Everglades National Park, Day 7 – Thursday – February 14, 2013

Day 7, Thursday – Eco Pond (The Day of the Roseate Spoonbill) and a Bike Ride


Nancy headed to Eco Pond before sunrise this morning.  She said she wanted to be there in time to see the Roseate Spoonbills.  Everyday she has gone, she sees them leave. So today she headed out while it was still dark in hope of seeing them before they fly away.

She passed by this Moon Vine, which blooms at night.
 
Told you it was still dark;o))
01 - Moon Vine
 
 
When she arrived at Eco Pond, it was just beginning to get light and there were NO birds;o((
 
 
After a bit of a wait, the first two birds to arrive were Roseate Spoonbills:o))
02a - First Roseate Spoonbill flies in02b - Second Roseate Spoonbill flies in06 - Even the Roseate Spoonbill joined the party
 
Then all the WHITE birds began flying in…
09 - And the birds Keep Coming  05 - birds leave tree perches and begin fishing
White Pelicans, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Wood Storks!!!
04 - Next came the Wood Storks before sunrise  09c - Pair of White Pelicans
 
An unexpected bonus…
seeing a GORGEOUS sunrise from Eco Pond:o))
 
A walk around pond revealed many other birds as well.
09b - Osprey high in tree looking on 09b2 - Young Red Shoulder Hawk
Osprey, Young Red-shouldered Hawk
Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilt, White Ibis
 
But the Roseate Spoonbill was the Star of this Day!!
10 - Roseate Spoonbill10a - Roseate Spoonbill
 
All too soon they began to leave.
10b - Roseate Spoonbill time to leave 09d - Another Roseate, a Belted Kingfisher and Tri-Colored herons
 
One Spoonbill hung around and did a little fishing with the Wood Storks…
 
Looks like Line Dancing ;o))
11b - The End
 
It wasn’t long before the Wood Storks finished breakfast and took off.
 
17 - Wood Stork is done breakfast
 
 
Before he knew it, this Spoonbill was the last bird in the pond!!
 
18- Roseate Spoonbill where'd they go
 
Guess the party is over… time to make an exit !!
 
19 - Roseate - I'm Out of Here
20 - The End
Best day ever at Eco Pond :o))
 
 
 
Later on this beautiful day, we decided to take a bike ride.
 
We headed over toward the Marina.
 There we found mom and dad Osprey switching places in the nest!3a - Osprey Mom and Dad changing Places 3b - Osprey OK my turn3 - Osprey enjoying the wind
 
 
In the next picture,
you can barely see the Osprey nest in the upper left and a large crocodile in the center!!
 
4 - Crocodile4a - Crocodile 4b - Crocodile
 
Once we had our fill of watching this huge Crocodile, we headed out Flamingo Road.
 
 
There is only one road from Flamingo Campground to Florida City about 40 miles.
 
Since most of those miles are in the Everglades, there is very little traffic:o))
 
6 - Bike Ride - No Traffic
 
We left the marina and headed up the road toward the bridge over Buttonwood Canal.
3 - Bike Ride - Buttonwood Canal Bridge  4 - Bike Ride Buttonwood Canal
 
Further up the road, we reached Marsak Pond another great birder spot:o)5 - Bike Ride - Marsak Pond Birds
 
I think Nancy found out where the Spoonbills flew;o)
5b - Bike Ride - Marsak Pond Birds and Alligator 5a - Bike Ride - Marsak Pond Birds
 
We road another mile or so up the road to check out Coot Bay Pond.
 
The map shows a trail through Coot Bay Pond to Coot Bay Lake!!7 - Coot Bay Pond - Kayak Trail
 
This looks like a great place to launch the Sea Eagle:o))7b - Coot Bay Pond - Kayak Trail Launch
 
Yep, I think I know where we will be headed tomorrow!!!

9 comments:

  1. Bill, I think you should have gone with Nancy that morning in the dark :) These pictures are fabulous but I imagine the real thing is even more so!
    Fabulous!

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  2. Glad to see that Nancy's efforts to see the Roseate Spoonbills paid off. They really are such a pretty bird.

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  3. Wow what a great day. You really are making me long to go back to no internet no phone Flamingo. Your pictures of those spoonbills are exquisite.

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  4. Gotta love those spoonbills. We saw a couple in the state park next to our site in south TX a couple of years ago, but not since then. We remember seeing them at Eco Pond when we were there.

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  5. Nancy, you have missed your calling. You could absolutely be a great nature photographer. Your pictures are so impressive!

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  6. The spoonbills are the most pretty color of pink. Great shots!

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  7. Love, love, love the spoonbills! Great pictures!

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  8. Glad you had your croc watching fill before he got his fill of you...he looked like he was waiting for some eats!

    Wonderful pictures, out of this world! :c)

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  9. Great pictures! I never could get a good shot of the spoonbills but they were there.
    Syl

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