She was very popular for a while. Several of us photographed her as she sat and posed. While she was not thrilled to have us walk by there was no panic at being close. Actually I think she was posing when we left.
This ‘snake bird’ is not attractive at all when swimming and diving. But look at the soft colors and bright eyes here.
A stunner.
This small Snowy came out of nowhere. I was lucky to get any shots at all.
I was on a dike road and I’m guessing he was at the marsh edge when I walked by. I never did see him down there.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
This was real fall. But I did get a few shots while out.
The reeds here dried very fast and now are just brown and look to be really sharp.
The Ibis were out doing what they always do, poking around in the mud.
The other day while out we bumped into a few photographer friends who also needed to get moving. Weather has been steadily getting colder and us of the southern climes tend to hide a little now. Freah air was needed.
It turned into a small 6 person tour of the wood/swamp. Not a single one of us trying to be quiet.
This owl didn’t seem to care.
I think he was hoping we would walk by and leave him in peace, and we almost did since only one of us was paying any attention.
With the exception of the first image the owl was watching the ‘traveling circus’ with the big cameras. Of which I was not one at this time.
Half asleep he was paying attention to the others, I had just fell behind and moved a bit into the woods.
The Owl watched us all but was bored and could hardly keep his eyes open.
We all took a gazillion photographs, most all useless I guess since the light was gone quickly.
However, the Owl fell asleep and we moved on since this really wasn’t about photography at all. It was a chance meeting of friends, photographers, and lots of laughs.
At each others expense of course.
This is one of my favorite subjects.
Long, lean, and elegant in flight.
They can be surprisingly fast, especially so if close and trying to fit them into your viewfinder.
This time of year it’s difficult to get these photographs. Early spring is best when they are out looking for nesting sites.
Great Blue Heron, Charleston, South Carolina.
Some days out there it’s like all the locals turn out at the same time. This was one of them. He was much too large to be a female, hence the title here.
Nobody really knows how many Alligator are around the Lowcountry, but I have heard over 110,000. Not sure where the number came from, it stuck in my head as a lot, but considering the marsh sizes and what we see that may be low.
For some reason he did not fly off. Just the opposite, he plodded right through the marsh. Tricolored Herons, when adult, have ‘ruby red’ eyes. They are amazing.
I judge a Tricolored photograph by how vivid the eye colors, and neck feathers are. A young bird has a less colorful eye, but more distinct shading on their neck.
I’m certainly OK with this shot.
This is another photograph that takes advantage of a fall background. The branch here is on a dead tree situated on a small marsh island. At the proper angle everything behind a bird is a far distance.
Photographed at Donnelley WMA, ACE Basin, South Carolina.
