The following day when talks concluded, Tara and I decided to cross the road to Green Cay. We were starting to get the hang of navigating Florida and the endless evening traffic. Despite the dreary forecast, Tara and I decided to risk the rains for birds.
The Green Cay preserve is a boardwalk punctuated with covered villas (or Chickees) that allowed us to keep our equipment dry as we scouted about.
With the rain, there were just as many birds out foraging as there were hunkering and waiting out the rains.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron hunkers down in the afternoon showers. Photo taken on January 6, 2015 with a Nikon 3200 Sigma 500mm.
But unlike home, this bad weather was (relatively) pleasant to be out and about in… I believe the northeast was being hit with another snowstorm.

Anhinga spreads its wings to dry between dives and downpours. Photo taken on January 6, 2015 with a Nikon 3200 Sigma 500mm.
Not sure how effective it is to dry out your wings in the rain, but the rain may feel pleasant as it wicks down the wings.
With the proximity one can achieve at Wakodahatchee and Green Cay, you can get such intricate feather detail. The wings look almost art deco!
The variation in feather detail is incredible. Here you can see the long, flowing plumes that made egrets desirable in millinery trends 100 years ago.
I love that the camera/lens combination acts so quickly that each raindrop hitting the water’s surface.

Great Egret and Common Gallinule experience the downpour. Photo taken on January 6, 2015 with a Nikon 3200 Sigma 500mm.
There were breaks in the rain where we could see a tree where a Wood Stork stood with White Ibis.

Wood Storks are the most alien looking birds, ever. Photo taken on January 6, 2015 with a Nikon 3200 Sigma 500mm.
The ibis stalked about, heads bobbing down and wings aloft for balance.
A break in the rains and we make a break for home.
Florida Total: 56
Green Cay: 32
New for Florida: 3
Lifers: 0