I have many great memories from my trip to Florida earlier this year – most of them involve my favorite birds – waders. One that really stands out is a “honey hole” that we ran into on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island. It was a small pond that must have gotten fairly deep surrounded by White Ibis, Snowy Egrets and one of each of a Tri-colored and Little Blue Heron.
When we drove up, a car was already parked at it, so we went in behind and waited our turn for the “best seat.” We were still able to pick up on the action from the distance. The Ibis were foraging at the edge of the pond while the Egrets and Herons wandered around. Eventually, the other car moved on and we had front row seats.
The little pond was so full of birds that they Snowy Egrets were showing a little attitude towards the others when they got close.
The most interesting part, however, was how the Egrets and Herons would go after fish. We watched as they would skim the water with the tip of their toes and reach down to grab a fish.
They would, for the most part, come up with a fish.
At times, the birds would go at the same time.
Which led to a few mid-air collisions…
I did capture a video of the action with my phone.
Eventually, a bird that we were waiting to photograph flew in – a Roseate Spoonbill!
This was the first time we were able to photograph an adult up close. It stayed at the edge with the Ibises.
It stayed for a little while before flying off – I was very happy with this photo session! We photographed at this little spot for over an hour even though the sun was high. What a great spot!