Wednesday, February 11, 2015

My Valentine's Day Gift: Anhinga

This is becoming a lovely tradition: for Valentine's day, my husband and I give each other a trip to some nice place.  This year it was Southern Florida and it was a few days before February 14, because I needed to be back in time for my class on February 12. 

We spent some time on the beach in Fort Lauderdale and then camped in Everglades National Park.  I will have to write about Fort Lauderdale later.  Now I just want to show a few pictures I took on Anhinga Trail in Everglades.

Apparently, anhinga is a this amazing fish-hunting bird.  When it is done with chasing fish, it sits on the low branches of the trees by the water.  At first, it looks like a wet black bottle-cleaning brush (it's feathers are not water-proof).

Anhinga

To dry its feathers, the bird spreads its wings like a pterodactyl.  In a few minutes light-grey spots start appearing on its shoulders:

Anhinga

After about 10-15 minutes of drying in the sun, the bird turns into this beauty:

Anhinga

Isn't it amazing?  If I did not took all three pictures by myself, I would not believe that this is actually the same bird!

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