Spoonbills, Shovelers and more at Merritt Island

I’m loving December birding at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge with birds coming back to the area to join the year-round regulars.

Among a few of the newcomers are the pretty-in-pink Roseate Spoonbills, the funny-looking Northern Shoveler ducks with their shovel-shaped bills and the white-and-black Forster’s Terns.

But it was seeing a reclusive regular that made my day on a recent trip. I came across an American Bittern, a member of the heron family who famously likes to blend in with its surroundings.

It was hanging out toward the exit of Bio Lab Road. Maybe because there was a little canal separating us, but the bittern didn’t immediately dart into the marshy brush. The “Greta Garbo” of the bird world allowed me to get some pictures of it before it left.

And one thing that’s definitely not a bird that made its way into my camera roll.