This Month's Winner!

Stephen Shoff is an amateur photographer from Sequim, WA... way out on the Olympic Peninsula of northwestern Washington State, about as from the Florida east coast as you can get in the continental US. Several members of their local photo club were on a long trip photographing Florida's wonderful birds along the east coast and were spending several days in Sebastian. They visited Sebastian Inlet several times during their stay. This photo was taken in late February during an evening excursion to catch a sunset. It was taken at the fish cleaning station in the south section of the park. Stephen liked this image in particular because he would rather be a landscape photographer than a bird photographer. This was a great opportunity to do both.

It demonstrates our beautiful landscape as well as a magnificent juvenile Wood Stork. Wood Storks are wading birds that can be found in southeastern swamps and wetlands. Wood Storks have primarily white feathers with black flight feathers on the edges of its wings and tail. The head and neck are bare and of a dark gray color. Juveniles are differentiated by their scraggly feathers on its head and neck. These wading birds slowly walk through wetlands with their bill down in the water feeding on fish and crustaceans. They are often found roosting and nesting in colonies in trees above standing water. These colonies are often times seen on the south side of Sebastian Inlet as just one of the species of birds that you can see here.