This week I've got a random potpourri of stuff of all types around the wetlands, all taken on March 30th.
There are the usual birds mixed in, but some unusual ones (for me) too - such as the hummingbirds which are very difficult finds down here in the wild - as opposed to when you can get them to come to a feeder. I need to just randomly spot one in the forest, not easy with such a tiny bird. And the blackbird sitting in her nest - another one you don't see as often because it's normally taboo to try to hunt down and photograph a bird in a nest, but here in Florida, the birds intentionally nest just a few feet from where humans are walking, figuring we're better protection against the true predators such as large wading birds and raccoons and snakes.
And I also had a lot of encounters with other critters to go along with the birds - with a mix of some amphibians, reptiles, and mammals for good measure. It was a very busy day!
All shots taken with the A6300 and FE100-400mm combo, and all are posted at 1400 pixels on the long side if you click the originals:
Starting with the red-winged blackbird momma sitting in her nice little basket nest, protecting her eggs. She was well hidden from the trail, even being just 5 feet away - I had to thread the focus through a lot of reeds and clutter to get a peek at her
A green heron down at the waterline, stalking through the reeds and duckweed on a fishing expedition
The frogs were out on that sunny day - here, a lovely patterned pig frog sits mostly in the water
This pig frog was mostly unpatterned, and had found a nice underwater leaf to rest on
A nice dark banded watersnake, all coiled up on top of the reeds just out of the water - another shot where I had to thread the focus through a bunch of reeds and clutter to get a peek at the snake
Passing by the same spot again, I saw the red-winged blackbird mom fly out to chase off another bird, then return back to her eggs - still a bit upset and calling out
A rather fat raccoon, seemed to have been eating well out in the wetlands! It was busy sniffing the ground for turtle eggs
Hummingbirds for others are common - down here, we don't get them as often - and we need to find them out in the wild flowers and forest areas as there are no feeders to draw them in. This lovely male ruby-throated hummingbird was showing his namesake throat
The light wasn't great - I needed higher ISO to shoot fast enough shutter speeds - but I'll take any wild hummingbird in flight shots I can get!
He sampled lots of different flowers in the area, giving me a few good chances at him
A closer look in hover mode
One last flower visit
A glossy ibis flying off
Two black-bellied whistling ducks, chilling out on the bank
A black-necked stilt flying past the fields of flowers and reeds
--
Justin
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