Brown Pelican
Wildewood Springs, the large pond.
Fall pond turnovers are common in Florida. It seems that's what happened on the big pond in Wildewood. Fish are sluggish and then die.
And gosh, the birds come in numbers and variety. Before I share the photos I took November 29, 30, 2018 I want to remind all of us how fortunate we are to share this incredible habitat with wildlife. And, to please not feed wildlife, including birds.*
Here are some photographs.
Great Egret (large orange bill), Snowy Egret (black bill, yellow at end of bill near eye; Wood Stork (juvenile).
Tri-Colored Heron. The first photo—a few seconds before getting a fish.
This Tri-Colored Heron is hanging out with a juvenile Cattle Egret.
These are American White Ibis. White with the peach-orange bills. Oh, and a Mallard Duck on the end. Sounds like a song—and a partridge in a pear tree.
A juvenile Bald Eagle caused quite a stir with the birds because both the fish and birds make for a smorgasbord lunch selection. I asked my birding pals if it was male or female. They say that we'd need to see a male and female next to each other—the female is significantly larger.
Ring-billed Gull and a Ruddy Duck! My first sighting of the Ruddy. (I confirm these IDs with a birding group.) They said the white feathers under its tail is a good clue. I photographed from a long distance, but the last photo you can see a little bit of its signature blue bill.
Brown Pelicans enjoying big gulps on the pond.
Laughing Gulls. All of them. In concert with me, joyfully celebrating this incredible chance to see so many different birds.
Shoveler Duck, female. My first sighting. Holy moley!
I'll look again this afternoon and share more photographs. A neighbor reported a Sandhill Crane (!) on a grassy area near the pond. I hope I see it and get a photograph for you. Let me know about your sightings and I'll add them.
When I moved here, I didn't know why we weren't supposed to feed the birds! I'm glad I found out. And I'm passing the information to you.
Many of us have second homes in other places or moved to Wildewood from other states where bird feeders are used to augment birds' diets. However, here in central Florida we do not need feeders. In fact, it harms the birds. I wrote a post about that after Wildlife, Inc. educators visited us. Briefly, birds become dependent, it disrupts migration, and our habitat provides exactly the food the birds need. Many people think giving human food leftovers, crackers, cereals, bread is okay. It isn't, it causes disease and weakens birds' bones.
Wildewood Associations include a rule in their booklets to residents about not feeling wildlife, including birds. Our rule was adapted from the Florida Department of Wildlife where they ask Floridians to not feed birds and also list certain birds, that if fed and caught, come with big fines (Sandhill Crane, Wood Stork).
Wildewood Springs is Audubon Certified. If you see anyone feeding, the most helpful thing to do is to report the unit number to your property manager and ask to remain anonymous. They will relay the information. I believe that neighbors want to be kind to wildlife and simply might not know that we do not feed birds for important, caring reasons.
