Another Day at Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
Wednesday we took a bike ride through Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. This is a great time of year for riding the bikes since it isn’t hot and there’s a lot of birds. The highlights of the day were a Bald Eagle and Osprey in a territorial dispute and some close flybys from a Northern Harrier. There were quite a few others a you’ll soon see…
Green Heron staring me down
Grey-headed Swamphens hanging out on the side of the road
Grey-headed Swamphens having a high speed foot race
Northern Harrier scratching an itch in flight
Osprey flying off with whats left of its fish. They always eat the head first.
A rare find today. A Merlin was resting in a leafless tree
The Merlin thought it could hide behind a tiny twig
It looked like the Merlin was going to fly. When we went past it on the way back (3 hours later) it was still here. Glad we didn’t wait!
Juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk jumping off
Male and female Ring Necked Ducks
Osprey diving to hopefully catch a fish
Bald Eagle and an Osprey flying over the water.
The Osprey was not happy about the Eagle being in its fishing spot. The Eagle is letting it know that is not the way this works!
When a Bald Eagle turns upside down in a fight, you know it means business! The talons come out and even the Osprey knows to stay clear.
As the Bald Eagle turns back around, the Osprey gets a bit more aggressive
Bald Eagle flying past
Bald Eagle flying low over the water
Bald Eagle flying over the tall grass
With the Osprey moving out of the way, the Bald Eagle retrieved the Coot that it had caught and took off to finish eating
Northern Harrier making a closeup appearance
Northern Harrier in a glide
Northern Harrier diving quickly down into the brush after spotting something to eat
Another close flyby of the Northern Harrier
Great Blue Herons were starting their nest building. The male would break off a stick nearby and bring it to the female. She then placed it in the nest.
The Northern Harrier flew very close by right overhead
Northern Harrier doing yet another close flyby
Northern Harrier
This is the closest photo yet that I’ve been able to get of a Northern Harrier.
What a day! Lots of action and a super close Northern Harrier to finish out the day. While I didn’t get photos of them, there were a LOT of 8-10 foot Alligators resting on the side of the road as we rode our bikes past them. They weren’t interested in us at all, but it made for some extra “excitement” as we went by.