Backyard visitor

This guy was hanging out right behind our porch. Red-shouldered Hawk I believe. Let me know if I got it wrong.

Handsome fellow

Key West Rooster

It is true that Key West Florida has many wild chickens running around the streets and pretty much every where else. They are a trademark or symbol of the town and they do make quite a bit noise in the early morning light. They are protected by local ordnance and I was told that if you purposely harm them you can be fined up to $500.  

They certainly provide a unique charm to this unique town. 

Limpkins

Photo taken at Blue Springs State Park in Florida. The Limpkin is also known as the crying bird as it makes a distinctive and loud call that make you seem like you are in the jungle.

Went birdwatching...

... and this is the best photo from the outing. I should have known better. It was afternoon by the time we got there and apparently the birds had vacated the area. 

Last time I was here there were hundreds of birds and many species. Below is the ONLY bird we saw and this was shot with an 600mm equivalent lens. 

Maybe next time.

Egret and reflection

Bird Island boardwalk

Bird Island is a small but worthy oasis nessessled behind the public library in Ponte Vedra. True to its name there are always a large number of birds in the trees and in the water as well as several species of turtles. The park also has a maze and paths though the verdant native plantings. 

Bird and reflection

Great Blue Heron on a retention pond. These ponds are all over the place here in northern Florida. I guess if they were not, most of the land would be swamp. The birds seem to appreciate them.

Blue herron nest

Anhinga

This is an immature anhinga, a bird sometimes called a snakebird because when it swims its body is below the water line and only its long snake-like neck and head shows above water.

Laughing gull

Juvenile Piping Plover

Quackers

Spoonbills

Lucky shot

Working on bird photography, which I guess is not consistent with the theme of this blog... but for now I will continue to post some of my efforts.

Still working on techniques and skills so this was really just a lucky shot... a great egret taking flight in the back of my home.

Bird on the fountain

I believe this is a Northern Mockingbird.

Anhinga

Ready for flight

I believe this bird is an anhinga. They often open their wings to dry them off, but in this case I believe flight was the plan.

The angle I was shooting was looking down on a large pond so, because the water looks like gray sky, it seems there is a cloud of flora above the bird.

I am not a bird photographer but I find it interesting and plan to become better at this kind of photography.

Red winged blackbird

Wild turkeys

I don't expect you to see them, but they are there. If you click to enlarge you might see them in the blur of the iPhone jpeg. Also not so easy to see because I needed to boost blacks and shadows, resulting in more blur.

I was drawn to the landscape scene and lined up the shot before noticing the birds.

I thought it would be fun to name the post for what is not easily seen.