by Rey Wells
I don’t like a season in Florida to pass by without a visit to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, which is near Orlando. Sheila and I got over there one morning in January. When I am out without a group these days, I am mainly looking for interesting photo opportunities. So, I likely passed up some good sightings at a distance.
Not far into the Drive, we came upon this handsome Gray-headed Swamphen. It looks a little like an overgrown Purple Gallinule. But they are not related. The swamphen is a rail species and is native to south Asia. As has happened with many foreign species, it was imported to here and held captive until some escaped in south Florida. Now they flourish throughout much of Florida and even up into Georgia and South Carolina. They have a wide-ranging diet, largely vegetative, but which also includes eggs and nestlings of other birds. They are a significant threat to gallinules and other marsh dwelling species, including native rails.
A bit further on, we came upon another swamphen. Here it is. At first glance, the object of the bird’s attention looks kind of like a large crab. But there are no fresh water crabs in Florida that are anywhere close to this size.
Here is another look that shows more of what must be flora, not fauna. If anyone knows what it is, kindly advise. If you look carefully at this last shot, you can see that the swamphen is currently working on ingesting a green marsh plant. “Good bird!” – for the moment at least.
