Like most wading birds the Reddish Egret can spend a lot of time standing around. But when they are ready to hunt, look out!
They use their whole body: running, raising their wings, jumping in the air, and bam!
He got a little fish for dinner.
Then it starts again.
Hopefully some of his catch will be bigger, otherwise he would never be able to eat enough to support all this exercise.
Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
December 31, 2019
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers feed at sapwells, shallow holes they have drilled in tree’s bark.
Like other woodpeckers, Sapsuckers are industrious, and usually their work is in tidy rows.
Check out his sharp beak and the spread of his foot!
As the sapsucker worked around the tree additional sapwells came into view.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
A Tricolored Heron made a grand entrance, landing on the edge of a canal that runs along the edge of a marsh.
He immediately started patrolling the water, looking for lunch.
Alas, this was just a piece of grass, not the hoped for fish.
Undaunted, he reversed direction and continued the hunt.
November 27, 2019
I heard the crunching and knew from the Alligator’s raised head and tail position he was eating something.
American White Pelicans tend to feed in groups, probably gaining an advantage of any fish their neighbor stirs up. This fellow swam away from the group into a spot where the fall colors from the tree line reflected in the shallow water. I believe the rougher water beyond the bird is deeper and has some flow as it heads into a canal.
His feeding style was more scooping along the water surface, and less plunging of his full head.
He seemed to be successful.
The tide was almost out and this Green Heron was looking for a snack in the shallow water along the edge of the river.
I missed the catch but captured the meal being swung about.
Then, instead of eating the fish right away the heron took it for a walk.
He kept right on walking into some reeds at the edge of the river, out of my sight.
This dirty looking Ibis is actually a not-quite adult. Juvenile White Ibis are brown and gradually turn white.
This one was foraging along the edge of a pond, sticking to the mostly shaded edge, quickly swallowing any food.
He stepped into the sun for a moment and you can see the mottled brown on his wings.
I saw the dive but I didn’t see the Osprey go into the pond to catch this fish as my view was blocked by a tree. Osprey can completely submerge and work really hard to break free of the water, harder if they caught something. Other times I have witnessed this the Osprey would then make a bee-line for a tree or other secure spot to eat.
Back in my line of sight he shook several times, lightening his load of the excess water while hanging firmly onto lunch. Then he circled around the pond several times with his catch, undecided about where to go.
What he probably knew that I didn’t until a couple minutes later was he was about to be chased by a pair of Bald Eagles hoping to lighten his load. Suddenly he decided to head for the trees and the last I saw of them the Osprey was in the lead.
White Ibis usually travel in groups but this one was by himself searching the edges of a small pond. There is a full tree canopy over the pond so not much direct light gets to the water, and the reflected light appears in lots of colors.
Back and forth he went with an occasional sweep of the water with his beak, hunting for food.
Reflections of some Cyprus Knees and a few dapples of sunlight changed the look of the water as the Ibis moved along.
A Little Blue Heron waded back and forth in a small, shallow pond, methodically hunting.
Occasionally he stabbed the water, without success as I watched.
Little Blues are all white when they hatch and around a year old start to transition to the full blue of adulthood.
From the other side of the pond I had a back-lit view of the Heron as he continued to hunt.
