Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

This morning we went to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. It’s been a while since we’ve been. There were a lot more ducks than we had seen the past couple of years. There were also a few other cool finds…

One of the first birds of the day was this little Palm Warbler

There were a few Black Crowned Night Herons in the lower sticks right above the water

Palm Warblers fly very fast, erratically and with no warning. This is one of the few flight shots I’ve been able to get of one close by

There were a lot of Ring-necked Ducks flying and swimming around.

Luckily for the Coot, this Ring-necked Duck did not land on top of it

Ring-necked Duck in flight

I noticed this Merlin about 300 feet out watching over the ducks in the water below.

This Northern Harrier waited until the crowd drove past before it crossed over the road

Northern Harrier flying past

Northern Harrier flying low

Male Cardinal with a wide stance up in a tree

I had to wait for this Bald Eagle to stop circling the sun and move over a bit before I could get a photo of it looking down at me

Red-shouldered Hawk calling out loudly

Red-shouldered Hawk taking flight

Kingfisher taking a break along the drive

While it wasn’t the busiest day we’ve seen at Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, it was still a lot of fun and we saw some cool birds. It was nice to see all of the ducks back this year since there weren’t many the last couple of years.