I spent the second half of my week in Florida going on a "Pontoon Putt" on the St. John's River.   I joined the tour guide  Joanna Williams and two other photographers enjoying the wildlife and surrounding nature.  Our lodge was in the town of Deland (about an hour outside of Orlando) at a marina where Joanna keeps her beautiful pontoon.  The idea was to go out in the mornings and evenings looking for birds to photograph and enjoying the nature at the same time.  I found that it was very difficult to photograph the birds given that the boat was constantly bobbing up and down.  So even when the birds were still the boat was not.  However, for me the best part was just being on the boat enjoying the scenery and watching the birds in action.   The St. Johns River is the longest river in Florida (500 km).  This river was named one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998 but was included on a list of America's ten most endangered rivers in 2008 due to the population increases in the river's vicinity.  

Anhinga species are found all over the world in warm shallow waters.  These water birds are sometimes called Snakebirds, Darter, American Darter or Water Turkeys.  

Anhingas often migrate with other birds and have been described as "black paper gliders".    The birds that do not live in the extreme north and south of their ranges   migrate based on temperature and available sunlight so in the winter some will migrate towards the equator.  Birds definitely had the right instincts!

Although not in their normal range, anhingas have been found as far north as the states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

These birds have such beautiful wings.

There were a lot of turtles lying by the sides of the river banks.  They are very skittish and jump into the water as soon as you get too close.  

While turtles are not being hunted as much than it was in historical times, the practise is still common in many communities whether done legally or illegally.  Turtles have been used for food, medicine and decoration for centuries.

A Great White Egret in the reeds.  This species is generally very successful with a large and expanding range.   In North America large number of these birds were killed at the end of the 19th century so their plumes could be used for decorating hats.  

Thanks to conservation measures, Great White Egrets  have since recovered except for in some parts of the southern US due to habitat loss.

A Great White Egret in flight.

A Great White Egret surveying its surroundings.

A river scene.  The St. John's River is very scenic  and for the most part very quiet.  This river was not straight up and down- there were so many offshoots that we were amazed that Joanne knew her way around so well.  

Alligators are only native to the United States and China.    The majority of American alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana with over a million in each state.  Florida is the only state where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side.

Alligators and crocodiles are top-notch hunters and will eat just about anything they can get their teeth on.  Their teeth is specialized just for spearing so they don't bother to chew their food- they just swallow large chunks or the entire animal whole.    Good to keep your distance for sure!  

One late afternoon a few of us went for a walk after pontooning.  We came across this Sandhill Crane.  These birds fly south for the winter and in their wintering areas they form flocks of over 10,000 birds.  One place to see this is at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.  Wouldn't that be a great site to see!    Because of these birds large wingspan (up to 7 feet) they are very skilled soaring birds similar to eagles and hawks.  While we were photographing the bird a man came up to us and  mentioned that there were quite a few bears in the area that had been seen lately.  Joanne thought that this was nonsense but told us the next day that it was in fact true.  Well that was the last time we went out walking in the neighbourhood!  

These Ibises look like really classy birds.    They are a group of long- legged wading birds and all have long down-curved bills and usually feed as a group.  Apparently the White American Ibis is the mascot of the University of Miami selected for its legendary bravery during hurricanes.   According to legend these birds are the last sign of wildlife to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to re-appear once the storm is over.  

A closer  view of the Ibises.

Eagles are large powerfully built birds of prey.  They  have extremely powerful eyes,  beaks and talons.     I read the the female species is larger than the male-who knew?   I was told that the many species lay two eggs but the older, larger chick frequently kills its younger sibling once it has hatched.  The parents take no action to stop this killing.    Unfortunately I do  not have a super telephoto lens so this Eagle was too far away for me to get a good photograph.

 The Wood Stork is the only stork that presently breeds in North America.   In the United States, unlike Brazil,  there is a small and endangered breeding population.  

You can see that the Wood Stork is  a broad-winged soaring bird.  It catches fish by by holding its bill open in the water until a fish is detected.  

Little Blue Herons are smallish herons of the southeastern United States.  It is the only heron species in which first-year birds and adults show dramatically different colours.  First-year birds are pure white while adults are blue.

The Osprey, sometimes known as the sea hawk is a  fish eating bird of prey.  The Osprey is unusual in that it is a single living species that is found nearly worldwide.  

One fact about these birds that I found interesting is that they are known to exhibit great joint flexibility.  Their limbs (wings and legs) have adapted to have even greater flexibility over time.  This comes in handy when flying towards bright lights such as the sun.  They are able to bend the joint in their wing to shield their eyes from the light to keep safe while flying.  Mother nature is so great!

I hadn't realized that Florida has some great fall colours.   This scene was taken from the pontoon boat.

The Great Blue  Heron is a large wading bird very common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America as well as the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands.  

 Heron in Flight.

We were fortunate to spot this deer on the side of the river just before sunset.

This Kingfisher was so far away from us so this is a very heavily cropped photo.  It was the kind of a shot that I took hoping to get the bird in the frame as I could barely see it.   You really need a longer lens to get a good photo of these small guys.   

The Yellow-crowned Night Heron is also called the American Night Heron or squawk.  

The Red-shouldered Hawk is a medium sized hawk.  This bird stayed perched for us for a long time just surveying his surroundings.  Apparently these birds typically wait on a perch and then swoop down on prey.   They have very sharp vision and good hearing.  Their talons are capable of killing animals at least equal to their own size.  

The prey they like best are small mammals including voles, gophers, mice, moles and chipmunks.  Occasionally they will also go after rabbits and tree squirrels, small birds and large insects.  

One last shot of an old logging canal.  I had heard that part of the  movie- The African Queen was filmed on this river.  I couldn't find any facts to substantiate this but I thought that this scene certainly could have been in that movie.