We paid an admission fee of 8 USD per person, so we tried to get our money’s worth.
We looked all around.
Boat-tailed grackle – female
We looked high AND low; we gazed thoughtfully off into the distance.
Anhingas – male & female
We put on our game faces. After all, we had paid 8 USD per person: We had serious expectations.
Snowy egret & double-crested cormorant
Were our expectations frustrated? They were not.
We saw birds playing chicken.
Brown pelican and osprey
We saw birds striking noble poses.
Great blue heron & osprey
We saw things that would have been Spectacular Photos if only we had been closer.
Great blue heron & osprey
And we saw Spectacular Things that we were happy weren’t any closer.
Alligator noshing on week-old pelican carcass
Alligator near shore with pelican carcass
I think you got your money’s worth!
Nice catches
Jim R – 🙂 Many thanks. It was the coldest day I’ve ever spent there, and it was still worthwhile.
Umm… I look at those alligators, and I think I’ve seen the eyes before…
Jim T – 🙂 To my eye, they have no there, there – not like a dog. Just like something always looking for the next mouthful.
Feels like a good day, indeed! The alligator munching was certainly close enough. I’ve never seen an alligator or crocodile doing more than walking very slowly to a better bit of sun.
Judith – This was a first for me, also. What surprised me was that several times he rolled over with the carcass in his mouth – maybe smashing it to swallow-sized bites?
The double-crested cormorant has an expression I have glimpsed on supporting characters in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, currently on my radar. Perhaps one of the greatest pleasures in viewing your bird photos comes from those flights of fancy linked to human visages that you note in the titles. I could use that cormorant as an avatar for “serious expectations” in any number of applications, such as all my emails. I shall be giggling about this bird for the rest of the day. (The alligator, not so much.)
Laurna – Glad they have an ongoing life/presence. For my part, I always think of my mother when I see a cormorant. The first time I showed her one of my photos thereof, she said, “Now that’s a face only a mother could love.”
Loved your captions, Isabel.
Tom
Tom – 🙂 Many thanks.
Yikes.
Mary – Exactly so.
Isabel – glad I was there, but my pics aren’t as good as yours – and yes it was cold, even for a Canadian only four days out of Ottawa.
John – Glad to have the company on the day as well as a validation of my perception of “cold.” After a few months out of Canada, things get a bit out of whack.