Jan. 9, 2011 – Florida Birds in Flight

I was standing on the bank of the Apalachicola River shortly after the sun came up when this Great Blue Heron flew by. The low angle of the light produced interesting highlights on the bird, especially on the leading edges of the wings. It also reflected off the riverbank vegetation to produce a beautiful golden glow on the water.

HeronGreatBlueApalachicola20111007

This Double-crested Cormorant was another bird flying along the river. The sun was at just the right angle to highlight the yellow facial skin of this species.

CormorantDoublecrestedApalachicola20110108

One of the gull species that winters in Florida is the Bonaparte’s Gull. You can tell this bird was hatched last summer because it displays the interesting wing pattern of a juvenile. That will disappear as it molts into adult plumage with a mostly gray wing. In winter these birds have a dark spot behind the eye but in summer they have a completely black head. This photo was taken at St. George Island State Park.

GullBonapartesflightGeorgeIslandStatePark20110107

On a visit to Mexico Beach, Florida, I took this photo of a Ring-billed Gull in winter plumage. The head has gray streaks now but will be completely white in the summer.

GullRingbilledMexicoBeach20110106

This juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron was also along the Apalachicola River. Birders in the southeastern states need to look carefully to distinguish juvenile Black-crowned from juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. The bill of the Yellow-crowned is always totally black. This photo shows the bi-colored bill of the Black-crowned. Also, the Yellow-crowned has longer legs which stick out beyond the tail when it is flying. Note that only the feet of the Black-crowned are visible beyond the tail in this photo. (Thanks to Jim Stevenson of Galveston, Texas, for this information.)

NightHeronBlackcrownedjuvApalachicola20111007