Roseates are back, making Orlando Wetlands more colorful
Roger Simmons,
I’m happy to report that a large number of Roseate Spoonbills have returned to the Orlando Wetlands for the winter.
Last year, there were Roseates everywhere at the Wetlands in January and February – but I had not seen nearly as many this year.
After not visiting the Wetlands for a couple of weeks, I went on Sunday, Feb. 11 and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of Roseates. There still aren’t as many as last year, but there’s a good number of them — and hopefully they will start nesting there soon.
While the Roseates are one of the most colorful birds at the Wetlands, there were some others that were showing off their colors, too.
Robins are not normally found in Central Florida except in the winter, when they arrive here from their northern homes. While visiting the UCF Arboretum at sunset, a flock of several dozen Robins arrived.
I’ve been birding since January, and just when I feel like I am getting the hang of identifying birds in the wild, one will throw me a curveball. Meet the latest to do that.
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.