Just Wading Around

It's highly likely that if you are birding in Florida, you will come across  a number of birds who spend their time just wading around. Nearly all species of wading birds in North America can be found in Florida thanks to the abundance of desirable habitats, such as shallow bays, coastal tidal flats, swamps, and marshes.

Egrets and herons are the most common and prevalent wading species observed among the wetland and marsh areas I regularly visit. Great, Cattle, Snowy, and Reddish Egrets as well as Great Blue, Little Blue, Green, Yellow and Black-crowned Night, and Tricolored Herons are all Florida residents.

Green Heron

One of my favorites is the Green Heron. This heron may be the smallest, but it sure has a lot of personality!

Green Heron

Green Herons forage in a similar fashion as many other herons and egrets. These birds feed by standing motionless for long periods, then lunging at their prey and piecing or capturing it with its sharp, razor-like bill.

Great Blue Heron

After capturing its prey, Great Blue Herons gulp their meals down whole.

"Great White Heron"

The white form of the Great Blue Heron, aka the Great White Heron, can be found primarily in southern Florida.

Black-crowned Night Heron

The Night Herons tend to be the most elusive of the bunch. While they are most active in the early morning or at night, they can occasionally be seen midday.

Cattle Egret

A large number of Cattle Egrets breed this time of year at the local wetlands. Great Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Yellow and Black-crowned Night Herons, Little Blue Herons, and Green Herons also breed in the same area. It's a busy place! A number of juvenile herons and egrets can be seen enjoying their new found independence this time of year.

Juvenile Night Heron

Little Blue Herons are interesting to see when they are mottling from their their immature white plumage to their dusky blue, adult plumage.

Little Blue Heron

Roseate Spoonbills are the most vibrant, and often the most coveted, waders found in Florida's water.

Roseate Spoonbill

In addition to their bright pink colors, they have a unique spoon-like bills that are used to strain small particles of food from the water.

The Wood Stork is an endangered wader that resides and breeds in Florida. The Wood Stork also has a unique way to feed as it waits with its mouth open and snaps it shut when it feels an unsuspecting  fish nearby.

Wood Stork

White and Glossy Ibises can be found in a wide variety of places throughout Florida. They can be seen at the wetlands, in your yard, even in drainage ditches on the side of the road.

Glossy Ibis

White Ibis

While at times just waiting around can be dull, here in Florida, wading around can be quite exciting!

Fun with Bathing Birds

Mourning Dove in bird bath, Corona de Tucson, AZ

Everyone likes to feed the birds, but do you know that you can attracted more species by offering water? All birds need water, while all birds do not eat seed. And while we think of providing water in the summer time, birds also need water in winter, especially if the water in your area is all frozen over. For winter bird watering there are heated bird baths that consume very little energy, but in the summer we all know birds enjoy a good bath!

Cowbird and House Finch drinking from fountain

Watching bathing birds can be so much fun. Birds like shallow moving water best and this can be provided from a simple Water Wiggler in a bird bath to a simple fountain with a recirculating pump. I bought this simple fountain when I lived in Tucson, AZ and soon had birds galore. All it took was an extension cord and an outdoor outlet. The biggest concern was making sure the small water bucket that held the water and the fountain did not run dry. Also, I found that the small drainage hole could clog up and I really needed to have it set on a flat and level surface, but for the most part it worked well and the birds loved it!

Grindstone fountain in my mother's yard

Here on the east coast my mother has what I consider to be one of the best fountains of all. It's shallow but moving water attracts all kinds of birds and other wildlife. The faux grinding stone makes a perfect bathing area for the birds. Sometimes they land on the edge of the black tub and drink the water as it pours over the side. For me, I like to sit nearby and listen to the sound. If  I am sitting with the table between myself and the birds they will often come and bath right in front of me! If I am standing they will fly right off!

Juvenile House Sparrow in fountain

Due to the different depths of this fountain, the birds can choose what suits them. I often see young House sparrows coming for a drink and a bath, as well as many other birds. One of  the biggest mistakes one can make when installing a fountain or bird bath is too get something that is too deep with no shallow areas. Birds cannot bath in deep water and some cannot even lean down far enough over a steep edge to get a drink. All these things need to be considered when providing water for your birds.

Song Sparrow bathing in fountain

Robin bathing in fountain

Gila woodpeckers and house finches drinking from bird bath in Arizona

Of course, a simple bird bath works well also, but you must keep it clean. Algae likes to grow in bird baths, especially if they are in direct sunlight. Birds themselves can spread disease, so it is good to thoroughly clean a bird bath like this at least once a week. If you live in a mosquitoes prone you can use a Water Wiggler to not only attract the birds but to discourage mosquitoes! There are also natural enzyme products that can be added to the water to discourage mosquitoes and algae, but in the end you must clean the bird bath. Dump the old water out and clean the basin with a solution of 1 part white vinegar and 4 parts water. let it soak for 15 minutes, then scrub, rinse, and refill.

Some of the most fun I have ever had observing a bird bathing was at the Corona de Tucson Waste Water Treatment Plant near Tucson, AZ. In Arizona these areas can attract all kinds of birds and birders! Most of them welcome birders but you have to call ahead and get permission. Some areas are actually developed as bird habitat and are open to the public, like Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, and Gilbert Water Ranch near Phoenix. Gus and I happened to go to the Corona de Tucson waste Water Treatment Plant on December 30, 2008. It was shortly after we bought our new Nikon D80 and Gus used the camera while I looked for birds with my bins. We were nearing the far reaches of one of the drainage ponds when we came upon this sight. I had Never seen such a large bird taking a bath before and the sight amazed me. While Gus snapped away with the camera I continued to observe the bird with delight! All of the following images were taken by Gus. we were just getting used to the camera at the time so please excuse some of the blurry images, but at least you can get the idea of what a bathing Cooper's Hawk looks like! 

Cooper's Hawk taking a dip in the drainage pond of Corona de Tucson Wastewater Treatment Plant 2008

Bathing birds are lots of fun!

Good-bye!

Come visit me at Kathie's Birds where I am saying Good-bye to Andover, Massachusetts and heading back to Tucson, AZ! Yes, I am migrating again!

• Kathie's Birds
• Kathie's Poet Tree
• Sycamore Canyon
• Sycamore Canyon Birds

Watching Northern Gannets is fun, except when it's not

The high point of my visit to my birth place in Germany in 2009 was a trip from Hamburg down the Elbe River to the diminutive island of Helioland in the North Sea, 29 miles off the coast. The side facing the sea is a 200 feet high rock cliff, home to thousands of sea birds, mostly Northern Gannets, Common Murres and Black-legged Kittiwakes. It was a gorgeous day, bright sun, blue skies. I had only a few hours to photograph the birds, no way of avoiding the mid-day sun with its harsh lights and shadows. But losing myself  in the moment, I was happy and kept firing away at the awe-inspiring assembly of nesting Northern Gannets.

Parental care: placing a feather

Macabre Discovery

Closely examining the photos after I got home, I discovered the tragic consequences of the Gannets' method of nest construction. The rocks were covered with tons of man-made indestructible trash: plastic lines and pieces of nets that the Gannets had dragged up for nest material in place of their customary sticks and seaweeds, and that ended up trapping many of them, leading to their slow and agonizing deaths.

The living and the dead: recently dead adult bird in the left upper corner and the skeletal remains of one near center right among apparently oblivious adults and chicks

Is this adult going to be able to free itself from the sling around its neck?

These juveniles didn't make it

Fortunately this  appears to be the only known Northern Gannet colony in the North Atlantic suffering such  calamity. The North Sea is a shallow shelf sea ideal for shrimping with drag nets over its bottom. Nets are lost or torn apart and remain floating in the water or washed up on the beach. Gannets are known to resort to beachcombing for their nest material. Or perhaps they grab it when the nets are  pulled in for mending.

Scottish trawler

Trawl nets on Belgian boat

Part of a trawl net head on top of the rock. How on earth did it get up there?

Until then I had been content archiving my photos on my website; but now I had to write about it, hoping to bring this debacle to the public's attention. That's how I started my blog.