A little female Boat-tailed Grackle sticks her tongue out at me after I took pictures of her splashing and preening.

A tiny Palm Warbler looks for the next perch as it relaxes in the shade of a little leaf parasol.

A young North American River Otter pokes his head out of the waters to see where the rest of the family is.

A Pileated Woodpecker flies

A Tricolored Heron flies round and round

A Yellow-crowned Night Heron lurks in the shadows, hiding from others, or maybe the heat?

A Tricolored Heron rouses and check his back.

A male Mallard takes a break from preening his shiny new feathers.

Because everyone needs a break sometimes.

Sometimes, she just likes to hang out. Other times, she makes angry Anhinga noises

A Roseate Spoonbill flies by, backlit in the early morning sun.

A Great Egret shows off his impressive beak.

Pinky, our juvenile Roseate Spoonbill, shows off that impressive namesake bill during a big yawn.

Ever notice how birds close their third eyelid while yawning? I imagine we'd do much the same if we had one.

This juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron gives us a nice yawn this early morning, but not because he just got up -- he's probably getting ready for bed!

A Snowy Egret pulls back from a failed strike, looking moderately frustrated.

A male Common Yellowthroat spies prey up above.

A Tricolored Heron climbs to the top of a snag

A Green Heron imperiously watches from his perch.

A Black Skimmer begins to slow and descend to join the colony.

A Great Egret struts across a field

A Yellow-throated Warbler whirls on us, perhaps surprised it was spotted?

From an Osprey

A Laughing Gull flies off with a big meal courtesy of a Royal Tern.

A Great Egret stalks off

Have you ever seen such a perfect thistle?

An Osprey surveillance the waters below for a meal.

A group of Snowy Egrets and Tricolor Herons were putting on a show as they flew low over the water and snatched fish by dunking their heads mid-air!

So too did the wading birds, like this Great Blue Heron.

A Tricolored Heron roams the ditches, looking for a catch.

A Brown-headed Nuthatch makes himself known with his squeaky rubber duck calls as he moves in on another territory.

A young Black Skimmer got a little too close to the water's surface on a skim.

A Monarch enjoys a bit of an afternoon tea on this flower.

A Snowy Egret gets his feathers ruffled with a little gust of wind.

A Red-winged Blackbird scans the area for threats.

A Snowy Egret moves quietly through the shadows of the early morning.

A Wood Stork expresses some annoyance with all the smaller waders around him by clacking his bill.

This little House Wren was not living up to his name in the middle of the preserve.

A Roseate Spoonbill, wary from a previous encounter with an aerial predator, looks upward after seeing a shadow cross the ground.

A Little Blue Heron shows off how flexible that neck is!

A Black Skimmer makes the final approach

A Hooded Merganser floats through our backyard pool, a surprising visitor!

A Snowy Egret comes around for the landing.

I think I interrupted something between these two!

A Sandhill Crane keeps its head on a swivel after a near encounter with a dog.

A Tricolored Heron elegantly dances across the water's surface while hunting.

A Loggerhead Shrike sits at the ready, able to launch into pursuit at a moments notice.

This Great Egret is mostly put together. Mostly.