Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive 12/9

     My wife and I had a late flight out of Orlando, so I wanted to use part of the day to visit Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive.  My wife, bless her, indulges me.  Wildlife drive is about an hour drive from Orlando International Airport.  Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is very similar to Brigantine Wildlife Drive in Atlantic County, NJ.  Both are one way auto loops stretching between eight and 11 miles long through local, natural habitat.  Bird lists for both locations are well over 300 species.  However, the Florida site is only open to vehicles from Friday to Sunday.  Last August I visited the drive mid-week and the only access was on foot or bicycle.  I walked about 7 miles that day in the Florida sun with practically no areas to seek shade.  The upside was there were no mosquitoes or greenhead flies like the New Jersey site.  This would be my only chance in the near future to enjoy the drive from a car.

When we entered the drive I had two target birds in mind.  I wanted a snail kite which I had never seen before and a sedge wren which I’ve only heard, not seen.  A snail kite had been seen well the day before circling over the small parking lot just outside the Lust Road entrance.  Of course, a day usually makes a difference.  Today the only raptor-like birds I could find were red-shouldered hawks, turkey vultures, osprey, northern harriers, bald eagle and a kestrel.  Sedge wrens however were around.  I heard several along the drive.  I stopped at one spot where I heard three calling from the sedges.  I saw one small wren scurrying through the vegetation near where I stood and took some photos.  Unfortunately, when I was reviewing my photos later while waiting at the airport, that little wren turned out to be a marsh wren.  

American kestrel.  © S. Weiss

American kestrel is the smallest falcon in the United States and probably the most colorful.

Marsh wren.  © S. Weiss

There were plenty of other birds and critters to see along the drive.  Common gallinules and American coots were around in the hundreds.  I also saw a couple purple gallinules and a gray-headed swamphen.  There were a good number of blue-winged teal and ring-necked ducks around too.  If one wants to find whistling-ducks, this is the place to look.  I saw just a couple black-bellied whistling-ducks this time, though I am sure there were plenty more probably hidden from my view.  One marsh clearing held over a hundred fulvous whistling-ducks.

Gray-headed swamphen (left) and common gallinule (right).  © S. Weiss

Swamphen is larger than the purple gallinule.  Its head is paler and has a red shield versus the powder blue shield on the purple gallinule.  Common gallinules always have a white flank stripe.

Fulvous whistling-duck (left) and black-bellied whistling-duck (right).  © S. Weiss

Black-bellied whistling ducks are cavity nesters.  Both species whistle constantly when in flight.

Most of the regular Florida birds were seen in various quantities: anhingas; great, snowy and cattle egrets; great blue, little blue, tri-colored and green herons; glossy and white ibis; wood stork and black-necked stilt.  In all, I tallied 49 species in just over two hours.  70 to 80 species would not have been difficult with some more time there.

Some noteworthy misses on the day were roseate spoonbill, sora, black-crowned night-heron, limpkin and white pelican just to name a few.  I could not find a least bittern, but we were surprised to have an American bittern fly in front of us and land in a stand of reeds.  My wife got to see how this large bittern tries to camouflage itself in the reeds by stretching up its neck.

American bittern.  © S. Weiss

When the bittern forages, its neck is retracted.  When it tries to avoid detection, such as the bird above, it stretches its neck out with bill pointed up.  It attempts to blend in with the surrounding reeds, even swaying its body with the reeds.

Unlike Brigantine, Lake Apopka is also home to alligators.  These large reptiles are prevalent throughout the drive.  Some are in the water, sometimes barely visible.  Some are out basking in the sun, sometimes right along the road.  It’s hard not to find any public body of water in Florida that doesn’t have a posted sign warning of the possibility that alligators are present.  

American alligator.  © S. Weiss

The top two photos do not do the alligator's size justice.  This beast was enormous.  The two alligators in the lower photos were large, but not as big as the one at the top.  A resting alligator can be dangerous as it is capable of moving quickly and suddenly.  When in the water it is at its best becoming stealth and even more lethal.