Wildlife Photography
A Gull is a fraction of the size of a Pelican but they can torment the big guys.
When a Brown Pelican surfaces after a dive they may have 2 gallons of water in their pouch along with a fish. They need to ‘spit out’ the salt water.
A Gull knows this. As soon as the Pelican opens his mouth…the Gull dives for the fish. And they get them too.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to stick my head in there!
The main image here is the one most often published by photographers.
We all fall for the pretty pink ballerina.
My second favorite pose is the full ‘Spoon’ presentation like above.
They are probably the only species we are happy to get the ‘bird butt’ shot.
That’s the sign of a true Rock Star LOL.
When a swamp water is low all the old branches and rocks come to the surface, a perfect dry spot to sit for a while.
It was gray and dull when I shot these. I do find if there is time to ‘play’ with my settings I can get their natural deep colors nicely.
This Herons legs are very green so I assume this is the first year of adulthood. Of course a juvenile Little Blue is pure white with green legs…why wouldn’t they be.
Typically I see Ibis catching small insects and other little ‘creepy’ things. Their bill is designed for digging in the mud, however fish is a good catch for them given the size.
It takes them longer than the other birds to eat a fish. All birds eat fish head first to avoid the sharp gills. An Ibis long bill doesn’t help this process very well.
A Gull can easily steal fish from Ibis, and it happens probably half the time.
Ibis will run with their prey as soon as possible. Probably hoping none noticed what he caught.
Just about every type of bird that came to the sand bars showed up at the same time. Only think missing was a Pelican.
He was suddenly right there, almost directly in front of me. I was standing near some Mangrove Trees watching a sand bar.
Looking to my right, there he was. I guess he was watching me the whole time.
While other birds were using the bars and shell mounds to rest I think the Spoonbill just stopped to gather up together.
This is a breeding adult. The feathers are gone from the head and pink cape feathers are prominent.
As these birds were moving along following the fish with the tide I couldn’t help myself, I took an enormous number of flight shots.
Finally I took a break and moved further up the shore. Before I was finished I had filled my memory cards.
