The last time I visited Viera Wetlands was in March of 2019, so I’ve been wanting to go back.  Each time I checked the road conditions hotline, it said they’re closed to vehicles.  But the message hasn’t been updated since mid-November and I suspected (hoped?) it wasn’t accurate.  This week I decided to go down anyway.

I started the morning with a pretty sunrise at the River Lakes Conservation Area Boat Ramp where the St. Johns crosses SR 520.

A very calm morning

Then I headed down to Viera.  The hotline is correct – the wetlands roads are closed to vehicles and there’s some repair work going on.  I haven’t found any info posted about when they expect to allow cars again.   Anyway, I took off on foot with my camera and had a nice walk around the east half of the park closest to the parking area.  Here are some of the things I saw.

“Who are you lookin’ at?” (3). These early morning deer were very alert and very suspicious of me and my long lens.  I saw about a dozen of them and there were probably more. I liked the light on this group and how they were all staring right at me.

Redwing Blackbird launch.  I managed to catch it just as it as it took off.

Cormorant in flight – There were a great many there that morning.

Sunning Anhinga.  There were a large number of anhingas too, and this lady was enjoying the early morning light.

Palm Warbler

I heard lots of Sandhill Cranes but only saw them in the distance and there was one Spoonbill that was too far away for a photo, I didn’t see anything rare or exotic on my walk, but there were plenty of smaller birds, water birds, vultures and alligators.  And I enjoyed my time out in nature and got some steps too!

You can look through my blog posts about Viera Wetlands  (44 and counting!) at this link: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/viera-wetlands/.  And I’ve collected over 300 photos from there in this album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157623223995224.  Also please click on the photos in these blog posts to view them in higher resolution on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos -even if the road’s closed!

©2020, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved