During my sojourn in Florida, I was able to visit Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It lies along the Atlantic coast of central Florida, about 50 miles due east of Orlando. Among the animals we saw were several birds that I had not seen before, including:
The Great (or American) Egret

The Louisiana (or Tricolor) Heron

Two Spoonbills. A Spoonbill is pink, like a Flamingo, but it is shorter and has a large, spoon-shaped beak. I enlarged part of the photo so you can see the Spoonbills in more detail.

Anhinga (also known as a Snake Bird because its body is under water when it swims. This happens because the Anhinga does not have oil glands to waterproof its wings.)

photo credit to my son, Nathan, of nathandroberts.com
P.S. If you’re new to my blog, you may wonder why I’m putting up these pictures. I generally do this sort of thing when I’m on vacation. My readers still get something interesting when they stop by my blog, and I don’t have to spend too many brain cells on blog posts.