Green Cay Wetlands December 2013 |
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I can complain all I want to about Florida, but what I can't find any problems with is the human endeavor to make up for some of the problems that we have caused. The Wakodahatchee Wetlands are a mandatory stop whenever I visit my mother in law, but I have recently discovered Wakodahatchee's older brother, the Green Cay Wetlands. More than 10 times the size, Green Cay offers a much different experience than Wakodahatchee. Rather than being right on top of the birds, at Green Cay you have great open vistas and you feel more like you're in Nature and less like you're in some kind of museum. Taken together, these to man-made wetlands provide the very best that the non-everglades have to offer.. |
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The Visitor's Center Unlike Wakodahatchee, Green Cay has an espansive Visitor's Center with programs, a gift shop, and (most importantly) fantastic restrooms. Since my average visit to Green Cay lasts at least 4 hours, the restrooms are a real life saver. |
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New Birds! On this most recent visit to Green Cay I managed to take a photograph of a new species for me...the black vulture! This species is making inroads to the Northeast, where I live, but I've never had an in-your-face opportunity to get an example of the plumage of a black vulture in flight. Whereas the turkey vulture shows a black "T" with the leading edges of the wings as the cross-piece and the body and tail as the spine, the black vulture (which virtually lacks a tail in flight) shows gray tips to the primaries only. Very cool!
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Birds in Flight... seemed to be a theme on my visit to Green Cay. Can you identify this species? While you think about I'll recount all of the other species I got wonderful in-flight photos of. Double-crested cormorant, northern harrier, white ibis, mallard, roseate spoonbill, anhinga, fulvous whistling duck, black vulture (above) snowy egret, and even a tricolored heron. The bird in the photo is a black-crowned night heron. |
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Sometimes it Rains! Florida is the sunshine state, but every now and then the clouds darken and life-sustaining rain falls like mana from heaven. I was eventually chased off the boardwalk by sprinkles that foretold of the downpour to follow. I made it back to the car, started the engine, and had just pulled out of the parking lot when it hit. Before I left, however, I simply couldn't resist this cormorant perched atop the spindly top-most branch of a dead tree. This is the kind of photo you can't take at Wakodahatchee because there just aren't the same distances available. |
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Copyright 2015 William Danielson |
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