It can be fun to take photographs, as when I’m able to visit lovely birds and impressive reptiles in a familiar place (also here, here, here, here . . .). It can be stressful, as when my camera inexplicably experiences a catastrophic failure after I’ve persuaded friends to drive for an hour so, um, I can take photographs. It can be partially triumphant, as when I realize that the lens is working even though the viewfinder is not. It can be tricky, as when I try to hold the camera steady in the wind, yet away from my body at a distance sufficient that I can see the screen.
And it can be a relief, as when I get back to my temporary digs and realize that the viewfinder problem was really a problem with my new sunglasses, polarized unbeknownst-to-me, and that some of the photos are OK, unbefacilitated by the wind.
On a sunny day, the turtles were out in force, showing a range of motion in their necks that my physiotherapist would approve of, I think.
One turtle was on an overland expotition worthy of Winnie-the-Pooh. He was affronted to see me in his path; when I moved aside, yielding the right-of-way, he carried resolutely and slightly grumpily on.
There were a few kinds of egrets, one looking like a book cover for The Old Man and The Sea, and one allowing me to play around with reflections.
There were gators, which don’t seem to mind being seen. On land, at least, they make no obvious effort to hide — not themselves or their smirky little faces. If you can’t be King, it’s good to be the apex-predator of your food chain. Maybe that’s effectively the same thing.
There was a pied-billed grebe, which is always my first guess when someone says, “Look at that funny-looking duck.” I’ve seen these in Phoenix too, but never two if you see what I mean. Do they travel solo/incognito with flocks of ducks to throw off the kidnappers? It would be spectacular to see a whole flock of them somewhere. Let me know if they show up in numbers in a lake or slough near you.
Back at the house, mother ducks floated by with ducklets at various stages of independence.
As with the never-still-by-definition wrens, although the mother duck sometimes stopped moving so I could get a sharp-ish shot, the babies never did. The sun could even be shining right on them – it didn’t matter. Never mind what physicists say about the speed of light: ducklings move faster than that. I have the proof.
wonderful “shots” — no fauna were harmed in the making of them. 😀
Barbara – No – and no unwary photographers, either. Many of the paths have a “shoulder” of boulders and large rocks, which would reward a misplaced step with a broken ankle. Gotta stay sharp!
Nicely told nature story – human nature and otherwise
Jim – Thanks. Praise from the master.
Wonderful studies of the nature you see. You see very well, indeed! Love the egret with feathers flying in the breeze.
Judith – Thank you. He seems oblivious to it – I guess if you lived outdoors, you’d get that way!
Super photos, Isabel. I love the turtle pictures.
Tom
Tom – Great! I think they’re fun, too.
I could look at these all day! There is so much to see and to wonder about. To appreciate and to shrink from — I don’t know how you can bear to do portraits of alligators. The mood conveyed by each subject is so different, yet taken together a surpassing quiet joy pervades. You and your camera make proximate parts of nature remote or lost in memory until revived to bring other memories with them: the weedy smell of the swamp or the fresh breeze off the water. And safer than a tramp outside here on half-frozen, half muddy ground with a wind chill factor of -7 and the threat of freezing rain — or is it frizzle? Many thanks!
Laurna – It’s a fabulous location. In truth, I don’t seek out the gators, but when they’re there and the birds are scarce, well…. As for FZDZ and other nasty cold, wet things that fall from the sky, I’d say enough already. Today felt like November – grey, windy, cold, and occasionally wet. It will likely be swell tomorrow. Such is spring.