I met my friend Lutfi at Orlando Wetlands Park last Saturday morning. I was a bit worried at first since I didn’t see as many birds around as on my last visit in early March. The Whistling Ducks seemed to be hiding and there were fewer Spoonbills in the trees and flying around. I also couldn’t find the nest that’d been near the boardwalk.

Then I did start to see some things. There was a Sand Hill Crane Family foraging in some shallow water near the south Lake Searcy shore.

Sand Hill Crane colt and parent foraging

A Common Gallinule family foraging close by the boardwalk.

Common Gallinule chick and parent foraging

There was also a lot of noise coming from the Cypress stand to the east of the boardwalk – baby birds squawking and begging to be fed. I’m glad I had a long lens and teleconverter since they were quite far away.

Two Anhinga chicks in nest Wood Stork chick and parent in nest

This Spoonbill fledgling was by itself when I first saw it. Perhaps it’s from the nest that I couldn’t find? A parent soon arrived in the tree and fed it. It won’t be long before it’s taking care of itself.

Hungry youngster

A lot of change out there in just over a month. Nature in action nurturing a new generation of birds. What a thriving rookery and what a fantastic Central Florida Photo Op!

I made all of the photos in this post last Saturday except for the header image, which is from my previous visit. You can see a larger version of it at this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/52792040905/in/dateposted-public/

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos!

©2023, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved