I headed back to the south shore of Lake Apopka in mid-June to say hello to my baby birds growing up on the lake shore. It was a quiet morning, but it felt so good to be outside in the cool morning breeze.

This Purple Martin was one of several flying over my head. I listened to their chatter and got myself a little dizzy trying to photograph them in flight. I suspect the dragonfly in this bird’s beak was destined to be breakfast for one of her babies.

This juvenile Purple Gallinule perched on the top of an alligator flag leave and watched me curiously. He was really pretty in the soft morning light.

I think he was supposed to be baby-sitting his younger sibling, who ventured out cautiously into the water below. I love how the black features of the baby and the brown feathers of the juvenile are mixed in this little guy’s portrait.

Deep in the reeds, I spotted a Least Bittern. I’ve been watching for babies ever since I saw the pair of adults, but this guy was alone. He eventually reached down into the water to pull out a nice fish for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, a Limpkin flew in and started foraging for an apple snail in the shallow lake water. After a few minutes, he came up victorious…

Then as I watched, he used his long beak to extract the snail from the shell. My camera was ready in the moment that he tossed the snail into the air and grabbed it for the final gulp!