July 2, 2017 - Florida Birds

Here’s another set of photos I took during our January - February stay in Florida. St. George Island State Park is a reliable place to see American Oystercatchers. This one flew by as I was walking along the beach one day.

OystercatcherAmericanflightGeorgeIslandStatePark20170207

I like to visit the Franklin County Seafood Landing Park in Apalachicola, Florida. It has a viewing platform that extends over the water and provides great looks at the birds that fly by. I had a nice view of this Bald Eagle as it flew out over the water.

EagleBaldflightFranklinCountySeafoodLandingParkApalachicola20170131

From that same viewing platform, I was able to watch this Snowy Egret hunt for its breakfast.

EgretSnowyFranklinCountySeafoodLandingParkApalachicola20170131

The Snowy Egret was successful at catching a number of small prey species. This photo shows one of the items being tossed into its mouth.

EgretSnowywithfooditemFranklinCountySeafoodLandingParkApalachicola20170131

Boat-tailed Grackles are not on the list of favorite birds for most people. But this male, with his iridescent feathers shining in the morning sun, makes a very pleasing picture. This was taken at Bottom’s Road in Panacea, Florida.

GrackleBoattailedmaleBottomsRoadPanacea20160213

American Kestrels are easily spooked. I’m always pleased when I can get close enough for a good photo. This was taken at the Chapman Botanical Gardens in Apalachicola, Florida.

KestrelAmericanChapmanBotanicalGardensApalachicola20170203

Another hard-to-photograph species is the Belted Kingfisher. They seem to have a particularly strong aversion to being anywhere near a human. When I was at the Franklin County Seafood Landing Park in Apalachicola, Florida, I was fortunate to have this one fly by close enough to get a decent flight shot.

KingfisherBeltedflightFranklinCountySeafoodLandingParkApalachicola20170131