We visited the Gainesville, Florida area for a few days. Early June is the time for bird chicks, and we saw several. The highlight for us occurred during a hike at Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville. We arrived early, about 7:30 a.m., as the temperature forecast for the day called for 90 degrees with high humidity. As we walked along a boardwalk we saw a fellow birder (assumed because of binoculars and a camera!). He called us over and pointed out the bittern chicks in a clump of grass and reed. He comes daily to observe and told us that the nest had been disturbed by another bird and possibly an alligator but all four chicks still thrived. If you look closely at the photograph above, you can see a lot of fluff, with two beaks at the top and the other two front and center.
We watched the adult Least Bittern fly in directly to the clump, hidden from view. She made her way through to a section, fed a chick and immediately flew away. As we walked along the boardwalk she flew past us and landed further on searching for more food. She kept well hidden, but I did get one photo.
On a hike in Paynes Prairie the next morning we watched the Common Gallinules swimming through the vegetation, then an adult followed by chicks swam over the the pier to find some bugs. They stayed briefly, and swam back. We also spotted chicks in some Osprey nests, and juvenile herons.
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