Merritt Island Florida

[fishing4sanity]

I recently went to Florida, I'm not too good at the theme parks and crowds so when the wife and kids and grandkids all went to the theme parks, I went to Merritt Island. Many of these birds are new to me so the names may be wrong on some. Started with a feral pig and ended with an alligator, with lots of birds in between. Sorry, if I broke a rule on too many pics for one thread.

#1 Feral Pig

#2 White Ibis

#3 Tricolored Heron

#4 Great Egret

#5 Blue-winged Teal

#6 Roseate Spoonbill

#7 Reddish Egret

#8 Turkey Vulture

#9 Snowy Egret

#10 Little Blue Heron

#11 Alligator

#12 Alligator

 

[Nwcid]

Great pics. 7 and 10 are my favorites.

 

[ZombiesniperJr]

Great set

 

[Designer]

#9 is my pick. There is no rule about how many photos per post. Only however many will upload with each post. Smaller file sizes = more files.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Now that is a very nice set. I think I actually like the feral pig best. They are about as dangerous as that old alligator!

 

[PJcam]

A really nice collection

 

[BrentC]

Very nice set. Love the Snowy, always a favorite of mine. I think this is the first time I've seen a Reddish Egret.

 

[baturn]

Great set! A trip like this is on my bucket list.

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice set of images. In my experience, you were lucky to see a feral pig. I have been going to Merritt on visits to Florida for about 8 years and have only ever seen one pig on one of those trips. They are an environmental pest as they destroy nesting grounds, etc. for the bird population, in fact, a few years ago, the local county had an open hunting season for them as they have no natural predators, except us, and continue to multiply. Dean Gretsch is right in that they are just about as dangerous as that old alligator.

WesternGuy

 

[fishing4sanity]

Thanks for the comments. This was my first trip to the Merritt Island Refuge, but I've been to Florida many times as my parents live in Flagler Beach. The pig and gator were the highlights for me. First time I've had a camera in hand when I came across a pig, but I agree about their destructiveness, this one was really tearing up the grass and brush. I watched the gator for quite awhile, but with the cold temperature he didn't act like he was going to do anything anytime soon. Biggest alligator I've come across in a wild situation. Merritt Island has a lot of people passing through everyday, but when I came across the pig and alligator I was alone and that made it a bit nicer.