Wacissa River 3-08

Saturday afternoon I drove to Tallahassee I camped at the KOA Campground just off of I -10. It is a little close to the highway. The trucks woke me up several times during the night.  Sunday Morning I drove over to the Wacissa River and launched my boat by 9am. There was not a drop of wind. It was really nice paddling. As always I am on my mission to bring home more trash then I take. I picked up 10 beer cans and 3 soda cans, and a styrafoam cup. I left my grabber thingy in the car so I couldn't get the cans and bottles I saw underwater. I will save those for next time. Enough about trash. 

I spotted this Black Crowned Night Heron fishing, I sat and watched this one for almost an hour. I even moved the boat 3 times and then the wind took pity and pushed me over closer. I finally ended up about 20 feet away from this bird.

Dinner at last! Not only did he catch this fish but he stepped out where I could see him eat it.
The fish is still wiggling. 
You can see the lump in the birds throat. He took a few drinks of water and did a little preening and then flew off. It was an hour well spent. I was amazed at how still this heron could stand. And with the layer of Duck weed he couldn't see under water.
I wanted to get some pictures of flying birds. This is pretty hard in practice. You are in a boat that is moving you don't usually see the birds till they are pretty close then you have to get the camera out and focused on the bird. There were several birds flying today so I had some practice. This is a Great Egret in flight. They can have a wing span up to 4 1/2 feet.
There were several airboats on the river today. Man those things are very loud! The fact that the people are wearing hearing protection should be a give away that they might be too loud. I did spot these Ibis's flying from the noise. When these birds have their wings folded up on the ground the black wing tips are hidden from view. Only in flight is the black visible. 
This Great Heron has found a prize. I looks like some type of weed or grass to me. He flew off with it when he left.
This Red-Shouldered Hawk was making all kinds of noise. I could hear another on on the other side of the river and finally saw it fly off as well. They appeared to each be hunting their own sides of the river.
These 2 Moor Hens were chasing each other all over the place. And I thought the hawks were making a lot of noise. These 2 were carrying on like they own the river. 
It was a very nice weekend. I camped out and paddled a very nice river. Picked up trash so I did my good deed for the day. And I got to see several different types of birds. Stay turned for Black and White Wednesday.