As you get into the summer here afternoons get hot. Each morning is humid, and hot.
The gators live in this water most of the time. Birds are all around and over it.
The water is as bad as it looks… 😳
Alligator – Thick Swamp Water
Tag Archives: Alligator
Odd Group
This was taken from a large marsh dike that’s runs alongside another large dike. A canal runs between them, for some reason years ago two dikes made sense.
The water was low and we could see a good sized group of Egrets and Spoonbill all around a wooden trunk. There’s no way to really hide on the dikes. Grass can be 10 feet tall, but there are gaps. The shot below was from one of the openings.
At first I didn’t notice that long tail right in the middle of the lower group. The Alligator was around 9 feet long, just hanging out with birds
As expected we couldn’t walk past the group without them taking off.
In the image below you can see both sides of the wooden trunk, the gates upright. That’s how the trunk system works. Gates are on both sides of the dike, water flows through the wooden ‘pipe’ running through the dike itself. There are thousands of these trunks scattered across the Lowcountry ACE Basin controlling water levels through over the 350,000 acres here.
Bear Island, South Carolina.
A Good Angle, Alligator
Rather dramatic, but it’s an Alligator and they always are.
I was on a boardwalk to get this image not treading water. He swam under me, and filled the frame.
Photographed with the OM-1 mk2, Pan Leica 100-400.
Same Swamp, Different Sides Of The Water, Alligator
Same swamp, same day, different water.
A good steady wind on the waters surface gently pushes the Duck Weed along. If you look close under the ramp you can see ripples on the surface.
The Alligator below couldn’t escape the weed completely though.
Buried Alligator
If an Alligator could have an expression it would be this one.
A ‘dead pan’ face in the center of thick Duck Weed.
He has been there for a pretty long time too. If he swam through this he would leave a trail, like walking through snow. Also the Alligators back is completely dry, so he didn’t just pop up like the tend to do.
Floating around watching the world go by.
Best Angle Available, Alligator
I wanted a shot of this one, he was rather ‘wide’. I wasn’t going into the muck so this was the best option I had.
Unfortunately you can only get a vague idea of his waist size 😂. He was pretty chunky.
Alligator Close Up
First, let me be clear. We weren’t all that close. Though the lens couldn’t get the entire gator in focus.
In the local swamp it’s common for an Alligator to float around just a few feet off the trails. If nobody is around they crawl up on the bank to get dry and nap.
He looks half asleep in this shot 😆.
Pink Birds, Jungle Green, And A Gator Of Course
I love shots that have a lot going on. This is one of them. While it’s nice to have a close up, you see the details. However below tells the story of where you were, perspective with the trees in a swamp, and provides some drama with the swimming Alligator.
On this morning there were thick clouds. That light softens everything and pushes the colors.
Roseate Spoonbills with an American Alligator.