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February 26, 2024- I have only been here for 8-weeks, but I have recorded numerous species of birds on Greer Lake.

Long Legged Wading Birds

Sandhill Cranes: These are the same two from a few years ago when I live a few miles away. Below is the male I named Brutus.

Below is the female I named Harriot

Below is a second new male, not BrutusA Bittern (below)

Limpkin (below) are basically the same thing as a Sandhill Crane, but a bit smaller and browner. They sound and behave the same. Roseate Spoonbill (below)Wood Stork (below)July 3, 2024- (below) It has been four months since I have seen these Wood Storks. The rains after the drought are bringing all of the birds back.

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May 13, 2024- (above) Mother and baby Great Blue Heron

May 8, 2024- (above) Wow. This is the best photo of a bird I have taken. The reflection is great. It looks like I used a filter to give it an oil painting look, but I did not.

Full-sized Great Blue Heron (below), which is different from a Little Blue Heron. This one also could be more in the birds of prey category.

Green Heron (below) spotted on June 7, 2024- The apps say it is rare. It has a very strange grunting sound, like an alligator. This bird is like a larger heron except it has shorter legs and neck, like a Least Bittern.

July 7, 2024 (below)

Little Blue Heron with Snowy Egret (below)

Above, Little Blue Heron juvenile in transition foliage (June 10, 2024)

Snowy or White Egret with Tricolored Heron (below). They seem to be the same species but with different plumage.

The Great Egret (below) has never landed on Greer Lake. It lives nearby on its own lake. The smaller Snowy or White Egret (below)

Glossy Ibis (below)

American White IbisAmerican White Ibis (Left, below, with Snowy Egret)American White Ibis (Left, below, with Little Blue Heron)Greater Yellowleg (below), in the Sandpiper class (could also be a Lesser Yellowleg)

Spotted or Least Sandpiper, not sure which (below)Killdeer(below)Killdeer, Snowy Egret, Greater Yellowleg, Limpkim (above, left to right)

Black-necked Stilt (below)June 29, 2024- (Below) because of a many-month-long drought, the fuel source, fresh water molluscs, had gone away. The rains have returned allowing the molluscs to grow back. Today, I saw at least five different species of wading birds.

Birds of Prey (Water Divers)

Great Cormorant (below). This could be more in the birds of prey category.May 6, 2024- The video below seems to show two parents teaching their new adolescents how to swim.

Below, a female Anhingas. It appears to be a juvenile.

Birds of Prey (Air Divers)

Osprey (below)

This Loggerhead Shrike (below) is a rare bird and actually a miniature raptor. It is barely bigger than a hummingbird. It sits alone at the top of trees like a hawk. It eats lizards and then stabs them into sticks to store the food on a pike.

Buzzards and VulturesDucks

Mallard (below)Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (below)

Smaller Song Birds

Northern Mockingbird (below)

Palm Warbler (below)

Morning Dove. This common small bird was hard to shoot. It is skittish.

Crows and Similar Birds

Boat-tailed Grackle (below)

Fish Crow (below), looks like a Grackle, but is larger and more intelligent. It travels alone, unlike Grackle.

Black Bird, male and female (below)

Sea Birds

Seagull (not pictured yet, but witnessed)

What They Eat

It is March 11, 2024 and I just now learned what these birds eat. There are countless empty freshwater mollusc shells. The big shell is an Elliptio. The smaller one is a purple clam.

Reptiles

Painted Turtle4-12-2024- Florida softshell turtle (below)

Interspecies Turtles Seeming to Hang Out

Alligator

This one is about 10-feet. The neighbors called the FWC “nuisance alligator” hotline and the contract bounty hunter came out. But this one escaped death by leaving. Instead, an unlucky 5-footer was executed. Below, on 4-2-2024, this one showed up in my driveway. It has a crooked tail from trauma. It behaves like it is unafraid of humans.

Mammals

Rabbit

Insects

Butterfly

Bees

Arachnids (Spiders)

Gray Wall Jumping Spider- Metaphidippus chera is a species of jumping spider in the family Salticidae.

I’m pretty sure this is the same one that was a fraction of the size and living inside my house a few feet away from this plant. They can crawl under the sliding glass door. Now, it is 1.6 cm long. I’ve seen it on my window catch bugs. His name: Jumpin Jack

Interestingly, the Internet says it is a Southwestern Sonora desert spider. This is Florida.

Jumping Spider Gets a House Fly