Heron, Egrets, Manatees, and Fish

On a day when I didn’t expect to have much to photograph, it turned out to be a pretty decent day. Starting out on a drive through Ding, there were several Little Blue Herons to see.

The lighting definitely changes how the colors of the little blue heron show up in a photograph.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Reddish Egret standing beside the road at Ding. They are usually in the water doing their dance. And this one posed so nicely for me!

This egret was hiding in the bushes, waiting for breakfast to wander by.

I know there has to be a great caption for the Great Blue Heron cupping his wings in the photo below, but it’s not coming to me. If you have a good caption, put it in the comments at the end of today’s photos!

This was a strange cloud formation that caught my eye.

While taking the photo of the Great Blue Heron cupping his wings on the west side of the drive, we heard someone behind us say, “Oh, look, manatees!” We turned around and saw several manatees playing around on the east side of the drive. When you know how shallow that water is, it is amazing that these huge sea cow creatures can maneuver through the water in that area. I’m not sure how many there were, but it had to be at least 6 or 8. They only surfaced their noses for the most part and would blow bubbles just before surfacing.

Awww. Kiss, kiss!

As we returned home, I thought I saw something on top of the drain grate at the edge of our yard. The drain is connected to the lake behind our house via a culvert. The level of water in the grate is equal to the level of the lake water. We parked the car and then walked around to find out what I’d seen. It turned out to be 4 live gar that were each about 1.5 ft. long. I have no idea if they were Florida Gar or Spotted Gar. I don’t think they were Alligator Gar, but I could be wrong. They obviously had come up through the grate from the lake, but couldn’t get back down into it. So, my husband used the pool net to scoop them up and walked over to the lake and put them back in.

They put up a good fight, but the area of water was so small, it was easy for my husband to trap them with the net.

In the next couple of days, these buds below will turn into gorgeous blooms. If they are pollinated, they will turn into yummy dragonfruit. There are probably 10 blooms on the plant. It’s the second time it’s bloomed this season. Fingers crossed for the fruit to grow.