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Saturday, June 1, 2013

Viera Wetlands - Non Kayaking Post (NKP)

The Spoonie has landed

We stay grounded today. The forecast for the intracoastal was a moderate chop. No thanks. Have been there, have done that and is not something I want to do again. Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands is always a good choice for days like this.  One thing you should know is that you can drive again inside the wetlands but only on a selected impoundment roads. The huge amount of traffic damaged some of the roads so they closed them. Looks like plan to fix them.

Wood Stork

When I saw that it was allow to drive inside the wetlands though about doing it. But decided to walk instead so parked outside, in the parking area, and walked my way through the Viera Wetlands. Since it is not a kayaking post will present the pics with minimum commentary. That being said... Here we go...


Great Egret

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Moorhen

Cattle Egret...those ones are nesting in the area

Cattle Egret

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks...also known as Whistlers

Glossy Ibis

Whistler inside its nest

Tri-Colored Heron

Black Necked Stilt

Little Blue Heron

Ibis Trio

Was taking a look around from one of the observation towers when saw a pink thing flying in the distance and landing at one of the ponds. It was a Roseate Spoonbill...


Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

After several minutes there decided to keep going...

Great Egret

Green Heron

Green Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron chicks

Anhinga

Red Winged Black Bird

Juvenile Crested Caracara. An adult one flew over a few seconds before

Tri Colored Heron

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Great Blue Heron

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Anhinga

Took my time walking near one of the corners, an area where I have seen Least Bitterns before. A nice couple did the same looking for the same bird. They saw it a few minutes before while driving around. The little elusive bird did not show up, but it did as soon as they left. I was able to shot a few pics before it went to the back of the reeds...

Least Bittern

Least Bittern

Black Necked Stilt nesting

Cardinal

Cardinal

Crested Caracara

Black Necked Stilt

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Juvenile Ibis

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Made it to the parking lot and decided to do a short drive around. This is what I saw...

Common Tern (????)

Common Tern

Common Terns

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane chicks

Crested Caracara

Juvenile Crested Caracara

Juvenile Crested Caracara

And that is it for this one. Check Views From Our Kayak on Facebook. Thanks for reading and see you on our next Views From Our Kayak.

Death for one means life for other. That is how nature works. An adult Crested Caracara with a dead chick, probably a Cattle Egret chick.

8 comments:

  1. If a picture is worth a thousand words, yours are worth a million. Or, one. Wow

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  2. simply awesome photos of nature captured beautifully. I enjoy your blogs. Thanks for sharing. Sandy

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  3. Common tern with ? is a least tern.
    I have never seen the Glossy Ibis. Gorgeous!
    I love your blog & pictures.

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  4. Dave, I am humbled by your words. Thanks!!!

    Anon...What can I say different from Thank You? Thank You, I guess.

    Thanks for the correction about the tern FOldschool, and your words too!!!!!

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  5. Stunning photos! Makes me miss the Florida I grew up in and very happy to know so much is still out there.

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  6. Curios....I didn't see any Osprey in the photos. Did I miss them?

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  7. I cannot remember why there are no osprey pics. I did not save any in my files but do remember shooting a pic of one osprey. Maybe it was too high and did the pic did not come good.

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