Baby birds with ‘googly eyes’ and bedheads photographed at a Bradenton preserve

Janis Parker, 68, of Toronto, Canada, spends half the year in Manatee County, immersing herself in her photography passion and the sounds of Florida wildlife near the Braden River.

While out in her pontoon boat at Jiggs Landing Preserve on Monday, she captured a photo of what looked like a messy-haired, wide-eyed baby heron and its mother.

“That particular bird is the cutest. It’s so cute,” she said. “It’s like a make-believe picture with googly eyes, but the parent is the beauty. It’s a beautiful bird.”

Parker estimates the bird was barely six days old. She also photographed another newborn heron two days before, which she figured was around three days old.

The birds are born covered in down, the fluffy material that fills in the space between feathers, before they grow their first feathers.

Parker said at this time of year, there are about 11 different species of breeding birds on an island near her property.

”April is the absolute best time here in Florida to photograph chicks. There are Ibis chicks, Anhinga chicks, Cattle Egret chicks—there are so many it’s amazing,” she said.

Almost every morning or at least once a day, she goes out and takes over 500 photos of Florida birds and other wildlife. Parker photographed the baby herons with her Nikon Z9 camera using an 800-magnification lens.

Her boat has a built-in tower, so she can get more into the air to photograph the birds better.

Parker also encounters and photographs other Florida animals such as alligators, turtles and otters, but she enjoys the challenge of photographing birds the most.

“It’s really hard to get a bird in focus because they’re always moving. So turtles and alligators are kind of boring compared to getting a bird in flight,” Parker said.

Parker took a photography course at a university in Canada decades ago and hasn’t put her camera down since.

”I loved it (photography), and I’ve just been playing around with it for the last 40 years,” she said.

Do you have a cool bird or wildlife photo? Email it to metro@bradenton.com