We had the rental car for another day so I took off before dawn and drove to Lake Opopka seeking my 100th bird. Several potential birds had been seen there recently but none of them decided to come out and play. Instead I saw the snail kite which was not supposed to be there at all! In fact when I put this bird into eBird as part of my bird sightings eBird prompted me to supply additional information. They were not buying my identification. Luckily I had great photos to prove it. My count stands at 999. It was lots of work for just one bird but the 1000 bird goal is even closer!
It was dark when I arrived
Some birds were up early, bed-head is universal
A hawk looking for breakfast
Wild turkeys
Late comers are lined up behind me
The gates open up automatically at 7 AM
Lots of restrictions
Egrets with no regrets
A northern flicker a type of woodpecker
So many osprey!
A glossy ibis
The glossy meets a stilt
Lots of gators
A least bittern
Black crowned night heron
Once the sun comes up, it is hot
The roads are long and the wingspan is wide
The first driver on the road gets to scare up the birds
An osprey was smack dab in the center of the road
Who are you looking at?
Cormorant frying off his wings
Gator time
A big fish for the great blue heron
Hard to swallow
Cattle egret
Green herons
A black necked stilt also sitting in the road
This is why they are called stilts
Whistling ducks
Red shouldered hawk
Still farming
Red bellied woodpecker
Lifebird #999 the snail kite
The old pumphouse
Grey headed swamphens
Large open water areas with no birds
It has been 4 years and 52 days since we began our Migration
