GATORS, CATS AND BIRDS (ZILLIONS)

Afraid next few blogs are going to be pretty boring to those with no interest in wildlife – but twitchers will be on the next plane to Everglades City.  Birdwatching to die for – and in the winter sun too – pretty much idyllic conditions for a winter getaway for us.  For those of us who traipse around Leighton Moss (bird reserve near home) in the freezing cold, hoping for a glimpse of egrets and herons, and getting so excited by the sole Glossy Ibis last winter – guess what, they are all all over the place here.



This little gathering shows the lovely Roseate (ie pink! see far left) Spoonbill, 2 Wood Storks (rare), white ibises and great egret (definitely not rare - although was nearly hunted to extinction to provide nice flowing feathers for the fashionable lady about town).



More pinching of information from Wikipedia - much easier than writing my own blog:-

Plume hunting is the hunting of wild birds to harvest their feathers, especially the more decorative plumeswhich were sold for use as ornamentation, such as aigrettes in millinery. The killing of birds as part of the practice has been condemned and outlawed in some areas.

By the late 19th century, plume hunters had nearly wiped out the Snowy Egret population of the United States. Flamingoes, Roseate Spoonbills, Great Egrets and peafowl have also been targeted by plume hunters. The Empress of Germany's Bird of Paradise was also a popular target of plume hunters.

Victorian era fashion included large hats with wide brims decorated in elaborate creations of silk flowers, ribbons, and exotic plumes. Hats sometimes included entire exotic birds that had been stuffed. Plumage often came from birds in the Florida everglades, some of which were nearly extinguished by overhunting. By 1899, early environmentalists such as Adeline Knapp were engaged in efforts to curtail the hunting for plumes. By 1900, more than five million birds were being killed every year, including 95 percent of Florida'sshore birds.^[1]

Here is a better glimpse of the bald eagle than the blob in a previous post

and the splendidly named yellow crowned night heron.  (OK - I know it looks like any old heron to the non-birder - but trust me.)

(Can you tell I have just discovered how to wrap text around photos - always forget each time I start a new blog! and that italics also relieve the boredom)





Vultures and other raptors fill the air and sit on wires and branches, but just as difficult to identify as ever – twitchers know what I mean.

Before we came, Phil and Joan, our next door neighbours, told us about the Everglades National Park issuing “anti-vulture kits”, to protect cars that the birds were attacking and destroying wipers and rubber surrounds.  (Honest, it’s not a hoax – see link here).  But perhaps we need an anti-heron kit too!




Saw our first ‘Gator – but probably not our last – so expect more photos, if I run out of stuff to fill the blog with.

He is at top of picture - black scaly looking thing.









But the best spot so far, has to be this Bobcat – crept around the tree as we were watching the 'gator scene, above, from a viewing platform.  Am pretty sure they weren’t all just placed there by the Rangers!  But who knows with Disneyland just across the State.









The only other wild cat in Florida is the panther – and, yes, we were amazed to see this sign too on the way here.  But as there are only 50-80 left, chances of seeing one is pretty much zero.