Posted on December 3, 2020
Because of the Covid 19 restrictions we have not traveled from home. I was going through images from a trip last January to Florida. The images used here were taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm & Rookery. It was a Great photo destination and they seem to cater to photographers. With a membership, they offer early hours to photographers& it can get very crowded in some of the areas. The Rookery area has a boardwalk going through it above the water & the alligators. It attracts a lot of photographers because there are so many nesting birds in the trees in the Rookery. The alligators provide protection to the birds’ nests in the trees above the water & the gators. I also saw quite a few birds walking on the shoreline by the alligators. I guess they are well feed since they seemed to leave the birds alone. I was using a Tamron 150-600mm lens on a Canon R which was a perfect combination to photograph there. I Since you are in a large gated boardwalk area it was nice to not lug too much gear around with all the photographers, tripods & other visitors. Usually I do not like photographing in commercial wildlife areas, but it was a nice area with nice people running the Alligator Farm. These are images I did not post before. The featured image was taken @ 600mm with the Canon R.
Posted on August 4, 2020
I liked this graceful pose of this Snowy Egret. I was shooting bursts as this Snowy was fishing, dancing around in the shallow water. When I was adjusting files this one was my favorite pose from the series.
Posted on June 4, 2020
This image of a Snowy Egret is from a previous trip to Florida. I liked the wings in a raised position as it glided by me and the highlight reflections of the sky in the water. Also the Snowy was low enough to get reflections of the highlights & shadows of the water under the wing. Image taken with a 400mm DO lens.
Posted on April 14, 2020
Another series of images from previous photo trips years ago. Here, even if you wanted to go to a local park, the entrances are blocked by Police Cars. So they are quite serious about staying at home.ย This is a series of Snowy Egret FlyBy images from a previous trip years ago to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida. Theย Snowy Egret images were photographed @ 300mm with a Canon 100-400mm lens.
Posted on March 29, 2020
These are from a previous visit years ago to Lake Woodruff NWR in DeLand Florida. The wind picked up some and I liked the ruffled feathers on this Snowy Egret. I was using ย 100 – 400mm zoom with a 1.4x teleconverter to get a little closer view.
Posted on January 13, 2018
This Egret was waiting by a group of fisherman. It did not seem to be worried about people getting close to it. In fact it even moved closer to some and seemed very comfortable around all the people in the area. I do not know if the fisherman were regulars and gave it scraps of food or small fish.
Posted on January 12, 2018
When I photograph at the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel Florida, I like working an area. If you wait and look around you can find photo subjects that basically come to you. If you constantly move around your subjects see you coming and move away. Shorebirds working a Shoreline coming up to you, Cormorants or Anhingas surfacing near you and my favorite, birds flying over or by you. I like photographing birds in flight instead of just sitting there.
Little Blue Heron Flyby, 300mm f/4, 1.4x teleconverter
Immature Bald Eagle, very early in the morning near sunrise. Very little light, and far out in the distance. Severe Crop of image.
Category: Birds, Blog, Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel FL, Favorite Locations, Skyscapes & Clouds, Tips & Techniques, Wildlife Tagged: Bald Eagle, canon 1.4x teleconverter series III, canon 300mm f/4 IS lens, immature bald eagle, immature Bald Eagle in flight, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Snowy egrets in flight
Posted on June 15, 2017
I photographed this Snowy Egret as it walked by where I was photographing the Osprey nest. There was a batch of grasses in the way, so I waited until the Egret walked into an opening in the row of grasses to get a few shots before it moved along.
Posted on December 16, 2016
Snowy Egrets wade in shallow water to spear fish and other small aquatic animals. While they may employ a sit-and-wait technique to capture their food, sometimes they are much more animated, running back and forth through the water with their wings spread, chasing their prey. This one was quite animated, moving quickly. This shot was when it paused between the action. Also some of the other birds moved out of the way.
Posted on October 17, 2016
This image is from months ago, taken at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville NJ. I was waiting on the Wildlife Drive for Black Skimmers to come back around for another series of shots of them skimming along the water, when these Snowy Egrets flew by me. I shot a quick series, but did not think I got anything and went back to the Skimmers. Looking later (work gets in the way!) I was surprised when I looked at this series.