Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

South Florida Wildlife

Photos by Lee Smith

I visited a few locations the other day to photograph the wildlife and scenery of the area:

Wakodahatchee Wetlands is on 50 acres of unused utility land and transformed into a recreation wetlands open to the public in Delray Beach, Florida
Green Cay Wetlands comprised of a man-made 100-acre wetlands & 1.5-mile boardwalk in Boynton Beach, FL
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – a 147,392-acre wildlife sanctuary is located west of Boynton Beach, FL

These are but a small collection of images I captured from those areas…

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - 3355 — Gulf Fritillary Butterfly – Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – 3355

Cattle egret - Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 3080 — Cattle egret – Wakodahatchee Wetlands – 3080

Cattle Egret - Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 3084 — Cattle Egret – Wakodahatchee Wetlands – 3084

Great Blue Heron - Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 3163 — Great Blue Heron – Wakodahatchee Wetlands – 3163

Wakodahatchee Wetlands - Least Bittern - 3175 — Wakodahatchee Wetlands – Least Bittern – 3175

Tricolor Heron - Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 3181 — Tricolor Heron – Wakodahatchee Wetlands – 3181

Anihingas - Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 3198 — Anihingas – Wakodahatchee Wetlands – 3198

Green Cay Wetlands - 3208 — Green Cay Wetlands – 3208

Pickerel weed with bee - Green Cay Wetlands - 3263 - Pontederia is an aquatic plant, otherwise commonly known as pickerel weeds — Pickerel weed with bee – Green Cay Wetlands – 3263

Pickerel weed with bee - Green Cay Wetlands - 3264 — Pickerel weed with bee – Green Cay Wetlands – 3264

Pickerel weed with bee - Green Cay Wetlands - 3266 — Pickerel weed with bee – Green Cay Wetlands – 3266

Dragonfly - Green Cay Wetlands - 3269 — Dragonfly – Green Cay Wetlands – 3269

Anhinga - Green Cay Wetlands - 3281 - The anhinga, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, secret crow, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas — Anhinga – Green Cay Wetlands – 3281

Peacock Butterfly - Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - 3329 — Peacock Butterfly – Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – 3329

Swallow-tailed kite - Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - 3340 — Swallow-tailed kite – Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – 3340

Swallow-tailed kite - Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - 3342 — Swallow-tailed kite – Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – 3342

Photographing the South Florida Wildlife of Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Green Cay Wetlands, and Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Photo by Lee Smith

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach, Florida

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Photo by Lee Smith

The morning begins to wake things up across the marshes of South Florida Everglades

(click on the image for a larger view)

Loxahatchee Sunrise - 9055 — Loxahatchee Sunrise – 9055

Sunrise Over the Marshes - 9076 — Sunrise Over the Marshes – 9076

The Golden Glow across the Marsh - 9178-79-80 — The Golden Glow across the Marsh – 9178-79-80

Red glow of the sunrise - 9106 — Red glow of the sunrise – 9106

Don’t know what it is but It’s Pink

Photo by Lee Smith

Walking around Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – looked down with my friend and saw this – no idea what it is but it was pink!
I looked it up and found it is a Powderpuff, Herbaceous Mimosa

It's Pink - Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - 9391_2_3 — It’s Pink – Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – 9391_2_3

Red Shouldered Hawk – Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Photo by Lee Smith

I got a story…
I went to photograph an early morning sunrise with my friend Ivan. We traveled to Green Cay only to find that there was a gate and they do not open till sunrise. It was 5:30am and sunrise was at 6:50am. So we left and went to another location – the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. We took many shots along the river and then as the sun came up we began photographing the wildlife. We parked the car in the lot, and began a long trek across the refuge. Looks like they had just pruned and cleaned much of this area and we barely saw any real wildlife, but did get some landscape photos. After walking about an hour and traveling several miles walking with our backpacks, we got back to where the car was parked, only to find two Red Shouldered Hawks perched on a branch making a commotion of a Pine tree. We took many photos of them in the tree before they flew off. I was really put off though, that we walked all over that area – not seeing hardly any wildlife, only to find these two beautiful hawks right by our car!

(Click on the images below for a larger view)

Red Shouldered Hawk - 9400 — Red Shouldered Hawk – 9400

Red Shouldered Hawk - 9400-cropped — Red Shouldered Hawk – 9400-cropped

Red Shouldered Hawk - 9266 — Red Shouldered Hawk – 9266

Moon Setting Over the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Photo by Lee Smith
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge was still and empty – no one was there except us. My friend Ivan and myself.
© Lee Smith Photography

(Click on the image for a larger view)