If I had a wider lens mounted there would have been even more in this photograph. I’m not sure how many were in this spot, I counted about 30 in the image. Some had just a tail visible in a pile.
No matter how long you may have been shooting wildlife scenes like this are special, and not something you see often;.
Birds were strolling back and forth on the hummuck here. Water on both sides looked to be good for fishing.
The big guys were like statues. I’m sure they must have blinked, but I didn’t see it. They did make for some nice photographs though.
Tricolored Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, American Alligator.
A look at a small watering hole, from two different angles. There must have been a good number of fish in this small cut, probably not for long though.
It’s an amazing sight to see a feeding group like this. Not something you find very often.
Included below ;
Five different species in a single frame 😁😁😁.
It almost looks like he stuck his head in the mud !
You don’t get closeups of Storks every day so here he is, mud and all.
One of the larger Alligators that was part of a feeding when the marsh waters were low. A wide open mouth like this doesn’t necessarily mean bad intentions, they regulate their heat through the mouth. But it’s also a signal to others.
In this case it was a warning to the large group of gators packed together in a small marsh pond. A little snapping and pushing was going on.
This is a ‘you can’t make this stuff up’ scene.
It’s like all your weird uncles came and ate your big family dinner, then fell asleep in the living room.
When we spot a scene like this we need to get closer, there’s a bunch of photographs there just waiting for us. And in all fairness Ellen was walking out on the nearby dike first.
Dikes and trails cross these marshes so there is usually someplace we can get to, without bothering the subjects.
A day we didn’t even bother to count how many locals were around.
The other day we watched where some activity was heading, the end of a dike. Tall grass and no trail slowed us down, but we went as far as we were comfortable. No path this time of year hides all kinds things I prefer not to meet.
Getting a real count of anything here was not happening, birds flew back and forth while the Alligators swam around. However in this shot I estimate between 60-70 wading birds, probably about 50 gators in the mix.
Loud, chaotic, and very cool.
Best viewed large.
Included above;
ACE Basin, South Carolina
I titled this ‘Watching Closely’ because if you enlarge the image you will see just how outnumbered the small Snowy Egret is.
Truth here is this is a common scene. The birds mingle with Alligators all the time. I can’t remember the last time I saw a gator grab one. They will snap if there are young nearby, otherwise it’s easier to get fish or crabs.
This was taken with my B&W setup. OM-1(1), Olympus 12-200, custom monochrome mode. The idea is to force myself to get better in this format.
