Birds With Mohawks…and Alligators!

Birds With Mohawks…and Alligators!

Ritch Grissom Memorial WetlandsYawn. Right? Birds with mohawks. Ridiculous. But it’s fantastic!

Maybe it was the wind. Maybe it was mating season. I don’t know why so many of the birds we saw at the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands had mohawks! It made for some interesting photos though.

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Located in Melbourne, Florida, this water reclamation constructed wetlands is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail. The wetlands are home to a variety of different birds and tons of alligators. A gravel road makes a number of loops around the area, allowing visitors to explore from the safety of their cars. We opted to walk the roads. The second time we visited, that was the only option as the area was temporarily closed to vehicles. The alligators didn’t seem to mind us walking by them. I would recommend keeping your distance from them, just to be safe.

Alligator

Alligator

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Great Blue Heron mohawk

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Mohawk!

There were baby birds and birds without mohawks to photograph as well.

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Do you see what I see? Bird’s nest! (Scroll down for a close up)

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Birds nest

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

pretty flowers

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Birds having a conversation

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Baby Great Blue Heron

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Alligator

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Sandhill Crane

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Baby Sandhill Crane

Family of Sandhill cranes

Family of Sandhill cranes

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

lunch time!

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

A mohawk transformed into a rat tail?

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

lunch time!

White Ibis having lunch!

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

pretty flower

Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands

Enjoying the view from one of the shaded lookouts

If you decide to visit the wetlands, take water, sunscreen and a hat if you intend to walk around. We only found two shaded spots in the entire area. We don’t know all the names of the birds we photographed, so if you know what the ones didn’t label, let us know what they are!

Jill Patterson
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Adventure is for everyone! Jill is the founder, writer, photographer and travel agent at Chasing Adventure Travel. An adventure travel blog that has morphed into a travel agency, specializing in Active and Adventurous Travels. Jill has traveled worldwide and spent almost 2 years traveling continuously with her husband. She has traveled to resorts, crossed an ocean on a cruise ship, motorcycled multiple times around Europe and experienced self-guided long term travel. ~ Dreamer, doer and energetic go-getter. Curiosity has inspired adventurous world travel. Imagination is everything ~ *Chasing Adventure Travel is in affiliation with Nexion Canada.

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