Lets face it, not a lot of people spend time photographing and/or watching Wood Storks. They are not the most graceful of birds or the most beautiful. I started following the path of this one wood stork trying to watch and learn about its biology. It was very interesting to see how many different food sources it was able to pluck from the marsh grass.

As I came around to another part of the sanctuary I saw a few Wood Storks breaking branches off the surrounding trees in preparation for building a nest in the rookery. While these birds are awkward looking and not very graceful, you can see from this picture that they clearly have very good balance. This is particularly true given their really long legs. This bird uses them almost as stilts. I wish I had a chance to study the species while they were caring for their chicks. Maybe next year!

Images captured on Nikon D3x, 600mm f/4 on Lexar Digital Film.

I visited Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach Florida back in March. It is a wonderful wildlife sanctuary. If I had any complaint about my time visiting it would be that the location gets very crowded and its difficult to lug around big glass and a tripod. Some of the locals use the boardwalk for their morning walks which adds to the crowds and the vibration on the deck. Not ideal for sharp images.

One of the species that really seems to thrive there are the Anhingas and Great Blue Herons.

When I look at the image above, I almost think these 2 birds are human. Their gesture shows care for one another. It also shows cooperation as they build a home together (my wife would like more cooperation with the laundry). 😉 Its funny how at times, even a technically incorrect or poorly created image can still pull at your heat strings.

I observed at least 4 GBH nests as I walked the boardwalk at Wako.

This little guy was hidden in the bushes and very abruptly popped his head out of the next, looked around for a few minutes and demanded to be fed.

Images Captured with Nikon D3x, 600mm f/4 on Lexar Digital Film

This spring migration has been light in terms of species calling my property their home. It could be in part because of the hours I am keeping at work and the lack of food in the feeders :-(.

One species that seems to call our woods home year round is the White Breasted Nuthatch. White Breasted Nuthatches are active, agile birds with black, gray, and white markings. They are commonly found at feeders and dine on insects and large seeds.

They also have big voices for such little birds, often making as much of a racket as Blue Jays.

Images Captured with Nikon D3x, 600mm f/4 on Lexar Digital Film

The Blue Winged Teal is one of the most beautiful of the dabbling ducks.

This species of duck travels vast distances during its migration. It is the first of the species to head north in the spring and one of the very first species of any bird to head south in the fall. The Blue Winged Teal covers migration distances that range from Canada and Northern USA to South America.

Captured with Nikon D3x, 600mm f/4 w/TC-14eII on Lexar Digiatl Film

The Boat Tailed Grackle is one of those bird species where the female is as beautiful as the male.

One of the things I love about photographing birds in Florida is that my hit ratio or “keepers” are better because the concentration of birds is higher and they seem to be more habituated to humans than those in the Northeast (at least thats what I tell my wife :-))

These images were taken just at sunset. In fact the image below was taken in overcast conditions, otherwise it was a gloriously sunny day.

Its hard to appreciate the iridescence of the males feathers but they are stunning.

Images captured with Nikon D3x, 600mm f/4 w/TC-14e II on Lexar digital film.

Which image do you like better?

I think I like the first image best as you don’t often get to see a Green Heron fully extended. Seeing the neck muscles bulging makes the image.

What I don’t like about either of these 2 images is that the branch crosses the birds beak. I takes what would have been a lovely image given the beautiful background and screws it up. I hate when that happens. Thats why wildlife photographers have to have a lot of patience, you need to put your time in behind the camera to have an opportunity to get the shot. Then you still might not get what you want! Wildlife photography reminds me a lot of the instructions on the shampoo bottle, wet, wash, rinse, repeat. We do a lot of repeating in wildlife photography!

Images captured on a Nikon D3x w 600mm f/4 w TC-14e II on Lexar digital film.