Birds, Lots of BIFs, Gator & Rabbit, Big Iguana (3/21/23)

Well given that I'll never be able to get fully caught up with my wildlife posts, now that DPreview has an expiration date...might as well try to dump off some last posts from the past month or two while I still can!

This set involves photos taken over two weekends - on Feb 11th and Feb 18th, wrapping up those two shooting days.  This time of year is marked by hundreds of nesting birds furiously flying around gathering building supplies and feeding up as the momma birds start laying eggs, while some of the 'early birds' have already hatched theirs.  It's a great time of year to be a wildlife photographer down here!

The following shots were all taken with the A6600 and FE 200-600mm G OSS lens, handheld, at Green Cay and Wakodahatchee Wetlands:

Big green iguana, up in a pond apple tree and backlit by the sun

Great blue heron approaching the water stealthily through the reeds, where it can try to sneak up on fish

A tricolored heron flying past the treeline

A female anhinga, banking around in the blue sky to line up for a landing

A great egret, flying close by - the green lores around the eyes and long back feathers showing its breeding plumage time

A great blue heron, powering past on the downstroke of the wings in a clear blue sky

A wood stork, flying low past the cypress trees, with a small stick to patch a hole somewhere in its nest

A red-shouldered hawk was trying to fly casually past the nature center at Green Cay, but flew too close to where the red-winged blackbirds are nesting - causing a female red-winged blackbird to angrily pursue the hawk until it cleared their nesting airspace

The red-shouldered hawk continuing on its way, never flinching at the repeated dives and attacks from the blackbird

A marsh rabbit, chewing the scenery down by the water

A cattle egret, normally a dull bird with pale yellow bill, takes on much more vibrant color in its breeding plumage

A gator closeup - sitting very quietly in the water, without so much as a ripple

The lovely fine feather detail of a yellow-rumped warbler

A great egret performing a mating dance and display - the aigrette feathers on its back can fan out like a peacock, while the bird will stand upright, raise its head and neck straight up and back, then all at once, drop its head and legs with a clucking noise...then repeat the process

A tricolored heron, having picked out its spot to nest - it too was getting its breeding plumage wit the bill turning bright blue, eyes and legs turning red

Comments, questions and critique welcomed...at least for as long as they can be given!

Perhaps the most serious regret that I have about the closing of DPR is the loss of your delightful and informative posts, Justin.

Any chance you could take them elsewhere like Fred Miranda, Flickr or?

Lovely set!

I'll miss seeing your "never caught up" series of images.

Another beautiful set, Justin! The egret shot is amazing, such a great capture with wonderful color. I will surely miss seeing your posts every week!

Justin,

Where will you show your great photos now?

MikeSul wrote:

Perhaps the most serious regret that I have about the closing of DPR is the loss of your delightful and informative posts, Justin.

Any chance you could take them elsewhere like Fred Miranda, Flickr or?

Much appreciated.  I'll keep an eye on what happens in the coming month - if there's some photo site that seems to catch the biggest migration of DPreview users, I'd probably consider joining.

I actually have joined FredMiranda - but it may take me a few days to see how that site works, posting rules, etiquette, etc. so I haven't posted there yet.

Sad after so many years to lose this place...I've been on here since 2003 (my profile says 2004 but they had a glitch that caused me to have to re-register)...so right on 20 years here.  I keep hoping somehow someone rescues the forums at least - as distant of a hope as that may be...but I'll adapt and find another photo forum to replace this one if not.

Newbie Phewbie wrote:

Lovely set!

I'll miss seeing your "never caught up" series of images.

I'll keep posting them right up until shutdown!

In the meantime, I'm testing the waters on the Fredmiranda site - I posted a single photo there by way of introduction, and need to figure out the posting etiquette such as what sizes they like, whether multiple photos per thread is acceptable, etc.

ParietalPenguin wrote:

Another beautiful set, Justin! The egret shot is amazing, such a great capture with wonderful color. I will surely miss seeing your posts every week!

I'll miss the gang here too - hopefully we'll all find another spot where we all end up again.

photoholiko wrote:

Justin,

Where will you show your great photos now?

I'm watching for what eventually happens - is there one site where a big majority of Dpreview members end up migrating to?  If so, I'd probably strongly consider that.

I've dipped my toe in fredmiranda - so far just one post with a single photo just to see how to post, what the rules are for posting information and sizes, etc.  I will likely try some more - I'm still not sure if they'd be OK with threads every 3-5 days with 10-15 shots in each, or if they prefer a more moderate, single-photo-thread type format...so far, people seem to be receptive, friendly, and like-minded.