BIRDS!

It's not been a very good trip for birding so far this year. Until today! I think we saw more birds today then we've seen on the whole trip so far! It started early this morning when we saw a large flock (25-30) of cattle egrets foraging in the field next to the RV park.

One of them even wandered over into the park and was bug-hunting next to the line dividing the RV sites --

This afternoon we headed over towards Lake Okeechobee and saw this Little Blue Heron in the marsh --

And then there was this Great Egret --

And lots of these Loggerhead Shrikes --

We stopped at one of the blinds along the road and I saw something across the pond moving in the brush --

 And out popped this wild sow. She turned and ran the minute she saw us looking at her --

We stopped alongside a bridge because we thought we saw another Great Egret, but it turned out to be a White Ibis -- a new Life Bird for me.

This Belted Kingfisher was perching on the wire, watching the world go by --

And Forry got a new Life Bird as well! He's been looking for a Limpkin -- and we saw four of them today!

Some birds that we have seen a lot of in the South have been the vultures! This big Turkey Vulture was perched on a pole as the sun set outlining its feathers --

 This Black Vulture was feasting on a road-kill raccoon alongside the road --

Here's a shot of the two kinds of vultures side-by-side. The Black Vulture has no feathers at all on its neck and head.

In addition to all the birds I took pictures of, we saw Big Blue Herons, Northern Mockingbirds, Boat Tailed Grackles, American Kestrels and blackbirds. It was a GOOD day!