Junior Naturalist: birds

Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Baby pelicans

As we approached the rookery I could hear an alien-like screeching which I quickly realized was baby pelicans being fed by their mother. The rookery was filled with newly hatched pelicans in little nests.
The baby pelicans blended perfectly with the silvery bark of the mangrove trees.

Juvenile pelicans

We came upon an entire rookery filled with juvenile pelicans in various stages of development. The white/grayish looking birds are the youngest, the ones with the brown necks are adult.

Anhinga

anhinga, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

An Anhinga drying his wings on the bulkhead behind Big Game Bar & Grill on San Carlos Island.

3 Amigos

gulls, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

3 Seagulls on driftwood log off of St. James CIty

Female Grackle

female Grackle - San Carlos Island, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

A female Grackle spies our lunch. San Carlos Island

Pelican Rookery

pelican island 3, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Large group of pelicans on a Rookery island on Fort Myers Beach.
Also spotted on the island: Florida Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Anhinga, and Black Vultures.
There were schools of mullet and catfish circling the island.

Pelican

pelican island 5, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Immature Brown Pelican on a Rookery Island. Fort Myers Beach

Pelicans

pelican island 4, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Adult Brown Pelicans in a tree on a Rookery island. Bay side of Fort Myers Beach.

Green Heron

Green Egret, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Green Heron
Butorides virescens

Found fishing off a small boat near on San Carlos Island. These birds are very common in areas that have a lot of small bait fish and boats with ropes hanging low near the water.

Roseate Spoonbill - FL aquarium

Roseate Spoonbill - FL aquarium, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Roseate Spoonbill
Platalea ajaja

Photographed this Roseate Spoonbill in the Tampa Aquarium. We have seen them in the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island but they are far away and hard to photograph.

Muscovy ducks

Muscovy ducks, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschata

Found this Muscovy Duck family in the Steak & Shake parking lot on Rt. 41 in Fort Myers. Muscovy Ducks are considered an invasive species in the United States and are found all over Lee County. It is common to find them near fast food restaurants and in roadside ponds and lakes.

White Pelicans in lake

White pelicans in lake, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

American White Pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Photographed in a lake in South Fort Myers. We normally see these only at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island but this past winter (2010) 4 or 5 White Pelicans flew into our community lake to feed. A group of diving birds arrived around 9 a.m. every day for several days and with them came White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Herons, Egrets and other water birds. The pelicans were only here for about a week and haven't returned since.

Brown pelicans, Islamorada

Brown pelicans, Islamorada, originally uploaded by Junior Naturalist.

Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis

Photographed at Robbie's Marina in Islamorada. There is a Tarpon feeding station set up on the docks and the birds hang around waiting for the charter fishing boats to come in and start filleting fish.

The pelicans with the brown heads are juveniles.