The baby anhingas I have been tracking are as big as their parents, difficult for me to distinguish who was who. One baby on the ground seemed as if it was unable to fly back up to the nest. When a bicyclist came by, the father anhinga flew screeching directly at the man, causing him to yell out. The father came at me too while I was photographing the baby, and startled me also. These otherwise peaceful water birds can apparently be very aggressive if they feel their offspring are threatened.
Although the gator was only feet away from the Roseate Spoonbill, each acted as if the other were not there. I had the urge to scare the spoonbill in warning when I saw the gator swimming right towards the bird, but refrained and decided to let nature play out its course, which turned out to be peaceful. Getting pictures of the glamorous birds’ demise was not what I was anticipating.
