Egrets, Herons, Ibises… all searching for breakfast as dawn arrives, on the banks of Fisheating Creek, Florida

This photograph is from my first trip to Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area, near Palmdale, Florida. I can’t believe it took me this long to visit! It’s an amazing place, and not as far as I thought. I decided to try to hike to the “Memorial Tree” for sunrise. The trail was pretty confusing, so I got lost and had to double back a few times. Because of this, I ended up actually technically missing sunrise. However, because of all the tall cypress trees, when I arrived the scene was still in shadow. As I waited for the dawn light to hit the Memorial Tree, I noticed that it was first starting to barrel down the creek bed. It illuminated the scene beautifully, showing hoards of wading birds all along the riverbanks. I have no idea why they call this place Fisheating Creek, but there was certainly a lot of fish eating going on!

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