Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Tag: Flying

  • Snail Kites

    Snail Kites

    This past week my friend and fellow photographer Art Nadelman and I ventured down to the Fort Myers area in search of snail kites. I’ve written about snail kites on a couple of occasions in the past. Most recently we had a great day photographing kites near Gainesville. But this week was the best yet for capturing images of these beautiful birds.

    Snail kites are on the Federal Endangered Species list. They are only found in certain areas of Florida in the US. Their diet consists primarily of large apple snails. It’s fascinating to watch them hunt for and grab the snails from the water. They go in feet first and pluck the snails out of the shallows then fly off to a nearby perch to pick the meat out of the shell. Apple snails are aptly named because they can grow to the size of a small apple. For reference, here is a photo of one in my hand.

    Img 1015
    Apple snail

    We see snail kites occasionally throughout the year but rarely find more than a couple at a time. This week we found a larger group that included 3 males which is very unusual. The males are a beautiful blue-gray color with bright orange feet and bills and red eyes. Two of the males were banded.

    I’ve listed some links for more information on snail kites.

    A few more pictures from this journey are included below. For a larger selection of photos, go to these galleries:

  • Wintering Waterfowl

    Wintering Waterfowl

    It started off being a rather quiet year for waterfowl. No matter where we went in December and early January, the numbers seemed down from years past. But the last couple of weeks have changed everything. Not only have the number of ducks improved, but we found a couple of species that we hadn’t seen in our travels. Most notably is the northern pintail. We located a small nature preserve near Tampa Bay that the ducks liked. In addition to the pintails, we found northern shovelers, widgeons, and plenty of teal, including my favorite, a green-winged teal. Hopefully they’ll stick around for a few more weeks.

    Northern Pintail Male Flying By
    Male Northern Pintail Flying By

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

  • More Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

    More Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

    Last week ended with a fantastic day photographing scissor-tailed flycatchers. These migrants travel all the way around the Gulf of America from Oklahoma and Texas to spend the winter here. They like open areas like farmland. We found them around the strawberry fields southeast of Tampa.

    They are beautiful birds that are fun to watch as they fly from perches to snag insects out the air. Their long-forked tails make them incredibly agile. They can twist and turn performing quite a show when chasing bugs.

    Over the past couple of years there have been numerous sightings even though they remain quite rare in this area.

    Scissor Tailed Flycatcher With Long Tail Sitting In Tree
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher with a Long Tail Sitting in a Tree

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Wood Storks

    Wood Storks

    I recently had the pleasure of capturing some fun birds in flight images with my neighbor and artist, Jerry Horine. We found an active area where wood storks were moving from their morning roosting spots. Storks are great targets because they tend to slowly glide a long way before landing. I also never realized how the edges of their wings had a green iridescence.

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

  • Bald Eagles

    Bald Eagles

    Bald eagles have gotten very active as the mating season has begun. This always offers some good photo opportunities. The birds are active hunting for food and nesting materials. We are fortunate to have a pair that built a nest a few years ago that is very easy to photograph.

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

  • Snail Kites

    Snail Kites

    Yesterday we endured a 2+ hour ride with hopes of finding some beautiful scissortail flycatchers. But the flycatchers apparently decided to move to a different undisclosed location. So instead of photographing flycatchers, we had the pleasure of watching and capturing some images of 3 snail kites.

    Snail Kite Female Searching For Snails
    Female Snail Kite Hovering Over the Water

    These are amazing birds that glide across shallow waters hunting for huge apple snails. They are about the size of a crow. They are native to central and south America but are only found in Florida in the US. The snail kites in Florida are now listed as endangered because of habitat loss.

    Snail Kite Female Perched On Sign
    Female Snail Kite Sits on Top of a Sign Ready to Eat Her Meal

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

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