Pied Billed Grebe with Florida GarToday at Shark Valley the grebes were running the show. They were very actice preening themselves and swimming back and forth looking for food. Usually they consume their catch too quickly for me to photograph them in the act but this one caught a small Florida gar which he could not swallow without a significant struggle. Unfortunately the grebe swam away to consume it's catch in private. I would have loved to see how the grebe managed to eat such a tough meal.
A Cold Morning
A crow eating a catfish.This Sunday morning was quite cold for the Everglades, temperatures reached below 32°F overnight. Native species of fish can survive such cold conditions but the tropical exotics like the oscars, blue tilapia and Mayan cichlid can't survive the cold. The presence of so many easy meals meant that birds like black vultures and crows were enjoying a rare treat of fish.
Normally selectively killing these exotic species would be a good thing, except that if there aren't enough native fish species left, the birds that usually populate this area in the winter will have to move on and search for food elsewhere. In the meantime the scavengers like the vultures and this crow as well as the herons and egrets are enjoying a banquet of exotic sushi.