“What alligator?”

I attribute this quote to the great blue heron on the left in this photo. The heron seems rather oblivious to the enormous alligator chomping on a fish right in front of him.

In fact there is a thick assembly of birds here in what remains of Lettuce Lakes in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary as a result of the current drought in south Florida. This small lake is the only wet spot in the entire swamp, and the tension between these birds is evident. The white egrets are continually squawking at one other to move over and yield territory. See the two on the right with outstretched wings?

Does the great blue heron even see the big American Alligator? Good news: the blue heron survived, and the alligator swam over to the bank to get some sun.

In this image, I can count 7 great white egrets, two great blue heron, a wood stork, a roseate spoonbill and two snowy egrets — one of which is sitting on the alligator’s long tail. There were many more birds in the tree and nearby in the lake.  Crowding the lake and fishing aggressively, these birds are a dramatic illustration of the strain on the food supply caused by the drought.

Tomorrow I am off to Shark Valley in the Everglades again to capture some more wildlife. Stay tuned to this  blog space!