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Highsmith Wildlife Pics

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The pictures on this page were taken by Shawn & Deborah Highsmith. We hope you enjoy them!

10/26/2026

Wow! The icing on the cake of the day was this beautiful Roseate Spoonbill! Roseate Spoonbills are the only Spoonbill species that is native to the Americas. Roseate Spoonbills stand about 2.5 feet tall, with a wingspan of up to 4.5 feet, and weigh between 2 to 4 lbs. Male Roseate Spoonbills are slightly larger than females, but it's so slight that in a zoo setting a vet needs to physically examine, or DNA test them, to determine male from female. Otherwise they look identical. When Roseate Spoonbills are nesting, it's easy to tell them apart, because the males are bringing the nest supplies, and the females are building the nests!

10/26/2026

Look at all the colors! We found a few Glossy Ibises on our last trip out to the Refuge. Glossy Ibises are the most widely distributed of all the Ibis species, and found across the warmer parts of the continents of Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas. They are found in and around shallow freshwater, brackish, and saltwater wetlands, marshes, ponds, lagoons, reservoirs, swamps and grassy fields. They eat crayfish, snails, crabs, shrimp, grasshoppers, crickets, small fish, lizards, rice, beetles and even small snakes. Although they are listed as year round residents in Florida, we've only seen them here, from Fall to late Spring. There isn't much here in the hotter months of summer.

10/22/2026

A Great Egret, standing in a White Mangrove tree. Most of the White Mangroves here were burned in last winter's hard freeze. The dead branches still stand. But coming up from the trunks and the roots, are new shoots. It will take a couple years to fill in, but they will be green and full again. This Great Egret stands 3 feet tall, so you can see how tall the shoots have gotten since last winter. Great Egrets have a wingspan of 4.5 to 5 feet, and they can weigh up to 3 lbs. Great Egrets have black feet, so if you see one with yellow feet, that is a Snowy Egret, equally as beautiful, but half this size.
Taken Tuesday.

10/22/2026

An adult Tricolored Heron stands near the entrance of Black Point Wildlife Drive. Tricolored Herons are a common sight in Florida, and they can be found along the coasts and in the wetlands throughout North America, and all the way down to South America and the Caribbean. Tricolored Herons are at home in freshwater and saltwater marshes, wetlands, tide pools, lagoons, mangrove swamps, mudflats, ponds, and estuaries. Tricolored Herons stand about 2.5 feet tall, with a 3 foot wingspan, and their average weight is about 14 ounces.
Taken Tuesday.

10/21/2026

There are 9 Common Gallinules (also known as Moorhens), and 2 Pied-billed Grebes in this picture, with one American Alligator hoping to get lucky. The Alligator was disappointed. It was quiet on the Drive today. We saw 3 White Pelicans that were too far out to get clear pictures. Winter Migration is underway across the planet. Turn your outside lights out at night to help the birds navigate by the stars.
Taken Yesterday.

10/21/2026

A beautiful Great Blue Heron on a very windy day! Great Blue Herons are tall, stately birds, standing over 4 feet tall, with an enormous wingspan from 5.5 feet, to almost 7 feet, and they weigh between 4 and 8 pounds. They look impressive in the air! Great Blue Herons can be found from Alaska and Canada, all the way down to Belize in Central America, the Caribbean, and the Galapagos Islands.
Taken yesterday.

10/14/2026

This is a young, female, Belted Kingfisher. A female Belted Kingfisher will have two belts across her chest. The top blue belt is on both males, and females, but it you look closely you'll see a rust colored belt starting to come in just below the blue belt. Females have both belts. Belted Kingfishers are about 14 inches long, with a wingspan of up to 23 inches, and they weigh up to 6 ounces. And unlike most birds, the female is more brightly colored than the male. Fossil records show that Belted Kingfishers have been flying across the Americas for about 2 million years!

10/13/2026

This juvenile White Ibis is about halfway through it's Calico Phase. White Ibises are brown when they're under a year old. When they are between 1 and 2 years old, their brown feathers will slowly be replaced with white feathers, and are seen with random patches of white, like this one. Most White Ibises are totally white by the age of 3 years old. The Calico phase is also called the Piebald Phase. They are beautiful in any phase!

10/11/2026

This is a Florida Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake. This one is about 10 to 12 inches long. Pygmy Rattlesnakes grow to be about 2 feet long, with a max length of 31 inches. They have a very, tiny rattle on the end of it's tail (second pic). That rattle is so small, it sounds more like an insect buzzing. Pygmy Rattlesnakes are the smallest subspecies of a Rattlesnake. When Pygmy Rattlesnakes are small they eat frogs, toads, and lizards. When they are larger they will eat mice, voles, moles, large insects like grasshoppers, crickets, and cicadas, other smaller snakes and an occasional nestling bird. They are found throughout Florida and Southern Georgia. This is the smallest venomous snake found in Florida. Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnakes do not lay eggs, they give birth to live baby Rattlesnakes! Watch your step!
*This snake is whole, very much alive, and crossing the road. We have long lenses on our cameras for distance. This snake was too close to get it all in one picture, and we're not getting out of the car to get a better picture of that guy.* 😅

10/11/2026

This is the smallest Florida Softshell Turtle we've ever seen up on the road. We took a picture, and escorted this little guy off the road, in the direction it was traveling. It was maybe 6 or 7 inches long. How cute is that?!

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Winter Springs, FL
32708

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

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