The day was spent in and around Flamingo. Flamingos are occasionally seen there, but none turned up while we were around.
Guy Bradley Trail
We elected to walk from the campground to the marina. The trail is not very long, but it was alive with interesting and mostly photographable wildlife.
The first thing we saw was a tourist sprawled on the ground trying to get a close up of this crab.
We stepped carefully around a scattering of dung on the path. A few minutes later a park employee asked had we seen it. “Black bear. They come around at night.”
The coast here is mud, rocks and mangroves.
A pair of Ospreys. Their nest is out of the picture to the right.
A pretty Convolvulus.
We think this is Ardisia crenata, a kind of holly with several common names. If so, it is an unwanted Asian plant. Please leave a comment if you can positively identify it.
A Little Blue Heron
An Osprey on the wing.
A Willet, a species of sandpiper, comes in to land.
And a Great Egret takes off.
The striking features of a Yellow-crowned Night-heron.
The yellow crown is not obvious unless the bird looks at you.
The Night-heron and the Willet hunting together.
The Willett comes ashore.
The Night-heron has caught a crab.
An American Kestrel. It would not turn around and face the camera.
Marina
The marina was recommended to us as a place to see manatees and American Crocodiles. We found no crocodiles, but a group of manatees was apparently feeding right inside the marina. Because the water was very murky we only saw them when they came up to breathe. Unless you happened to be looking at the right place, the first indication of a manatee at the surface would be an exhalation of breath. By the time you had located the animal it was sinking back down into the depths.
A manatee with its nostrils adjacent to the pole.
Two manatees.
There were ospreys nesting at the marina, too.
Walking back to the campground we came across another species of crab …
... and a shiny, black beetle.
Mrazek Pond
On the previous day a flock of Roseate Spoonbills had been at this little lake. We hoped that they might still be there.
The first thing we saw was this flock of Snowy Egrets.
The spoonbills were still around, although most of them were on the other side of the pond. This one obligingly flew across.
And looked down his beak at us.
A Wood Stork flying by.
A Great Egret
We went back to the marina to have a second crocodile hunt. No crocs, but we did see some more interesting birds.
A Little Blue Heron having a bad hair day.
There were a few Brown Pelicans.
Eco Pond
This pond is just off the road very close to the campground. Was it worth looking for even more water birds? Yes it was.
An American Avocet. There was a flock of them, at extreme camera range. I'm sorry the picture is fuzzy.
The avocets were accompanied by some Black-necked Stilts.
The campground's tent sites were beside the sea.
Nearly sunset.
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