Small Island and mirgratory ducks bedding down for the evening on Blackpoint Drive at the Merritt Island Wildlife Sanctuary Florida. At sundown I spotted this little island in a shady pond which included several little similar islands, but these various ducks all seemed to prefer the one island. My 84 year old mother commented from my truck that it must be a meeting place. I thought the image looked rather pretty with the evening light, especially when viewed in a larger size.

The Great Blue Heron is replaced in the Old World by the very similar Grey Heron, which differs in being somewhat smaller (90–98 cm), with a pale gray neck and legs, lacking the browner colors that Great Blue Heron has there. It forms a superspecies with this and also with the Cocoi Heron from South America, which differs in having more extensive black on the head, and a white breast and neck.

Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water. They are close relatives of the moorhen. (c) Greg Bishop The waterborne American Coot is one good reminder that not everything that floats is a duck. A close look at a coot—that small head, those scrawny legs—reveals a different kind of bird entirely.

This is one of the smallest herons in the world, with perhaps only the Dwarf Bittern and the Black-backed Bittern averaging smaller in length. This Least Bittern is often an elusive bird. They spend much time straddling reeds. When alarmed, the Least Bittern freezes in place with its bill pointing up, turns its front and both eyes toward the source of alarm, and sometimes sways to resemble wind-blown marsh vegetation. The bolder Heron to the right is a typical Green Heron, still secretive though.

The Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It occurs along inland waterways as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Adult Double-crested Cormorants are black or dark brown and have an orange-yellow patch of skin at the base of their bills. In breeding plumage, adults have two whitish tufts behind their eyes, hence the description "double-crested."

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. This stately heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps.

Wetlands of Blackpoint Drive in Florida

A Coot and some Teal swimmng around at Viera Wetlands in Eastern Central Florida

Sandhill Crane Portrait from Viera Wetlands in Eastern Central Florida (Grus canadensis)

The Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest.

This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean region of the Americas. It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, from where it spread to North America

The Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) is a member of the tern family Sternidae. It breeds inland in North America and winters south to the Caribbean and northern South America.

The Forster's Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, but will also hawk for insects in its breeding marshes. It usually feeds from saline environments in winter, like most Sterna terns. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by the Arctic Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.

This is a small tern, 33–36 cm long with a 64–70 cm wingspan. It is most similar to the Common Tern. It has pale grey upperparts and white underparts. Its legs are red and its bill is red, tipped with black. In winter, the forehead becomes white and a characteristic black eyemask remains. Juvenile Forster's Terns are similar to the winter adult. The call is a harsh noise like a Black-headed Gull.

Penty of water stayed late this year, 2012, allowing for an early and successful migration. Shot with a Nikon D800 and a full frame diagonal fisheye. Because of the successful migration, there were many people back into the roosting areas. I am hoping the birds are not disturbed.

Male Belted Kingfisher perched on a wire in Big Cypress Swamp Florida near the Everglades. (Megaceryle alcyon) The female features a rufous band across the upper belly that extends down the flanks. It is depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $5 note.

Great White Egret in flight over Big Cypress Swamp next to the Everglades in South West Florida with 300 f/2.8 and 1.7 Converter. Ardea alba. Great egrets are found near water, salt or fresh, and feed in wetlands, streams, ponds, tidal flats, and other areas. They snare prey by walking slowly or standing still for long periods, waiting for an animal to come within range of their long necks and blade-like bills.

The Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) are posing well above the pavement along the Tamiami Trail through the Florida Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp. Cormorants and Anhingas are very similar and often mistaken. Cormorants have a curved bill while Anhingas have a spear shaped beak.

Purple Gallinule Runnng along in the Everglades Anhinga Trail area. This is a very small postage stamp sized crop so the image quality might not be as good as it could be.

Puple Gallinule in the Everglades on Anhinga Trail. This is one of the birds I have a hard time finding. They are so darned secretive to me. Porphyrio martinicus is a "swamp hen" in the rail family Rallidae.