photoartflightYellow-Crowned Night-Heron
Posted on April 9, 2018
I was looking through one of my backup Hard disks and found a series of images from a trip to Florida years ago that I had not worked on. They were from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm with a lot of birds nesting in the trees. There were lots of Black & Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, Egrets and others. I was told they like nesting here because their nests seem safer because the alligators take care of predators that invade their nests.
Roseate Spoonbill
Posted on November 22, 2015
Going through some of my old files and found this image of a Roseate Spoonbill from a trip to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.
A Study in White
Posted on February 8, 2014
Here is a selection of White Egrets – Snowy and Great Egrets. They were roosting in the trees near the end of the day. It was getting dark and was cloudy, in some ways it was easier to get good exposures of the white birds, without the bright sun, but I had to raise my ISO higher than I usually use. They seemed somewhat territorial when another got too close. It was fun to watch and hear them interacting with each other.
Closeup
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 800 sec, ISO 1600
Got an Itch
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1250 sec, ISO 1600
Side Portrait
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1250 sec, ISO 1600
Stacked Egrets
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 250 sec, ISO 1600
One of These is Not Like the Other
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 4500 sec, ISO 1600
Keeping Watch
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1250 sec, ISO 1600
Waiting for Night
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1600 sec, ISO 1600
End of the Day
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1000 sec, ISO 1600
Hi
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1250 sec, ISO 1600
Snowy Egret Portrait
Posted on February 5, 2014
I found this Snowy Egret at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery. It was in the branches of a tree along the boardwalk path in the Rookery. It was close to the walk but in the dark shadows under the branches of the tree. I opened up my aperture and raised the ISO to 1600 since I was also trying to get birds in flight flying in to roost in the gray drizzly evening. The Snowy was a little wet from a drizzle and was getting ready for the evening. It did not seem bothered by my presence, but it kept an eye on me. I took a series of shots, then moved on so I did not bother him.
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS, handheld, f/4.5, 1/000 sec, ISO 1600
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS, handheld, f/4.5, 1/000 sec, ISO 1600
Great Egret – Shy, Bad Feather Day or Just Wet from the Rain?
Posted on January 26, 2014
Found this Great Egret along the Rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. The Rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm is a great place to get closeup shots of wild birds in their natural habitat. The alligators are below the boardwalk, a lot of birds build nests right above the board walk in the surrounding trees, because they feel safe from predators. I saw about 20 nesting in one tree alone. The only problem they have is the occasional meal they provide the alligators if they are too close on the ground. The best times are early in the morning before they fly out or later in the day when they come back to roost. Sometimes the nests are so close you can get great shots with even a 200mm lens. We were trying to get there on our way home, but got delayed and did not get there until they were almost closing. It also started to lightly rain and got darker. We went in anyway and I got quite a few interesting shots, even with the lack of light, gray skies and the rain. I used a high ISO and opened up the lens to help stop the action, ( More my movement from handholding the camera on the gray day, The Egret was standing very still).
Egret Eye Closeup
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens, f/4.5, 1/640 sec, ISO 1600
Egret Closeup
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens, f/4.5, 1/640 sec, ISO 1600
Egret Portrait
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 lens, f/4.5, 1/640 sec, ISO 1600
Eye of the Alligator
Posted on November 27, 2013
Alligator closeup from the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. I photographed this alligator from the boardwalk that goes over the water that is filled with alligators. We were there looking at the birds that roost in the trees around the boardwalk. The number of birds roosting close by was amazing. From what we were told the birds feel safe here from predators because of the alligators below, so they build nests very close to the boardwalks. This provides a lot of close by bird photo subjects.
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