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Summer Families at Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Posted Saturday, July 3, 2021Saturday, June 12, 2021 Jess YarnellPosted in Lake Apopka

I headed back to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive on Memorial Day weekend. I wanted to say hello to the bird families that are springing up all over the marsh. It was a very pleasant morning!

My first birds were a family of Purple Martins perched on top of a telephone pole. Mama Martin brought in a dragonfly and fed it to one of her two babies. Here you can see the last remnants of the dragonfly disappearing down the baby’s throat!

Next I came across a family of Purple Gallinules. The parents watched carefully over their little black baby. Then Mom brought in a bug to feed the baby.

I saw full-grown Anhinga juveniles throughout the marsh. Then I found this nest with a pair of tiny Anhinga babies. They were begging Mom to regurgitate some food for their breakfast.

I was surprised to find the same Blue-winged Teal and female Ruddy Duck from my last visit. Do these birds realize that they were supposed to head north in early March? Now that it’s almost June, I wonder if they will stick around for the summer.

The Least Bitterns were very active on this morning. I found one wading in the open water, carefully stalking fish. He grabbed three or four fish while I watched. My favorite shot showed his head silhouetted against the blue water.

Nearby, a family of Common Gallinules was taking care of their small family. The small alien-like baby begged for food. Mom offered a small fish. The baby kept dropping it, and Mom kept picking it up and handing it to the baby until the baby finally got it down.

You hear the grackles before you see them. This was a Boat-tailed Grackle mom who landed near some berries to feed her nagging juvenile. It seemed to me that the juvie was big enough to eat the berries for himself. Instead the mother hopped down repeatedly to grab a berry, then hopped up to give it to the juvie. They repeated this berry after berry after berry…

The birds aren’t the only ones having babies. I spotted this pair of dragonflies mating in mid-air as they flew over the marsh waters.

Again I looked for juvenile Barn Swallows waiting to be fed, and again I ended up going for flight shots of the adults. They are fast little fliers! Photographing them in mid-air is a huge challenge.

It was getting hot, and I headed home to the air conditioning. This Blue Jay called goodbye and told me to return soon!

Black-necked Stilts Defending Babies

Posted Thursday, July 1, 2021Saturday, June 12, 2021 Jess YarnellPosted in Lake Apopka

On a late-May visit to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, I came across a pair of Black-necked Stilts flying in circles and fussing. Then I saw that they were the proud parents of two tiny babies!

A minute later, I noticed why the birds were fussing. An alligator was slowing making its way down the canal, moving straight toward the stilt family. Mom and Dad were calling the babies to a safer place.

I got a few quick clicks of the babies, then backed away. The adults were stressed enough already without a photographer bothering them too.

Aren’t the babies cute? They are so tiny! They are born knowing how to swim and basically take care of themselves, but they trust Mom and Dad to keep them out of harm’s way. As their parents called from the other side of the canal, the babies swam towards them.

After they got the babies to higher ground, Mom and Dad flew frantically around the alligator, trying to make him move away. If I were that alligator, I would have left just to get away from the incessant nagging of the stilts!

All is well that ends well. The babies were safe, the alligator eventually left, and everybody was OK. The parents were left to take care of their babies and wonder about a strange phenomenon…when did their babies become a two-headed monster? :)

Black Tern and Baby Black-necked Stilts at LAWD

Posted Tuesday, June 29, 2021Saturday, June 12, 2021 Jess Yarnell1 CommentPosted in Lake Apopka

It’s been a while since I drove the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. It’s become an Alligator Gawking drive, where impatient people don’t always enjoy stopping to enjoy the birds. But I wanted to visit my nesting summer birds, and maybe scope out some nest sites to re-visit on my bike. So I took some extra patience and headed out!

Having spent most of my recent bike rides along Lust Road, I didn’t dally at the entrance. My first good shot of the morning was an Osprey flying with his breakfast fish. I hopped out of the car and focused quickly as he flew up the canal.

Next I paused when I spotted a pair of Black-necked Stilts foraging in the marsh. With them were three tiny fuzzballs on long legs. Baby stilts! The birds are colored to blend in perfectly with their marsh habitat during their first weeks of life. They forage quite independently while staying in the general vicinity of their parents.

I was surprised to come across this female Ruddy Duck. I wonder if she forgot to migrate or if she got lost while migrating? She preened quietly in the early morning light. Does she care that all her friends left weeks ago?

A beautiful juvenile Green Heron perched out in the open. I see them nesting regularly in this area of the drive. It took him a couple of minutes before he was willing to look at the camera!

A Northern Flicker was actively feeding near the edge of the drive. He paused to perch at the top of a dead branch, then headed off in search of breakfast for his young ones. I stitched together a couple of my shots to show his flight trajectory.

Least Bitterns are easy to spot during the summer at Lake Apopka. This one was very intently focused on a fish in the water. He stretched his long neck before reaching down to grab his snack!

Common Gallinules are very common at Lake Apopka, so it’s pretty easy to find them with their babies. They are on their second clutch of the summer already. This baby gallinule was nagging his parent relentlessly.

The Barn Swallows are starting to bring their babies out. I hoped to find a branch of hungry babies with their mouths wide open as a parent flew by. Instead I ended up walking around the nesting area, photographing the parents in flight.

Then I came across a Black-necked Stilt nest. The stilts create a raised nest with mud, twigs, and leaves. Look at Mom’s long legs folded behind her as she quietly incubates her eggs in the relentless Florida sun.

My last birds of the day were a surprise, and I’m grateful to the photographer who pointed them out to me! A Black Tern had been hanging out at Laughlin and Intersector. He was in his white plumage. A Black Tern this far inland was a fun find. He perched on a branch very far out in the marsh. I added the 2x teleconverter to my Beast, then laughed as I saw the Black Tern flying near a pair of Forster’s Terns and bothering them.

Black Tern with Forster's Terns — Black Tern with Forster’s Terns

Finally the Black Tern flew off on his own. What a great end to a beautiful morning!