Today’s photos come from Bill Dickens of Florida. Bill’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them. By the way, if you have good photos, send them along (see “how to send me wildlife photos” on the left sidebar).
Here are some wildlife photographs over the last couple of weeks around Cocoa Beach and the Kennedy Space Center.
I live a short walk away from Ramp Road Park, which backs onto the Thousand Island Conservation Area on the Banana River. The pier is a popular fishing spot and some of the local wildlife have cottoned on to the fact that humans are awesome fisherman and occasionally generous and willing to share unwanted catch. There is one Blue Heron and an ancient Wood Stork in particular that are very comfortable with proximity to humans.
The local power company, FPL, has installed Osprey nesting platforms over area transmission lines around town. There is a nesting platform a couple of blocks from me and I’ve been hearing the sound of hungry chicks for around 4 weeks now. There is a year-round population of Ospreys on the Space Coast and given the timing of these hatchlings, I would think they are part of the local population vs migratory Osprey.
I’ve been trying to photograph Pelicans diving for fish but a shot of them striking the water is elusive. It’s a challenging shot given the speed of their dive. So I’ll have to settle for now for the easier shot of them at the apex of their dive. One of these days I’ll get it.
I include a couple of shots of a Blue Heron and an Alligator from the Kennedy Space Center. As it’s a restricted zone, it serves as an important wildlife refuge. They are subjected to the surprise of a launch every few days. Everything vibrates, even miles from the launch or landing, however after initially startling they quick settle back into their lives.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) nesting platform:
Osprey on the nest:
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) drying its wings on the Banana River:
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) at Ramp Road Park:
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at Ramp Road Park:
Great Blue Heron at sunset on the Banana River:
Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) diving for fish:
American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) at the Kennedy Space Center:
Great Blue Heron at the Kennedy Space Center:
🙂
Thanks for the tour of the cool wildlife in this refuge. You have some gorgeous shots, but the one that really made me smile was the Wood Stork resting on its elbows with its pink feet stretched out in the sun.
Fantastic pictures of the Great Blues! It helps that they’re not afraid of humans.
I especially liked the composition of the Great Blue with the gold water backdrop.
Thank you for the very lovely photos, not only of the animals but also of the distinctive waterways in the area. It brought back wonderful memories for me of winters spent along Florida’s east-central coastline.
Lovely pictures!
Great pictures! I’ll take a divebombing Pelican over an ascending SpaceX any day 🙂
Beautiful photos – thanks!
I was once greatly surprised to see what looked every bit like a Blue Heron, fishing at the base of Blackwater Falls WV, at about 3200ft. I figure if this was normal, I’d find a stock image of it, but I came up empty.
I love the picture of the Anhinga! Also the Heron on the pier with the setting sun. I like seeing those waterways, too. It’s been a long time. I feel like I’m really there looking at these. Nice.