With each of my bike rides, I find more and more wintering birds at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. Like these Blue-winged Teal that are showing up in the canals and overhead. Flight shots of these guys are fun as they reveal the beautiful blue color on their wings.

At the Crazy U, the usual Common Ground Doves were hanging out on the ground (yes, they are aptly named). Then they heard me stop pedaling and spooked into the nearby trees. If you listen closely to the sound of their wings in flight, you’ll learn to identify these little guys by sound alone.

My first-of-fall Savannah Sparrow hopped out behind the dove to greet me. Just like I said a few weeks ago about Palm Warblers, it’s fun to see the first one, and it won’t be long before we’ll be complaining “just another Savannah! I wanted a Grasshopper Sparrow!” (Patience, Grasshopper!)

I concentrated on photographing different birds that hadn’t been featured on the blog recently. So I was quite happy to find the Peregrine Falcon perched on a power line near the lake. He’s back! I’ve seen others report him for several weeks now, but this was the first time he showed himself to me.

I approached him slowly, wanting to get closer for a fun shot. Then he spotted something in the distance and took off, giving me a great flight shot opportunity. Such a fun bird!

I had to save the best for last. As I pedaled back to the entrance, I came across a turtle on the side of the road. Rich’s favorite critter is a great way to end another beautiful visit to Lake Apopka!