This is a Spoonbill sleeping in a low hanging branch. The angle was great, besides being close, because you can clearly see the hidden orange color breeding birds can have.
Most photographs can’t show the vivid tail feathers.
So technically Spoonbills are pink and orange.
Flowers of all shapes and sizes grow in swamps and marshes. This small plant probably out shines most.
The colors reach out and grab you.
This Heron was hiding in a marsh, and trying to keep cool. The wings open and hanging low hope to catch any breeze.
There was none.
I know there are many types of Swallowtails, but most I cannot identify.
I’m pretty sure one is called a Black Swallowtail.
I’m going with that one.
Don’t be surprised if you have never seen or heard of this bird before. They have a very small population and live primarily along the Florida and Texas gulf coast. A few have come up to Georgia and South Carolina. There are approximately 1,500 in the US.
This was taken on the east coast of Florida, out of their range.
A beautiful bird I rarely see and difficult to photograph.
It caught my eye.
I don’t remember seeing many shells like these around here.
Of course I don’t really look either.
This group was plowing through the water, moving past, and wanting to get some distance between us. One of them discovered something and I was suddenly not all that important.
They did keep watch, but sifting through the shallows was not going to be stopped for some human standing on the dry land.
I keep getting drawn into monochrome / B&W shots lately. Maybe it’s the time of year, a rut, or whatever. It does keep me looking at images for texture and light.
This is looking out from an inlet, the Atlantic Ocean straight ahead.
