My most recent trip to the Orlando Wetlands on Sunday, August 6, started by spotting a group of 16 (!) baby Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and ended with photographs of an elusive Belted Kingfisher. All in all, it was a good day of birding.
We’re getting closer and closer to the start of birds’ fall migration – some saying it’s already starting based on birds they are spotting. But until all the visitors return to the area, the birds I saw on Sunday were worth the trip.
Black-bellied Whistling Duck parents with 16 (!) of their ducklings at Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.A group of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks at the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023 resembles a bunch of bumble bees.These little Black-bellied Whitling Ducks, like most of the offspring, were likely born in a tree cavity and then jumped out of the nest when they were 2 days old. Taken at Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.Black-bellied Whistling Ducks seem spend as much time in trees as in the water. This one does morning stretches at the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.A Turkey Vulture surveys the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023. They have a powerful sense of smell, which helps them as scavengers.A Turkey Vulture keeps a watchful eye on the Orlando Wetlands in the morning in July 2023.Those you mostly see them in water, this Little Blue Heron takes to the sky over Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.Pig Frogs, like this one at the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023, not only are colorful but they’re also very loud.An Anhinga gets ready to make a splash landing at the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.An Anhinga helps the staff at the Orlando Wetlands with water-level measurement in August 2023.A Snowy Egret flies over the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023. likely looking for little fish in the ponds below. A pair of Snowy Egrets runs into each other while hunting in a pond at the Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.A little nemesis in its own right, I finally spotted this Belted Kingfisher sitting on a branch over a pond at Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.This Belted Kingfisher, which is usually shy and darting about, take a brief rest on a limb – enough time for me to snap a few pictures of it in August 2023.A Belted Kingfisher preens during its brief stop on a limb over a pond at the Orlando Wetlands in 2023.
A couple of trips to different spots at Merritt Island — Gator Creek Road, Black Point Wildlife Drive and Scrub Ridge Trail — gave me some expected and unexpected subjects to photograph this month.
Morning is the best time for birding, which isn’t easy for me since I am not a morning person. But on a sunrise trip to the UCF Arboretum on June 9, I heard a familiar wake-up call. It was a Carolina Wren.
