On a Cypress, looking around in a rookery.
Wood Storks prefer an isolated location, with a flock of other Storks to nest.
Storks will stop where they see other birds building. Check out the neighborhood, and move on. I rarely see them on nests.
I know of a few Stork rookeries. All are pretty isolated and some protected. That is one of the reason they have made a come back from the brink of extinction.
These were taken recently on a morning when there was plenty of flight action. Egret nesting to be exact.
Walking the parameter of the large rookery pond, well dodging direct sunlight, gave me a few different angles as the birds flew past with their ‘collections’.
It’s frustrating, but I could show up the next day, at the exact same time and place with no results. When you do get it right this is an amazing show.
Above an Alligator watched with me.
Getting some type of perspective in swamps like this is hard. This first shot worked out because the Cypress Knees in the water were in the open.
An added bonus when shooting this was my audience up above. A White Ibis sat and watched.
This Night Heron sat in a big tangle of branches and vines. There were several of them, but the old ‘branch in the face’ problem was the rule of the day.
I did get this shot, and his deep red eyes were clear. Only takes one shot so I count this as a win.
She is tucked in between a Cypress Tree and a Palm. Looks like a pretty good spot and hard to see.
Not exactly the best stick, however she seems OK with it.
This is probably why the big wading birds have such flimsy nests. They never get finished before eggs arrive.
A medium sized local who decided to sleep on the lawn (of a plantation house).
I noticed him as I walked into the main house lawn area. Probably he was chased back towards the swamp in a short time. A group of picnic tables for the tourists are just off to left side here.
Nobody would come to any harm, but the ‘squeals’ would have been fun to hear.
Main grounds, Magnolia Plantation, Charleston.
Lately I’ve been trying various photo software combinations. The Egret here was completely finished using DxO SilverEfex. Nothing revolutionary here, I think the majority of B&W photographers use SilverEfex.
It seems there are some known issues with Windows 11 and Lightroom Classic. Speed and image stability the main problem.
After finding out it wasn’t just me, and I had done all the things I could do to compensate, it makes sense to review what systems I use and how I use them. Having an IT background doesn’t make it any less painful though.
