Reddish Egrets, Merritt Island NWR, Florida

[cpwm17]

Merritt Island NWR, Florida is a good place for Reddish Egrets. The breeding and immature birds were photographed on May 31, and the rest were photographed yesterday, June 19:

Breeding Plumage
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Rarer White Morph Reddish Egret
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White Morph
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Immature
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Immature
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Nonbreeding bird demonstrating the Reddish Egret's active feeding style
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Nonbreeding
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Nonbreeding
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Nonbreeding
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Nonbreeding
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Nonbreeding
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Nonbreeding
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Nonbreeding
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[postulater]

1. Nice birds, nice pics. Being a Northerner I would have overlooked those as GB Herons.

Might I see some up at Amelia Island in a couple weeks? My family convinced me to go on vacation and I am looking for some good birding spots around there.

[cpwm17]

2. I'm not familiar with the birding up there

Reddish Egret's range is in northeast Florida but I don't know if there's good habitat around Amelia Island. Reddish Egrets are in coastal marshes.

What I recently have found fun to do is search around E-bird for good birding locations. People report what they've seen recently and you can find GPS locations at the site.:

http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots?hs=L230621&yr=all&m=

http://ebird.org/ebird/eBirdReports?cmd=Start

[csziggy]

3. Florida has a wonderful resource in the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail

The website - http://floridabirdingtrail.com/ has tons of information on the bird species and guides to places to go birdwatching. You can pick up the guides at some state facilities or download them from the site in PDF: http://floridabirdingtrail.com/index.php/trip/trail_guides/

From the Eastern Guide (http://floridabirdingtrail.com/images/pages/EFBT.pdf):

The Nature Center at Amelia Island
This nature center provides great educational programs, including birdwatching classes and nature
adventures. Call ahead for a schedule or reservations.
Night-herons, shorebirds, painted buntings, and terns and gulls are possible sightings.
DIRECTIONS:
Located 9 mi. S of Fernandina Beach
on the E side of A1A prior to crossing the Nassau
Sound Bridge. Watch for signs directing to the
“Reception Center and Village Shops,” prior to security
gate. Wooden bench and totem pole mark Nature
Center’s entrance.
Open 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. [phone]
www.aipfl.com

Amelia Island State Park
Worth a peek for shorebirds on the beach. From the catwalk on the
bridge over Nassau Sound, you can view sand bars and islands in
the sound and look for cormorants, pelicans and migratory shore-
birds at low tide.
DIRECTIONS: This park is on the S tip of Amelia Island, on the
E side of SR A1A.
Open 8:00 a.m. to sunset. [phone]
www.dep.state.fl.us/parks

One thing I like about the guides is that they have local sites, off the beaten path, for birdwatching. For instance, in Lakeland they list Lake Hollingsworth, and in Lake Wales, Eagle Ridge Mall gets a mention for the retention pond that attracts a lot of birds. The guides include odd places like that as well as city, county, state, and national parks, wildlife refuges, and other facilities.

New since the last time I looked, they have a Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail App - http://floridabirdingtrail.com/index.php/resources/birding_resources/

[locks]

4. Wonderful pictures

I have been to Florida many times and seen lots of egrets and shorebirds but not the red egrets. Thanks