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. 

Lake's Park--Boardwalk and Snake Birds

I visited some well known and pristine nature preserves during our trip to Florida in early May. The birding was good, though a bit lower than my expectations, given the reputation that Corkscrew Swamp and J.N. Darling have. To complete the weirdness then, by far the best single-spot birding I had, in terms of overall species seen and the proximity at which they were seen, was a large pre-fabricated suburban hang out called Lake's Park.

Yes, flock to it!

The series of connected reservoirs making up Lake's Park come complete with paddleboat and canoe rentals, and are circumnavigated by bike trails and even a miniature train for the kiddos. Different areas also have sand volleyball, grassy picnicking, and other pedestrian loops through the swampy pine forests. All in all it's a pretty sweet park, but it's also crowded and one really feels the overwhelming 'hand-of'man' effect.

This doesn't stop just about every Florida heron and egret from maintaing at least small breeding colonies in the park, nor the other expected Florida riparian birds from making their appearances. The tree islands provide plenty of seclusion and shelter in the middle of the lakes, and since the water is continually stocked with fish, there's no shortage of food.

In about two hours of birding, I literally re-saw almost every single other bird species I had this far seen in Florida at Lake's Park. It felt a little cheap in a way, since it was not a very natural seeming place (though, again, it was still a very nice city park), but like many other urban birding scenes, it was a great spot to load up on photos.
Upon arriving at the park, my first route was on the lengthy boardwalk vivisecting the largest central lake. From the boardwalk I could look down into the bullrushes and reeds, spying on Anhingas, Grackles, turtles, frogs, and any trolls living under the bridge.

Yes yes, they're Grackles...but hey, Boat-tailed Grackle is not to be underestimated by a predominantly Arizona birder, so here's to a photo-first!

The boardwalk provided a very nice vantage point for this candy-corn Common Gallinule--not always the easiest bird to photograph--and her offspring, which are, given their aesthetic, kind of a bitter sweet bird to photograph.

One of the best initial highlights for Lake's Park, something that made the unplanned stop immediately worthwhile, was the close opportunities for observing Anhingas. These serpentine birds were at most of the other Florida spots I birded, but usually at a distance or seen flying away.
Here, as one might expect at a park bustling with sunburnt fishermen, paddle-boating romantic teenagers, and ice cream-faced little kiddos, the Anhingas were quite used to people. In fact, it was a lesson in patience just waiting for this gal to unwind herself.

Certainly one of the more unique birds in North America for their anatomy/shape and swimming habit, I also noticed, and then later confirmed online, that Anhingas have no nostrils. Perhaps this is an advantage when plying one's trade in smelly swamplands, or when one's primary means of acquiring food is by smashing one's face through it at lightning speed.

At any rate, it was very satisfying to finally get some up-close observations of this bird, all the more so with the rest of the sprawling Lake's Park to explore. More of that to come later.