Jan. 19, 2020 - St. Marks NWR - 2

Here are some more photos from St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. These American Avocets flew over the same place where I took last week’s Flamingo photo. Avocets are large sandpipers, 18” tall. They are shown here in their black and white winter plumage. During the breeding season, they will have rusty cinnamon feathers on their heads and necks. They have a long, thin, slightly upturned bill. My bird books say that the female’s bill is more curved than that of the male. In this photo, the last bird and the top bird seem to have more curve in their bills, so they are probably females.

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This Great Egret was fishing near the viewing platform where I took the previous photo.

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In the same area was a Snowy Egret. It’s standing in the water so you can’t see its yellow feet which are often called its “golden slippers.” You can see a bit of yellow on the back of each leg. This yellow skin runs along the back of the leg.

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The photos above might lead you to think these two egrets are about the same size. However, seeing them together like this shows the real difference. The Snowy Egret is 24 inches tall and the Great Egret is 39 inches tall. The height difference is somewhat exaggerated because the Snowy has its head tucked in and the Great Egret has its neck stretched out.

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Here’s the same Belted Kingfisher I showed you last week as a silhouette. The rusty band across the breast indicates this is a female; the male has a plain white breast. This is one case where the female of a bird species is more colorful than the male.

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A Great Blue Heron was standing very still near the reeds waiting for a fish to swim by.

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This Tri-colored Heron was another of the large wading birds I saw at St. Marks. I like the pattern of the water in this photo. Part of it reflects the blue from the sky and the rest reflects the brown from the vegetation on shore.

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