favorite herons a Little Blue Heron.

Above is a juvenile Night Heron, I believe it is a Black Crowned Night Heron. The juvenile Yellow Crowned looks similar except for bill color.

Shark Valley had plenty of rookeries. You can see two Night herons tucked inside this tree. One is just about hidden except for the white belly and spots here and there.

Two Anhingas and a fish jumping out the water. The jumping fish seem to be happening a lot while we were there, maybe they were escaping from an alligator.

One of the pretties..A Roseate Spoonbill.


I hope you enjoyed my birds and  post. I hope everyone has a happy weekend. Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your comments. To see more beautiful photos and cute critters please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.

Florida Sunset & more

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

 Sorry, I still have so many vacation photos I am going thru. These shots are from the evening of the 4day and some from the morning of  the 5th day of our vacation. I hope I am not boring everyone with more vacation shots and birds. I took probably close to 1500 photos and we put 1641 miles on the car. LOL, we see and do a lot during our vacations.

On this evening we had dinner near the coast of Bonita Springs beach. I was loving the fish tacos and conch fritters. After dinner we checked out the sunset on the beach, it was a little cloudy but still some colors in the sky.

The sanderlings found the one section of sand that reflected the sunset.

The next morning we packed up and headed south once again stopping at Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park. During the tram ride, we stopped to take a walk on the trail to the tower and overlook. This tower reminds me of the tower in the Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park, it is just missing the steep hill before the tower. LOL, I do not think there are hills in Florida.

We only had a twenty minute break to get to the top of the tower and back to the tram. There was only one obstacle in the way. Luckily our ranger and guide Cynthia came along and spooked this gator away with a stick. Cynthia insisted they are more of afraid of us towering over them, she banged the stick on the ground and off it went back into the water. 

From the the top of tower, I could not believe all the birds roosting in the trees. Above is a flock of the Spoonbills, I love their pretty pink color.

When you are high up in the tower and looking down, we could see the birds landing in the treetops.

I was really enjoying the flock of Roseate Spoonbills in flight.

We saw some cool clouds formations. A beautiful day in the Everglades National Park. We made this a quick stop in the Everglades Nat'l Park, our main destination for the day was Key West. So after the tram ride and a quick walk, it was back in the car for more fun. The Everglades Nat'l Park will appear later again during our vacation with more birds and lots more gators. I hope you enjoyed this post.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I always appreciate your comments.

Happy Skywatching  to everyone!

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.