A gathering to welcome us to the back end of the canal.
Since the water was higher than usual this day we were able to push through vegetation to further locations in this swamp. These Herons are not disturbed often, so they chose to ignore us, most of the time.
A frustration in wildlife photography is you can’t control the angle and placement of the shot or your subject. I would have loved to be facing these nests from the other side. But…swamp and Alligators, etc.
This bird made numerous trips using the same path. I did get nice in flight shots but the nest escaped me. You can see the female at the bottom of the images. Best I could manage.
These Storks are difficult to photograph and be near so I am more than happy to get these.
However….. we always want the perfect setup.
A rare find for me. I have seen only one in South Carolina, this one in the Okefenokee in Georgia, and a few other times in southern Florida swamps.
In the US they are the largest fresh water turtle. Females might weight 6.65 kg ,14 lbs. Until recently they were also harvested for food. A similar species is a major food source in China.
The above is a fairly clear shot considering they are most always under water. The small minnows in the swamp can be seen also.
They have a large nose that allows them to breath without surfacing and they can swim very fast due to the lightweight shell, which is smooth and light but not particularly soft as you would think.
We found this one on the edge of a thicket with clear water. There were a few but this one didn’t disappear like the others.
Another look down a canal in the Okefenokee Swamp.
A different swamp environment than we have in the Lowcountry, larger open areas and less walking.
Often when you look close when processing a shot a surprise shows up.
A spider drifting in the pads.
How could you go to the Okefenokee Swamp without a few images of Alligators.
Well, I see them all the time, so I thought to add one to a landscape of the swamp canals.
Several Spoonbill were settled down in this Palmetto. I focused in this bird since she kept making eye contact.
These Spoonbill are wild but choose to nest in a rookery with various different species… that has a boardwalk running through it.
Taken from between open branches and palm trunk.
A newly hatched Tricolored Heron.
Peeking out from behind Mom.
Shot at approximately 600mm. The birds were never disturbed.
