May 8, 2011 - Other Florida Photos

These Suwannee Cooters were sunning themselves on a log at Wakulla Springs State Park near Tallahassee, Florida. They don’t seem to mind being close together and can sometimes be found stacked on top of each other. Cooters can be up to 16” across. For the most part they are found only in Florida but their range does extend up the Suwannee River into southern Georgia. Suwanee Cooters are on the Species of Special Concern list in Florida.

CooterSuwanneeWakullaSprings20110215

Great Blue Herons are not usually thought of as colorful birds. However, as this photo shows, they have lots of black and rusty red accent patches. This photo was taken at St. George Island State Park.

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The endangered Snowy Plover is a tiny shorebird only 6-7” long. Its pale plumage blends so well with the dry sand that it is often overlooked. This photo was taken at St. George Island State Park where Snowy Plovers are year-round residents. Because the black marks on the head and neck are so dark, it seems likely that this bird already has its breeding plumage.

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It’s usually difficult to get close enough to a Belted Kingfisher to take a decent picture so I was happy that this one landed near me at St. Joe Peninsula State Park. Kingfishers are one of the few species in which the female is more colorful than the male. This is a female; a male would not have the rusty colored spots on the breast and sides. Belted Kingfishers are found over most of North America in one season or another.

KingfisherBeltedfemaleJoePeninsula20110211

This Black Skimmer was resting on a sand spit on Sanibel Island. The bill looks deformed but that’s the way it is supposed to be. The skimmer flies just above the water with the lower mandible in the water. When it contacts a food item the bill snaps shut.

SkimmerBlackBlindPassSanibelIsland20110128

Here’s a Softshell Turtle basking on the river bank at Wakulla Springs State Park. The shell is soft and leathery but it does have a layer of bone under the center of it. This might seem to make the turtle vulnerable, but it can easily defend itself with a pair of strong mandibles that are capable of inflicting painful bites.

TurtleSoftshellSuwanneeWakullaSprings20110215

While John Murphy and I were at St. Marks NWR, we can across this leucistic Yellow-rumped Warbler. Leucistic means that some of the feathers that would normally be dark are white instead.

WarblerYellowrumpedLeucisticMarksNWR20110226