February 6, 2022 – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

First of all, Merritt Island isn’t an island, it’s a peninsula. It not only contains the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve, but it also contains the Kennedy Space Center and the Canaveral National Seashore. But it was the wildlife preserve that I had my heart set on seeing on this trip. I don’t know when I will head to a wildlife preserve in Florida and expect to see the flat, wetlands that always seem to be there. I always start out disappointed, thinking that I’ll only see the birds that I used to be able to see from my own back yard. Or on any day of shooting nearby. So I ask myself why did I drive two hours to get there? And then I spot something different and grab the camera.

There was a tiny bird hovering in the air. I wanted to take a picture because I thought it was fighting the wind, but when I saw it dive straight down into the water I knew for sure it was a Belted Kingfisher.

I wish these photos would have been sharper, but this little guy was in constant motion and quite high in the air. We were lucky to see him at all because after these couple of moments we couldn’t see him anymore. He, and we, moved on. My attitude was already much improved.

A glossy ibis is also seen close to home, but not often, so again I was glad to have made the trip.

I know, I know, Osprey are everywhere, and this one doesn’t even have a fish. But I loved the silly look on his face.

Now I was fully invested in shooting what I saw, even if it was one of ‘my’ birds.

This was the only gator we saw the first day. Not very big either. The second day we saw just the head, but I think it was him again.

Merlin says that this is a Reddish Egret, not at all what I suspected when I took the picture, but I’m not about to argue.

Moorhens are certainly not something I have to travel to see, but I took this picture anyhow.

I believe this is a pied-billed grebe. I saw them a time or two in the pond at my old house.

The Canaveral National Seashore. I had to resort to an iPhone shot to get the widest possible view of the amazing surf. Neither of us had been to the ocean in quite a while, so this was a treat to see.

My feature photo is a blue-winged teal, at least I think that’s what Merlin said. I hadn’t seen a duck that looked like that before so I had to take a picture.

Maybe it’s just the right time of life to up and head out the door at almost a moment’s notice. I’ve never been short on brainstorms, but they nearly always were met with a ‘back to reality’ comment about why it wasn’t possible to do whatever I’d thought of at the time. So the last few years have had me heading out on my own and being happy with my various adventures. But it is also very nice to head out on these adventures with a friend, who thinks your ideas aren’t bad at all. I hate to be obnoxious and tell you to come back tomorrow to see what else we saw on this impromptu trip, but that’s what I’m going to do. There were other ‘finds’, both hoped for, but also completely out of the blue. Stay tuned.