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Florida Everglades-Gators and More!

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I just this morning flew back home from Florida (Fort Lauderdale region). I was there with my boyfriend Eric. We visited the beach a lot, but our coolest trip was down to the Everglades National Park where we saw lots of birds and herps! Mostly we saw Alligators and small brown lizards that I think are brown anoles (not sure). Maybe someone from Florida can tell me what species these are. Also, we saw some fantastic birds so I will include them here too!

I did see a black racer and iguanas well, but did not have a camera with me at the time :(

The Gators:

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The turtle butt (very cute!):

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more to come in the next post!
 
And here are the birds:

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If anyone knows the species of these birds, feel free to tell me! I know one is a heron....but that is basically it!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
 
Those look to be Anolis sagrei aka the Brown Anole aka Bahaman Anole.

From Wiki.

The Brown Anole, Anolis sagrei (or Norops sagrei) also called the Bahaman Anole is a lizard native to Cuba and the Bahamas. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, and may now be found in Florida and as far north as Southern Georgia, Texas, Taiwan, Hawaii, and other Caribbean islands. Its introduction in the USA has altered the behavior and potentially triggered a negative effect on populations of the native Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis, also called the Carolina Anole. This is one of many other anole species and has a truly fascinating description and behaviour.
 
For the birds, the first one is a night heron. Maybe the next is a little blue heron. The hooked beak one is a cormorant. The big fluffy one is a great blue heron.
 
For the birds, the first one is a night heron. Maybe the next is a little blue heron. The hooked beak one is a cormorant. The big fluffy one is a great blue heron.

Thanks Nanci! It is cool that I know what they are now...I wish Colorado had such neat birds. I guess that we get Bald Eagles and Red Tail Hawks though..which are pretty sweat too.
 
I was driving through suburban Gainesville the other day. Something caught my eye, and I looked back. Right there in a neighborhood, in a retention pond, was a bald eagle taking a bath. Strange...
 
The first bird is a Green Heron, usually shy.
I believe the second and fourth are both Tri-colored Herons.
The third is a Great Blue Heron.
The fifth is a Cormorant, I think a Neotropical Cormorant, there are a few that look very similar.
The last looks like another Great Blue Heron.
Thanks for the thread, my daughter just spent the week there with a biology class.
 
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Very cool Alan! Thanks! I have been to the Everglades a few times in my life, but not anytime recently. It was neat to see it from my perspective now versus how I saw it as a kid (I mostly found it to be buggy and intolerable as a kid, and now it is fascinating!). :)
 
First bird is a green heron.
2nd shot is reddish egret
3rd shot is great blue heron
4th shot is either a reddish egret again or possibly a little blue heron.
5th shot is a cormorant
Last one is a great blue heron again.

Birds down here are one of my specialities! I love all the different types of wading birds especially.

Looks like you had a good trip and were able to see quite a few gators!
 
First bird = green heron
The second and fourth bird is a little blue heron.. the bill gives it away.
Third and last bird = great blue heron
Fifth bird is a double-crested cormorant

Reddish egrets have a pink bill base with a dark tip, little blue herons have a gray bill base with a dark tip. Also, reddish egrets have more plumy feathers on the neck than the little blue does.

I have done bird research in that area... Cool pictures Rachel!
 
Wonderful pictures and great wildlife! I've been to Florida before, but never to the Everglades. I was down in Orlando, and I was only 8, so I'd love to go back to go herping and searching for wildlife. :)

All the best

David
 
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