Birds of Loop Road Scenic Drive

There is wildlife on Loop Road, and this visit, we saw a lot of birds!!  It’s probably just me, but I think the tropical birds we found here are really cool.  Now, some you will recognize from other areas of the country, too.  Perhaps they just over-winter here!

I remember seeing these when I lived in the Midwest, at a rookery I lived close to – it’s an egret and this morning, he was searching the waters for food!  I just happened to capture him in between bobs into the water!

The anhinga is a very cool bird.  In this shot, a male anhinga was sitting on a branch drying his wings.  One of the things that make him so cool is that he doesn’t just bob his head in the water looking for food.  He actually dives into the water and swims through the swampy weeds incredibly fast!  Then, as you see here, he dries himself in the sun!

Here’s another bird I used to see from time to time in Illinois – a great blue heron.  I love this shot of him, standing rather majestically.

And, right after I captured that image, he turned and noticed something up higher than he was.  I was lucky enough to still have him in my sights and captured the somewhat awkward grace of a heron taking off.  He sort of leans into it and then gives a little hop before his large wings provide the lift to get him airborne.  He actually just settled in a new place, with his eye still on whatever it was that captured his attention in the first place!

My last image of my casual bird watching of the morning was this little guy.  I have no idea what type of bird he was, and when I asked the rangers in the Visitors Center, they didn’t know either.  We poured over all the known birds that inhabit Big Cypress, but he wasn’t there.  His coloring is similar to what’s called a purple bunting, but their beak isn’t nearly as long as this guy’s.  I thought he was really pretty, though!

Enjoy!