Nests and more!

Yesterday, we went to check on the nests at Ding, thinking that it would be a quick trip and get a couple of pics of new baby chicks. We saw much more on the trip, though! First, two of the four Yellow-Crowned Night Heron chicks had hatched. I love their wild hair!

The nest below is at quite a distance away. I cannot tell if there are two or three little heads in the nest. Maybe next time, I will be able to see them better.

The Little Green Heron babies were all asleep, as were the Anhinga babies. I saw the pretty Tri-Colored Heron below through the tree branches, all colorful with his mating plumage.

As we walked away, I heard a lot of wing flapping, so I turned around and got to see the two pretty Tri-Colored Herons standing in their nest, making babies!

They look pleased with themselves in the photo below, don’t you think?

While I was taking the photos above, my husband was trying to get my attention to tell me that the 10 foot gator had surfaced in the water in the little creek. I managed to get a photo of her before she went back under the water. That is one huge gator. I had my long lens and she was too close for me to be able to get the whole body in the pic. But trust me, this is a really big gator.

Mama Anhinga was drying her wings near the nest while her babies slept.

The little juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron below looked lonely sitting by itself in the sun.

On the drive through Ding, a raccoon ran across the road in front of us. All I could get was a blurry photo through a dirty Jeep window!

The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron below looked like he’d just pushed back from a full meal and was surveying his surroundings. It’s such an odd way to hold his wings.

We certainly didn’t expect to see 29 Roseate Spoonbills in one spot.

Perfect Landing!

Baby chicks

Yesterday, we had a successful trip through Ding. The baby chicks in the nests near the Indigo Trail boardwalk are growing so fast! Just one week and look how much the Anhinga baby chicks changed!

I love the tiny little wings that will grow so much!

One of the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron eggs had a pip in it yesterday morning. I hope to check the nest again in a day or so.

The Little Green Heron below is one of the parents in the Little Green Heron nest. We were lucky to get to watch a changing of the guard and feeding by one of the parents. There are three adorable little baby chicks in their nest!

First, the parent on the nest stood up and moved aside for the other one coming in to feed the little hungry babies.

At first, it appeared there were two chicks, but when the parent moved over, there were three little hungry monkeys waiting for food.

I found it interesting that the Little Green Heron parent places its beak in the baby chick’s mouth. The Anhinga baby chick puts its head down the parent’s throat to get fed.

These little chicks were very hungry and aggressive. One seemed to get more than the others at this feeding.

I think the parent was going out the back of one head into the mouth of the chick behind it! Ha!

Hey, how about you? Do you have any food for me?

They still seemed hungry after the feeding.

The way the sun came through the trees onto the Tri-Colored Heron below that was standing in the shade made it appear very blue.

We watched the tagged Reddish Egret that we usually see searching for food at this same spot along the drive.

There was also a juvenile Tri-Colored Heron nearby at the same area along Wildlife Drive.

Happy Mother's Day 2019

We made a quick trip through Ding Wildlife Refuge this morning to check on the nests. The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron gave us a nice peek at the 4 eggs in the nest.

We had a glimpse of only one of the Anhinga babies this morning. It’s grown so much in just three days.

This Little Green Heron was staying near the nest and its mate. I haven’t seen how many eggs they have yet.

I feel a good shake coming on!

There it is!

When you see a butterfly, sometimes you just need to take a pic of it!

Whether you are already a Mommy or you are a Mommy-to-be, I wish you a wonderful Mother’s Day!

I hope you get to have your babies in your nest this weekend. If that cannot happen, then I hope they let you know they love you and that you are the best Mommy in the whole world.

Nesting update - 5/9/19

I took a couple of friends through Ding and the Bailey Tract yesterday. As I left my home, a swallow-tailed kite flew just a few feet overhead. I hoped it was a good omen that we’d see lots of birds. It turns out that it was a great omen and a good day for birding!

Last weekend, we saw only one Anhinga chick. There were two little bobbing heads yesterday, while Mama tucked in her head for a nap.

This Yellow-Crowned Night Heron gave us a couple of glimpses of the eggs it was sitting on. It looked like three at first, but after zooming in, there are actually four eggs.

We counted at least 4 Yellow-Crowned Night Heron nests and I’m sure we did not see all of them in this one spot.

Last time, I could not tell whether this was a Little Blue Heron or a Little Green Heron. All I could see was the back of the bird. Yesterday, I got a better look and it is indeed a Little Green Heron, just as the lady who was standing beside me said it was.

This pretty Tri-Colored Heron gave us plenty of time to take several photos, while it preened its beautiful mating plumage! I love the beak and eye color!

I think the bugs were irritating the birds as much as they were biting us.

It was good to see the Osprey nest at Ding was successful with at least one chick.

This Little Green Heron flew into the top of a tree right in front of us. It was so striking against the blue sky.

It was a treat to get to see all of these spoonbills so late in the morning.

There is almost always a Reddish Egret with a tracker on his back at this location. People were laughing and saying that they thought he might be a drone and that’s his battery pack. He will occasionally fly off, get new batteries installed and then return.

Not long after someone said that, he flew away and then returned!

He came back in with his feathers ruffled, but he seemed to shake it off pretty well.

A quick stop by the beach and I got a couple of pics of an Osprey right overhead, but no fish in his talons.

This Little Green Heron was quite a distance away at the Bailey Tract. It is a grainy photo, but it is always fun to see them fishing. He actually caught a small fish as we watched.