24 January 2013 Reflections
Winter arrived on the Broward this week. It is supposed to be near freezing by weekend. I decided to give the new lens a workout, far away shots, close up shots, fast movers, slow movers. The birds really cooperated and I noticed that some of them are starting to show the beginnings of mating season coloring already. There is a list of birds in my journal I want to shoot this year and I saw a few that I really want close-ups of. Tomorrow, if the weather and the fowl cooperate, I am going to try to get some of those. In the meantime, hope you enjoy some of these shots with the new lens. Do you know what else you can do from the dock besides time travel? Go Fishin!
One of the best at fishin is the Pied-Billed Grebe. It is usually the first to arrive in my little lagoon in front of the dock each morning. This small diving bird swims underwater for tens of feet at a time. It has paddle-shaped toes instead of webbed feet like ducks. As it swims, the fish scatter and the egrets and herons follow right behind them looking for a fish of opportunity. It is a great of example of teamwork in nature. One Snowy Egret got a nice opportunity catch (at the Grebe’s expense). I felt sorry for the little Grebe but then he surfaced with a fish that was so big he almost choked on it getting it down! A beautiful Great Egret landed close by to see what was on the menu. What a long graceful neck it has. A Little Blue Heron landed on the dock and joined in the fishin also. It’s the smaller of the three local blue colored herons and has a maroon colored neck and head. I also got some distant shots of a duck called a Hooded Merganser. This duck is a diver (submerges to fish) and has to take a running start to take off. Dabbling ducks on the other hand can lift straight up and start to fly (Mallards are a good example). The male “Hoodies”as I call these Mergansers, are really striking with a large white head plume and black contrasting crown feathers.
We should all love to go fishin! I do anyway. What is also fun is catchin! Some people just go fishin and really don't care if they do any catchin at all. They come back and you can tell that they are fine anyway. Some folks are ONLY happy with the catchin. They will do anything to get that fish (sort like the Egret). Some people fish all their lives and never catch much. And they are happy. The catchers are fine too. Gotta eat. But they sometimes miss the joy of just fishin!. Be Blessed. Harry
Pied Billed Grebe, a year round resident on the Broward and excellent at fishin!
Snowy Egret with catch while the Grebe goes hungry (for a moment)!
Now that is catchin!
Great Egret checks out the menu.
Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron fishin!
Male Hooded Merganser swims by fishin
Pair of Hoodies taking off!