Wakodahatchee Wetlands, 1/2/2016

Wakodahatchee Wetlands, 1/2/2016



On New Year’s Day our family drove down to Palm Beach County to visit my brother-in-law. The following morning I decided to visit Wakodahatchee Wetlands.

It’s a wonderful place with a beautifully maintained board walk that takes you through the wetlands. My primary hope was to see the that has been hanging out here. It took a while, but eventually it showed itself–a nice, bright white line surrounding its gular pouch.

My father and I also visited the park on Dec. 27th, so I thought I’d share photos from both of my visits. My December visit was the first day I’d seen a Neotropic Cormorant in the U.S.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands, 1/2/2016
Neotropic Cormorant – Jan 2, 2016
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Neotropic Cormorant – December 27, 2015

I also saw another cormorant that looks like it might be a hybrid Neotropic x , but I’m no expert on these things. It seems to have the white outline to the yellow gular pouch, but it’s more faint than it should be.

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Neotropic x Double-crested Cormorant Hybrid – January 2, 2016

The wetlands area is a wonderful place for ducks, wading birds and other marshy birds. All kinds of herons and egrets can be seen here.

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– December 27, 2015
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Black-crowned Night Heron – January 2, 2016

And some even breed here

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Great Blue Herons – January 2, 2016

It’s even home to some birds that don’t really belong here, like Gray-headed Swamphens, which escaped a few years ago and now have established themselves throughout southern Florida.

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Gray-headed Swamphen – January 2, 2016

There were also two species of invasive reptiles. There were several bright orange iguanas, oddly named Common , and a Brown Basilisk.

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Common Green Iguana – January 2, 2016
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Brown Basilisk – January 2, 2016

 

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Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.

Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.

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