zackiedawg
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Keeping the wildlife flowing, and finally breaking into the month of April, I'm going to actually post a double batch of shots taken on April 2nd, plus a few on April 9th...this first batch to keep the number of photos reasonable, then I'll do a reply post with another batch - doubling up should help me try to catch up a bit more quickly.
All of these were taken with the A6600 and the FE 200-600mm G OSS combo, handheld, and are posted at 1800 pixels on the long side if you view them in original size:
Starting off with the lovely prairie warbler - a migrating bird passing back through on its way north for Spring - we just get a few weeks a year when we get to see them
I wish we'd get them more often, because they're beautiful little birds to shoot
Probably our 3rd most common woodpecker spotted, after the red-bellied and pileated...the small downy woodpecker is more easily heard hammering than seen - but I got lucky with this male who paused on a branch somewhat in the open for a change
A male anhinga, climbing out of the water and perching on a palm stump where it can stretch out its wings and dry off in the sun
The least bittern looks like a small, stocky bird with a short neck, like this female perched above the water on a reed. But they do have a pretty neat party trick...
Here, she stretches out that hidden neck to show she's got a long neck too, just like her heron cousins - she just keeps it hidden until needed
But she's not done showing off yet - that neck is even longer than you might imagine - when you get to see it fully extended, it's quite a thing!
After she was done fishing, she climbed higher into the reeds, and paused for a nice portrait in nice, even light. Those colors are breeding plumage - their bills are normally all dull yellow - but hers is colored in oranges and reds and the stripes get bolder on the wings to stand out
I got some encounters with the black-necked stilts a month or so ago, as they were mating - but mostly farther away. On this day, I found some stilts feeding in the mud flats just 20 feet from me, so I was able to get some nice closeups of these elegant, long-legged birds
Those long legs help them wade in shallow waters and stay above the mud as they're light birds, and it also gives them a pretty good stride when they want to run faster
In the bird kingdom, dads have to also mind the eggs, and feed the chicks. This male anhinga returned to the nest and was immediately hounded by three chicks wanting him to regurgitate some food for them
He tried yelling at them to calm down, but as soon as his mouth opened, they assumed that meant food was going to come out
He then closed his mouth and stayed defiant, keeping his head up - but the chicks weren't giving up that easily - they stayed alert and ready, staring at him in case that mouth opened again with some food
On a shot taken the following week, no parents were at the nest at the time, but the chicks were just chilling out together in their cypress tree nest
A little blue heron, showing some pretty breeding plumage, had managed to stab down and get a fish, though it came with a side serving of vegetation that he really didn't want!
Next post to continue with more from this batch.
Comments, questions, and critique, of course, encouraged and appreciated!
--
Justin
galleries: www.pbase.com/zackiedawg
All of these were taken with the A6600 and the FE 200-600mm G OSS combo, handheld, and are posted at 1800 pixels on the long side if you view them in original size:
Starting off with the lovely prairie warbler - a migrating bird passing back through on its way north for Spring - we just get a few weeks a year when we get to see them
I wish we'd get them more often, because they're beautiful little birds to shoot
Probably our 3rd most common woodpecker spotted, after the red-bellied and pileated...the small downy woodpecker is more easily heard hammering than seen - but I got lucky with this male who paused on a branch somewhat in the open for a change
A male anhinga, climbing out of the water and perching on a palm stump where it can stretch out its wings and dry off in the sun
The least bittern looks like a small, stocky bird with a short neck, like this female perched above the water on a reed. But they do have a pretty neat party trick...
Here, she stretches out that hidden neck to show she's got a long neck too, just like her heron cousins - she just keeps it hidden until needed
But she's not done showing off yet - that neck is even longer than you might imagine - when you get to see it fully extended, it's quite a thing!
After she was done fishing, she climbed higher into the reeds, and paused for a nice portrait in nice, even light. Those colors are breeding plumage - their bills are normally all dull yellow - but hers is colored in oranges and reds and the stripes get bolder on the wings to stand out
I got some encounters with the black-necked stilts a month or so ago, as they were mating - but mostly farther away. On this day, I found some stilts feeding in the mud flats just 20 feet from me, so I was able to get some nice closeups of these elegant, long-legged birds
Those long legs help them wade in shallow waters and stay above the mud as they're light birds, and it also gives them a pretty good stride when they want to run faster
In the bird kingdom, dads have to also mind the eggs, and feed the chicks. This male anhinga returned to the nest and was immediately hounded by three chicks wanting him to regurgitate some food for them
He tried yelling at them to calm down, but as soon as his mouth opened, they assumed that meant food was going to come out
He then closed his mouth and stayed defiant, keeping his head up - but the chicks weren't giving up that easily - they stayed alert and ready, staring at him in case that mouth opened again with some food
On a shot taken the following week, no parents were at the nest at the time, but the chicks were just chilling out together in their cypress tree nest
A little blue heron, showing some pretty breeding plumage, had managed to stab down and get a fish, though it came with a side serving of vegetation that he really didn't want!
Next post to continue with more from this batch.
Comments, questions, and critique, of course, encouraged and appreciated!
--
Justin
galleries: www.pbase.com/zackiedawg
I've been so far behind for so long in posting wildlife, that I figured I really need to start doubling up every now and again to get more caught up. I did take a summer trip to Disney, and another is coming in a few weeks, so no wildlife shooting during those weeks, plus the summer is a little slower overall, so not as many shots then. If I can push through April and May with some double posts, I should start to make a dent before fall and winter get busy again.