(see Naples News article)
They glide through the sky with unmistakable grace and when you see them from a distance wading in the water they have a royal look.
But seeing the up in really close view is a bit of shock (particularly for the first time): They have no feathers on their head or neck.
They look prehistoric.
But you’re unlikely to see them at all when they hit the thermals.
Hitching a ride on the high altitude currents propel them a few thousand feet in the air, on which they soar for miles.
This helicopter tour isn’t quite that high – only 500 ft.
But for a moment I felt "stork like."
Those thermals give a great view to a pretty good looking bird …Just not close up.
6 comments:
Don't think I've ever seen a woodstork, Bob, but I do like the picture. Guess I don't want to see them close-up, huh??????
Loved the heli ride.
Betsy
I've never ridden in a helicopter so that was totally cool!
Do Wood Storks deliver babies also?
LOL
Sunny :)
Wikipedia says that these storks will have 10-20 nests in the same tree!! That must be quite a sight!!
Oh - I see you were in a helicopter - in your next post, my comment asked how you got the sky shot.
When flying home from somewhere, if the plane goes over the Everglades, I can always pick out Snake Road, a.k.a., Josie Billie highway.
Thanks for your comments. They don't call it a bird's eye view for nothing. The world becomes transparent when you see it from that angle. To think that humans have only been flying in helicopters for half a century. These birds did it the hard way, through evolution.
Oh! I love the wood stork! I was working as a volunteer last winter at the Bonaventure golf course and when I arrived, about 7 AM, there was an entire flock of about 20 wood storks along the banks of one of their lakes. I had the privilege of watching them take flight and it was awesome! We have a wood stork who visits us occasionally, and I've caught his photo a couple of times. I'll have to dig the picture up and share with you! I totally envy the helicopter ride. That's my dream: to fly over the Everglades like a bird ...
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