Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Day: May 28, 2022

  • River Ranch

    River Ranch

    From March to September, Florida is the summer home to swallow-tailed kites. Hopefully, I’ll be writing about some great photo opportunities over the coming months. We began seeing these incredible birds around the end of February, so we decided to take a drive to an area that is known to have a decent population.

    KICCO Wildlife Management Area is located about 30 miles east of Lake Wales. The Florida National Scenic Trail cuts through the WMA. The Florida Trail is 1 of only 11 Congressionally designated National Scenic Trails in the country, and 1 of 3 contained entirely within a single state. The trail is currently about 1,500 miles long and winds its way across Florida from Big Cypress National Preserve in the south to Gulf Islands National Seashore in the western end of Florida’s panhandle. We did see 4 of the prized kites but they were sailing around above us while we were under the tree canopy, so we didn’t get any good photos.

    Eastern Phoebe Perched On Branch
    Eastern Phoebe Perched on a Branch

    Follow the link to learn more about KICCO WMA.

  • Baby Sandhill Cranes

    Baby Sandhill Cranes

    Again, this year, we had a pair of sandhill cranes nest right around the corner from our house. The eggs finally hatched and there are now 2 new crane “colts” enjoying the neighborhood. The cranes chose to build their nest by a pond that they used 2 years ago. Luckily it was in a spot that was easy to see and photograph. The images I shot were right after the first egg hatched. The colt was less than a day old. The second egg hatched the next day and within another couple of days the family had moved on.

    Sandhill Crane Female Nudging New Chick
    Female Sandhill Crane Nudges Her New Chick

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Okeechobee

    Okeechobee

    A few weeks ago, we took a long ride down by Lake Okeechobee to look for a couple of rare birds for our region. They had been sighted at a campground on the south end of Lake Okeechobee. On the ride over we spotted a bald eagle with opossum roadkill for breakfast, and we were able to get some good shots. Further along, there was a species of game bird that has adapted to the south Florida habitat and is now beginning to build a population. The bird is a red-legged partridge, and it is very colorful. Like grouse and quail, it likes the ground and would rather run than fly. We were fortunate to see several that popped out of the grass and ran along a dirt road.

    Red Legged Partridge Walking Along Edge Of Road
    Red-legged Partridge Walks Along the Edge of a Road

    Our destination ended up being a bust. The two species we were hoping to find didn’t show. So, the 2-plus hour drive through citrus groves and sugar cane fields was salvaged by the eagle, the partridge and a tom turkey that was fanning for a harem of hens in a field. Sometimes the journey is better than the destination.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

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