Scanning the shore with my binoculars as my daughter piloted our canoe around Billy’s lake, I was a bit startled when I saw a small group of four plump sandpiper birds gathered on a downed cypress tree. Sandpipers in the Okefenokee? This was definitely a first for me. Since our Okefenokee excursions have always beenContinue reading “Okefenokee Swamp Spotted Sandpiper”
Category Archives: Okefenokee Birding
Okefenokee Swamp Pileated Woodpeckers
March 4, 2017 on Billy’s Lake – Around 5:00 pm, after getting shots of a beautiful, white, Great Egret, we pulled the canoe onto some spatterdock to observe two Pileated Woodpeckers on the bank. All of the Pileateds I had previously seen stayed fairly high up in the trees. But these two were foraging alongContinue reading “Okefenokee Swamp Pileated Woodpeckers”
A Refuge for the Soaring Swallow-tailed Kite
After several trips to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge that ended in a bust, I was really hoping this trek would finally result in a decent Swallow-tailed Kite photograph. But once again, it appeared that I was leaving the Okefenokee Swamp disappointed. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is located in Georgia near along the FloridaContinue reading “A Refuge for the Soaring Swallow-tailed Kite”
Okefenokee Swamp Melanistic Pileated Woodpecker
Going through some older Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge posts, I found this unique observation from April 12, 2010 by iNaturalist member Marv Elliott: a melanistic Pileated Woodpecker (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/538467). Contacting Marv about his observation, he replied: “My wife (Susan) and I are birders and Naturalists. We were driving the main road, saw the pileated and knew itContinue reading “Okefenokee Swamp Melanistic Pileated Woodpecker”
Okefenokee Birding and Binoculars
Birds and reptiles! Large wading birds and huge reptiles of the order Crocodilia! That is what the Okefenokee is all about. It’s a wildlife photographer’s dream! But in 2019 there was something new for me: small passerines! New for me on this year’s paddling excursion was my new pair of Zeiss Conquest HD binoculars thatContinue reading “Okefenokee Birding and Binoculars”
Thank an Okefenokee NWR Ranger!
Okefenokee Swamp paddlers owe much to the federal Okefenokee NWR and Stephen C Foster state park employees that keep the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge’s canoe and kayak trails clear, maintained and well-marked. When one visits today, direction signs label and point to Billy’s Lake, Minnie’s Lake, Big Water, Canal Run and more. Since cell phoneContinue reading “Thank an Okefenokee NWR Ranger!”
Okefenokee Bittern: Hidden in Plain Sight
My daughter and I were only ten minutes into a four-day canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia and already we had missed something! As we were paddling up the channel to Billy’s Lake from the Stephen C. Foster State Park boat ramp, we pulled to the side to let a tourist-laden pontoon boatContinue reading “Okefenokee Bittern: Hidden in Plain Sight”
Birding the Okefenokee: Pileated Woodpecker
A loud call breaks the warm, still afternoon air. “Are there monkeys in the Okefenokee Swamp?”, my young daughter asks. “No. That’s a bird”, I tell her. “Watch over there.” In a moment, a flaming red crest appears from behind the trunk of the tree, peering in our direction as it searches another soft spotContinue reading “Birding the Okefenokee: Pileated Woodpecker”
