I had an opportunity to photograph a Least Tern colony on Florida’s Gulf Coast last week, and it was an amazing experience. There were several newly hatched chicks and some a few days older that were running around the beach.

The young Terns leave their nests after just a few days but they rely on mom and dad to protect and feed them for the first 60-90 days of their life.

And the adult terns were certainly defending their young when I visited, dive bombing me as I got into position to take some photographs with my long 200-800mm lens. They settled down after they realized I was not a threat but just a birder wanting to take these pictures of their offspring to share with you.

The post Having the most fun with Least Terns appeared first on Roger Simmons.

I was leaving North Beach, and the tide was going out, so there was just a little stream of water separating the mainland from the beach — meaning there were fish trapped in the shallow water. That made them easy pickings for one Reddish Egret.

Their dance is all about hunting for food. According to AllAboutBirds.org, “They are active, animated foragers and employ their wings frequently when hunting, either opening the wings briefly to startle prey, or by keeping the wings extended and open, probably to coax prey to take shelter in the shade of the wings. They also extend their wings fully over the head and hunt beneath the umbrella they create. This ‘canopy feeding’ also attracts prey to a shaded environment and permits the egret to see prey clearly, without sun glare. … Reddish Egrets also use their feet to stir up sediment and flush prey.”

I also enjoy when their shaggy features on their head, neck and chest. When they get excited and the wind whips these feathers, they look like an avian version of Jags QB Trevor Lawrence.

The post Reddish Egret dances the night away appeared first on Roger Simmons.

Then two Ospreys flew over — not the birds but the loud, odd-looking military aircraft, which ended up chasing away the flamingos.

I came back early Saturday and there were no flamingos. But when I returned at mid-morning, three flamingos had flown to the island — so I repeated my process from Friday and headed out to see and photograph the birds.

Two were hanging out together with the third one staying off by itself sleeping. It finally woke up and joined the trio.

Because of the harsh lighting, these are certainly not my best flamingo photos. I wish there had been more flamingos to photograph, but three is better than none.

The post 3 flamingos are better than none appeared first on Roger Simmons.

On a recent trip to Osceola County, I spotted two male Snail Kites in two different locations. At both spots, it was the first time I had ever seen male Snail Kites there.

I saw the first one near a housing development outside Kissimmee and the other one along the shore of Lake Kissimmee near Kenansville.

It’s always a treat to photograph these birds as they scan the water hunting for apple snails, drive down to snatch their prey and then land nearby to feast on their catches.

And it’s worth repeating how rare these birds are. Audubon issued a report in January noting that because of drought the past two years, only 30 successful Snail Kite nests were found in Florida in 2025. “The population estimate for 2025 has dropped to about 2,000 kites total. The 2026 population estimate is expected to be even lower,” the organization reported.

The post Photographing Snail Kites in Osceola County appeared first on Roger Simmons.

The group had two hens and at least 10 poults — baby turkeys. This seems to be common behavior, according to AllAboutBirds.org. “Newly hatched chicks follow the female, who feeds them for a few days until they learn to find food on their own. As the chicks grow, they band into groups composed of several hens and their broods,” the website said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says there are two types of wild turkeys in Florida — the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) and the Osceola or Florida wild turkey (M.g. osceola). I think the ones I saw were Osceola turkeys.

I saw two more hens a few days later, but without any poults (or they could have been hiding in the tall grass).

The FWC is asking residents to report turkey sightings now through Aug. 31 for its Summer Brood Survey. More on that here.

/

The post Thanksgiving in May: Spotting turkeys in Osceola appeared first on Roger Simmons.

AllAboutBirds.org notes, “The Bobolink is one of the world’s most impressive songbird migrants, traveling some 12,500 miles (20,000 kilometers) to and from southern South America every year. Throughout its lifetime, it may travel the equivalent of 4 or 5 times around the circumference of the Earth.”

In addition to be well-traveled, they’re also pretty birds. The Bobolink males are black with white bellies and a cream-colored patch on their necks. The females are pale brown, looking a little similar to female Red-winged Blackbirds.

I am guessing the group I saw was enroute to the north for breeding. Hopefully I’ll spot them again in the fall when they head back to South America for the winter.

The post Well-traveled Bobolinks stop over for visit appeared first on Roger Simmons.

It was April 1, and it was the first attempt to launch the rocket with its four-person crew. Amazingly, the rocket did fly on its first try — something that is pretty rare across NASA history.

The mission was a success, and the crew sent back some amazing photos from the journey.

Just yesterday, the crew for Artemis III was announced. Hopefully I will be able to photograph their launch, too.

The post Remembering the launch of Artemis II appeared first on Roger Simmons.

While many migratory visitors have moved on, there is still a tremendous variety of birds to photograph across the area. It’s just a bit more uncomfortable with the heat, humidity and omnipresent mosquitos.

Here are just a few of the summertime Florida birds I have photographed recently:

The post Summertime birds across Central Florida appeared first on Roger Simmons.

So far I have photographed four of the five: Barred Owl, Burrowing Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl and Great Horned Owl. Still missing from my catalog is the American Barn Owl.

Over the past several weeks, I photographed some Barred Owls at Orlando Wetlands, a Burrowing Owl in Osceola County and a red-morph Eastern Screech-Owl on Merritt Island. (I also photographed a Great Horned Owl at MI, but I wasn’t happy with the results).

So, here are some of my recent Florida owl photos:

The post 3 different Florida owls, 3 different locations appeared first on Roger Simmons.

I’m not scientist — let’s make that clear from the start. But I am avid nature observer and bird lover. Since I starting visiting Emeralda back in the fall, there appear to be more Snail Kites hunting in that area. And among the Kites there now are some banded ones I had not previously seen.

Back in January, Audubon released an interesting report titled, “Snail Kite Population Showing Strain in Dry Years.” Since the kites feed on Apple Snails, those snails need water to reproduce. If there’s not enough water, there’s not enough snails and not enough food for Snail Kites. With very dry springs in 2024 and ’25, Audubon said it found only 30 successful Snail Kite nests in the entire state in 2025.

Fast forward to 2026. Florida is again in the midst of a serious drought. One place in the Kites’ historic range that is lowest on the drought index is Central Florida, which includes Lake County near Emeralda. Maybe the Snail Kites are migrating farther up the peninsula looking for Apple Snails — and finding them at Emeralda?

Hopefully, someone with proper training and credentials will look into this hypothesis. But for now, I’m just happy to have more Snail Kites to photograph. Here are some from recent trips to Emeralda.

The post Could drought be driving Snail Kites to Central Florida? appeared first on Roger Simmons.