More bird sightings from our trip earlier this month. But first a picture taken this week much closer to the Canal Cottage :
Royal Poinciana trees are in full bloom all over the area. This one is in the swamp across the street from us. It's very hot here right now and this bright and showy tree contributes to the tropical ambience. A common name for this beauty is Flamboyant Tree which I think fits well.
And now back to our trip to the wetlands.
We spotted this adult Sandhill Crane with two juveniles as we started our second day's walk at Orlando Wetlands. It's always a bit startling to see how big these birds are.
It was definitely family day at the park, because I spotted the tribe below almost as soon as we stepped onto the boardwalk.
Common Gallinules are not a rare bird, but they can be hard to spot because they nest and hide in the reeds and vegetation at the water's edge. This pair obligingly took their family out for a morning swim just as we arrived.
The babies were so cute — it was hard to stop taking pictures.
But soon they made it easy for me to move on as they headed back to their hidden home:
Bill got a bit tired of watching baby gallinules and had gone ahead a little way. When I caught up, he pointed out some birds I might have missed.
The Great Blue Heron above and the Little Blue below were waiting patiently, but not for me. Instead, like all Heron species, they were biding their time watching for the perfect meal to swim past. I took advantage of their stillness.
Our trip was exactly what we needed and the Canal Cottage was nice to come back to. It's summer here for sure now, beautiful early mornings and long evenings but hibernation time during the heat of the day. Here are one day's skies, morning and evening:
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