A wet, splish-splashy day at Merritt Island

It was typical 2024 Florida winter weather when I visited Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Jan. 27. It was sunny, then cloudy, then rainy, then cloudy, then sunny, etc. Rinse and repeat, as they say.

It seemed all the birds I photographed had some connection to the water or the rain – from a Reddish Egret getting spooked by something (a gator?) splashing in front of it, to an Osprey taking a bath in the Indian River, to birds (and a photogenic gator) weathering the changing conditions.

It was wet, but it was interesting.

And I came across two new-to-me birds: Northern Pintail ducks and Black Skimmers.