As promised, it’s amazing American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in The Everglades west of Miami, FL.
American Alligator
Great way to see an American Alligator or three is via air boat ride; recommend Coopertown (no affiliation) as good for a bit of speedy fun + numerous stops to view wildlife.
On the Coopertown air boat rideEverglades vegetation + air boat docks (far left)More Everglades vegetationBromeliad (species?) in Pond Apple (Annona glabra)
Another great way is the Shark Valley loop road via tram/hiking/biking:
View of Everglades from Shark Valley visitor’s center tram stopMore Shark Valley
Sighted multiple adult and baby Alligators:
Saw a couple adults in the grass by the road, but no photos due to a quick retreat into the water upon approach.
Alligator + python habitat
Alligators are great, plus it makes being close to the water an exciting proposition. Thankfully not a problem at Presque Isle. Yet.
September’s ‘parade of Warblers’ continues at Presque Isle State Park with more recent shots from along the Pine Tree Trail.
First up, more Cape May Warbler (female/immature) – white undertail coverts, streaking on breast and up into neck, yellow-ish underside, olive cheek patch, etc.:
Yellow Warbler
Two of lovely American Redstart (f) – gray head, yellow at base of tail, yellow side chest patches:
Female or immature male Magnolia Warbler – gray head, white eyering, yellow underside, bold/narrow white wingbars, black side streaking:
It was high time to commence BirdingPI.com’s 15-year plan for expansion into the tropical latitudes. Stage 1: find office space in Miami, FL. First part of stage 1: Exit Miami, FL as fast as possible for birding in the amazing Everglades, & worry about the rest later!
Great Egret @ The Everglades, east of Shark Valley
These shots at or near famous Shark Valley* @ Everglades National Park. Plenty of American Alligator, but sadly, no sharks. (Alligator content forthcoming.)
Everglades from boat @ Coopertown air boatsView of Everglades @ Shark Valley
Birds at Shark Valley visitors’ center:
Prairie WarblerNorthern Mockingbird
From the visitors’ center, it’s a flat 14 km (15 mile) round trip ride/walk to the observation platform. Great for viewing wildlife, not so great (on foot) in hot weather. Tram tour was approx. 2 hours at USD $30-ish pp. Plus $30 to get through the main gate to park. Not cheap, but worth it if time/money permits. (Guided tram tour covers wildlife and local history, plus stops for birds/alligators and at the observation platform.) Seasonally, be prepared for rain.
Rain’s moving in
Birds: lots and lots of GBH and Great Egret.
GBH detailGreat Egret in treeMore Great EgretGBH in flight
Wet view from top of observation platform as heavy rain moved through:
Thoroughly soaked there and on the tram ride back to the visitors’ center. Bless you Nikon camera weather sealing.
Runner up for ‘bird of the day,’ great sighting of beautiful Little Blue Heron. Slate-gray/blue body, red neck, black-tipped beak:
LBH IWet heronAnd wet Northern MockingbirdAlso wet, a Northern Cardinal
No contest for ‘bird of the day,’ with several sightings of the amazing Anhinga. Range primarily Central and South America + Caribbean, but as far north as SE coastal US including here in Florida. Female has brown/gray/black neck:
Male is essentially entirely black:
Male Anhinga in rainFemale AnhingaMore male Anhinga in rainMale Anhinga
Great to see a beautiful (and wet) Red-shouldered Hawk:
Yes, it rained a lotThe Everglades @ Shark Valley tram tour
[* Original name for this spot something like Shark River Valley Slough National Park; the Shark River being named for sharks that breed at its mouth by the ocean. Shortened by National Park Service to “Shark Valley” = sounds cooler. (Source: Shark Valley tram tour guide.)]
[Editor’s note: re. American English idiom, ‘high time’ means ‘overdue,’ not under the influence of narcotics. Although hard to tell the difference from this post.]
It was so windy Saturday at Presque Isle State Park, thought maybe the only thing to see at Gull Point would be a lone Ring-billed Gull. Fear not – great day for birds, including excellent plover activity.
Lone Ring-billed Gull @ Gull Point trail
By the first lagoon, the local Whimbrel:
Blending in (Whimbrel lower left)Yellowlegs
By the main lagoon by the Gull Point observation platform, tough to ID, but possibly – Baird’s Sandpiper (left); Black-bellied Plover (upper middle); Least Sandpiper (lower middle); Semipalmated Sandpiper (middle right); Semipalmated Plover (far right); unknown – perhaps another Least Sandpiper (lower right):
Mixed shorebirdsMore mixed shorebirds
Left-to-right (possible IDs) – Baird’s Sandpiper; Black-bellied Plover; Least Sandpiper; another Least Sandpiper; Semipalmated Plover; Semipalmated Sandpiper:
Another view of mixed shorebirds
Here’s the plover from the shots above (possibly Black-bellied Plover), with another plover in the vegetation (upper right-hand corner):
Two plovers
Based on the brown cap, pronounced white eyebrow, brown colouration, and ‘wings extend past tail,’ the latter is believed to be an American Golden-plover:
Black-bellied Plover (?)Song Sparrow
More views of Plover, probably Black-bellied, species not 100% certain:
This may be a Pectoral Sandpiper:
Possibly Pectoral Sandpiper (?) in flight
Sanderling in flight, with a Semipalmated Plover on far left:
More Sanderling flying/landing:
More views of (probably) American Golden-plover:
Double-crested Cormorants, etc. @ Gull Point
Back at the lagoon by the roped trail entrance, with Black-bellied Plover = distinctive black under-wings. Also, note the crisp black-and-white checkerboard colouration and short tail end.
Nice day Friday at Presque Isle State Park, otherwise challenging weekend conditions for bird photography – extremely windy Saturday, hazy overcast and windy Sunday with a hint of rain/drizzle. Nevertheless, lots of great activity at Gull Point and elsewhere. (Presque Isle trail conditions: excellent/mostly dry.)
Still catching up with warblers along the Pine Tree Trail from last Sunday. Starting off with more Black-throated Green Warbler (female/juvenile):
Probably immature female Pine Warbler
Great to see more Nashville Warbler activity this year:
Juvenile Cap May Warbler?More Black-throated Green Warbler
Following are beautiful Yellow-rumped Warbler:
More Nashville Warbler:
More Yellow-rumped Warbler:
Probably Bay-breasted Warbler
Finally, lovely Black-and-white Warbler in a pine tree:
Coming up soon, more warbler, + interesting plover activity at Gull Point. Also, alligators!
Lots of warbler activity currently at Presque Isle State Park. Fall plumage is frequently hard to ID on the spot, hence the joy of photography! These shots from last Sunday on the Pine Tree Trail.
First up, Blackburnian Warbler, female or immature male colouration. Black streaking up to the breast, two white wingbars, triangular cheek patch, and yellow eyebrow:
American Redstart (f)Bay-breasted Warbler
Following probably female or immature male Magnolia Warbler. Gray head, white eyering, two wingbars, yellow throat, white undertail coverlets, and black streaking on side:
Following is probably Tennessee Warbler – black eyeline, no/slight wingbars, thin/pointy bill, white undertail coverlets:
So great to see more Northern Parula! Female or immature male – yellow throat, broken white eyering, green wash on back, etc.
These are Black-throated Green Warbler:
Perhaps more Magnolia Warbler:
And some nice shots of Black-throated Green Warbler:
Per BirdingPI.com’s contractual obligations as a charter member of GraC!AS, it’s time once again to celebrate the world’s most beautiful bird: the Gray Catbird! Hyperbole? Definitely not. Rich, gray/black colouration, sleek lines, cute expressions, etc., plus vocalizations vaguely reminiscent of a sick cat. What more could anyone want?
Based on preliminary photo review, at least 13 species of warbler sighted this past Sunday along the Pine Tree Trail at Presque Isle State Park. (!) Still waiting on those photos, so it’s back to Arizona in August, this time at Big Springs (conservation area) in Pinetop/Lakeside – stream/grass/pond + juniper/pine forest.
BushtitMeadow flowers
Following shots at very long distance, but still amazing to see American Coot babies!
American Coot (adult in middle, babies on left and right)With Violet-green SwallowViolet-green SwallowYellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s subspecies)Black-throated Gray Warbler (I)More Black-throated Gray Warbler
Nice Bushtits! Hard to photograph in the juniper, but great to see this flock of 6-7+ birds.
Coming up next time, a mini-celebration of the world’s most beautiful bird!
