Matthew Herron

A helpful birder pointed out this female vermilion flycatcher making a circuit among the cattails at Orlando Wetlands Park, Florida
#birds #wildlifephotography

A journey of a thousand miles begins with Google Maps having no idea where it is.

Limpkin, Orlando Wetlands Park, Florida. The limpkin is the only species in its family, Aramidae, in the order Gruiformes with cranes and rails. They mainly feed on snails, and Florida is the only place in the US that they're regularly found.
#birds #wildlifephotography

Purple gallinule, Orlando Wetlands Park, Florida. Most of their range is in South America, and Florida is the only place in the US they're regularly found year-round.
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Savannah sparrow, Orlando Wetlands Park, Florida
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The second day in Florida, I was scheduled to meet my old college roommates for a late lunch in Orlando (we all went to #UCF), so I spent the morning at Orlando Wetlands Park, another treasure I was unaware of when I lived there. I caught this green heron hunting.
#birds #wildlifephotography

Four anhinga nestlings begging for food and occasionally being fed by their parent, near the Royal Palm Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Florida. Anhinga nestlings begging for food

Anhinga nestlings begging for food, Everglades National Park, Florida
youtu.be/xq8AY6Sj4C4
#birds #wildlifephotography

Thank you!

Black skimmer, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
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Juvenile reddish egret hunting, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
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Tricolored heron, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
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Reddish egret, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
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Black skimmer, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
#birds #wildlifephotography

Sick of reddish egrets yet? There are lots more to come.
Reddish egret bathing, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
#birds #wildlifephotography

A pair of brown-headed nuthatches snuggling together for warmth on a cold, wet, and windy day in Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina Brown headed nuthatches snuggling

Brown-headed nuthatches snuggling on a cold, wet, and windy day, Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina
youtu.be/95wCYDTpOMg
#birds #wildlifephotography

Tricolored heron, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
#birds #wildlifephotography

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More reddish egret hunting, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
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In person it's usually more on the silly end of the spectrum

A slightly agitated tricolored heron, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
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Reddish egrets are known for their extremely active hunting behavior: running, jumping, twirling, and shading the water with their wings...the ballerinas of the heron world. It would have been worth the drive to Florida just to see this.
Merritt Island NWR, FL
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Black skimmer, Merritt Island NWR, FL. They were repeating a big loop, but the feeding run was very close to shore, so they'd be hidden below the bank for most of their approach, then visible just for a second or two. I was only able to get these because of the repetition
#birds #wildlifephotography

Juvenile reddish egret, Merritt Island NWR, Florida. Of the twelve heron species native to the continental US, this is the rarest, with estimates of the number of adults ranging from 7,000 to 11,000. It's also the only one I hadn't seen and photographed before this trip.
#birds #wildlifephotograpy

A pair of brown-headed nuthatches grooming each other on a cold, wet, and windy day at Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina Brown-headed nuthatches allogrooming, Huntington Beach State Park, SC

Brown-headed nuthatches allogrooming on a cold, wet, and windy day, Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina
youtu.be/LhNTRjNfjAU
#birds #wildlifephotography

Just about anything that will fit down their throats, but all I saw them catching were small fish

Wilson's snipe, Merritt Island NWR, Florida. I saw way more of these birds in one day in Merritt Island than I'd previously seen in my life, probably a hundred or more. It was hard to get a good picture, though, since they're small, shy, and mostly in the grass.
#birds #wildlifephotography

Wow, thank you!

Little blue heron, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, FL. I grew up in Merritt Island and graduated from MIHS (go Mustangs!), but I hadn't been there in ~25 years. I didn't know at the time (nor would I have cared) that I was living next door to an incredible birding spot.
#birds #wildlifephotography

And fun to watch when they're hunting!

Reddish egret, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. The weekend after the Huntington Beach trip, I left immediately after work and drove to Titusville. Finding a reddish egret was a primary goal of the trip, and I found several the next morning.
#birds #wildlifephotography