Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Lake's Park: Stand-out Birds

Lake's Park provided good birding from the boardwalk and some decent birding in the pine palm forest. The best sightings, in terms of proximity and clarity, came from the otherwise undesirable mud banks of the Lake's Park shoreline. 
The white and red of these preening Ibis stood in stark contrast to the murky water and muddy shores. 


It was interesting to witness these birds finish their lunchtime probing in the mud and immediately switch over to post-lunch grooming, with their beaks still caked in jet black gunk. Despite my misgivings, there didn't seem to be any dirty residue on the pristine white feathers.


This bird in the forefront was a bit behind in the times. Its face was not nearly as red, nor was its gular pouch as distended as others (check out the stud in the background).
In native folklores, the White Ibis was reputed to be the last bird to seek shelter from an approaching hurricane, and the first to emerge afterwards. Dodging hurricanes and preening white feathers with muddy beaks...this is a bird that lives life on the edge.


One of the less edgy birds at Lake's Park was this breeding plumage Tri-colored Heron, which preferred to stay in the reeds and in the shadows. They live in a constant fear of hurricanes.


While birding at the much-vaunted J.N. Darling Refuge on Sanibel Island, I saw a couple of Little Blue Herons stalking through the mangrove forests. It felt very appropriate and was a satisfying sighting at the time, but there were no photos or prolonged views to be had. At Lake's Park, this bird was out in the open, feeding around the grassy shore of a small island in one of the lake that supported a large bronze statue of children playing ring-around-the-rosie.


It didn't feel quite as genuine as seeing them in the mangroves, but I sure appreciated the improved viewing. Little Blue Herons closely resemble Snowy Egrets when they're young, except for their legs and beak. This allows them to mingle with Snowy flocks, and thus better avoid predation, and their hunting success rates, according to at least one study, actually increase.
Eventually they give it all up though to become the handsome devil here:


I have no stats to back this up, but it seems like the Tricolored Heron has the most proportionately long beak of the heron/egret group. Add to that the striking speed of an annoyed cobra and the dead-eye red eye, and this bird is a fearsome hunter. Like just about every other heron, they're also stunning, and are another bird that, while seen all over Florida, afforded the best looks at the unassuming urban park.


After Lake's Park it was time to clean up--showering, peeling off my sunburnt skin, dying my hair, doing my nails--and go to a wedding. It was a somewhat unorthodox, but ultimately very satisfying conclusion to my Florida birding days. 

14 comments:

  1. Beautiful shots, Laurence! Isn't that distended gular pouch on the ibis an interesting sight? Reminds me of a turkey's wattle...

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    1. Indeed Tammy, it's very attractive. I wish I had one.

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  2. Awesome shots of the Ibis! The Little Blues are pretty!

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    1. Cheers Eileen.
      It all made picking a favorite Heron/Egret very difficult.

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  3. Great shots of these birds! Makes me think a trip to FL is worth investigating.

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    1. Most definitely Gordon. The tough question is, where in Florida should you go???

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  4. Laurence, you certainly did get some great shots of these beautiful and handsome birds. Urban birding can be quite amazing at times!

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    1. Thanks Kathie! No doubt, the urban birding usually provides the best photo ops. It ranks lower on the 'all-round-enjoyable-experience' scale, but hey the photos are a big part of retrospective enjoyment and satisfaction, so in that regard the urban spots can be truly great.

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  5. I'm playing catch up...Really nice photos Laurence! Other than the humid heat, I hope you had a wonderful visit to Florida. I'm sooo jealous of your visit to "Ding" Darling (earlier post), I hope to get there this fall. The night heron shots are fantastic! Woot woot!

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    1. Thanks Jann. It was a beautiful place, and I hope to go back there some day, especially with somebody who really knows the area and the birds--I left feeling like I had woefully underachieved there.

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  6. Gorgeous shots!!! You make me dream of Florida.....when it's cooler:) Not so crazy about the humidity and mosquitoes. I've done my share of that for this year:) Hope your leg is healing and that summer break has been good to you. Chris

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    1. Thanks Chris.
      I dunno when the best time is for a Florida birding visit. I mostly had the annual stuff, but it's always good!

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  7. I love tricolored herons--definitely a fitting conclusion to birding adventures in FL.

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  8. Those really are fantastic photos. I have never seen Ibis before.

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