Birds, Manatees, and Gators

We saw lots of different birds over the weekend! It’s great to see them at Ding, the Bailey Tract, and at the beach, catching fish and enjoying getting back to normal.

I think I’ll caption the next picture . . .

“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”

Along Wildlife Drive at Ding, we were treated to watching several manatee very near the shoreline. The sun was coming up directly behind them, so getting photos was difficult in the harsh light. It was super cool to watch, though!

I always get this look from an Osprey!

At Bailey Tract, we saw these little Kildeer birds. They are very common, but are such cute little birds.

This Tri-colored Heron caught a fish in the early morning sun at the Bailey Tract.

Look at the photo below of the fish going down his throat.

We saw a small two-foot long gator when we first got to the Bailey Tract. I didn’t stop to check my camera settings and took this spooky underexposed Halloween photo below by mistake. You can click on the photo to enlarge it to get a better look. I love the way the sun lit up the outline of his eyes.

Here’s what he really looked like.

We had a quick trip to the beach. it was great to see clearer water and birds fishing! However, the No-See-Ums were just about the worst we’ve ever experienced. They were swarming us without mercy!

Here’s another photo of the eagles.

The caption for this one . . . “Honey, I’m home!”