Brids from the Black Point Wildlife Drive
Apr 19, 2020 06:32:27 #
Black Point Wildlife Drive
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Brevard County, Florida
Nov 2019
Camera - EOS 5DIII
Lens combo - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II + 2xIII
The Snowy Egret is a small white heron. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now protected in the United States by law, this bird's population has rebounded.
Snowy Egret by Paul Sager, on Flickr
The Black Point Wildlife Drive is a 7-mile, one-way road that winds around several shallow marsh impoundments and pine flatwoods. The drive is within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, on Florida's Altantic coast between Titusville and Melbourne.
Mottled Ducks
Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology.
Great Egret
The Anhinga is a long-necked, long-tailed swimmer of southeastern swamps. Often seen perched on a snag above the water, with its wings half-spread to dry. It can vary its buoyancy in water, sometimes swimming with only head and neck above water (earning it the nickname of "Snakebird").
Anhinga
The American white ibis is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic prey, such as insects and small fishes. Crayfish are its preferred food in most regions, but it can adjust its diet according to the habitat and prey abundance. Its main foraging behavior is probing with its beak at the bottom of shallow water to feel for and capture its prey. It does not see the prey.
White ibis
These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Brevard County, Florida
Nov 2019
Camera - EOS 5DIII
Lens combo - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II + 2xIII
The Snowy Egret is a small white heron. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now protected in the United States by law, this bird's population has rebounded.
Snowy Egret by Paul Sager, on Flickr
The Black Point Wildlife Drive is a 7-mile, one-way road that winds around several shallow marsh impoundments and pine flatwoods. The drive is within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, on Florida's Altantic coast between Titusville and Melbourne.
Mottled Ducks
Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology.
Great Egret
The Anhinga is a long-necked, long-tailed swimmer of southeastern swamps. Often seen perched on a snag above the water, with its wings half-spread to dry. It can vary its buoyancy in water, sometimes swimming with only head and neck above water (earning it the nickname of "Snakebird").
Anhinga
The American white ibis is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic prey, such as insects and small fishes. Crayfish are its preferred food in most regions, but it can adjust its diet according to the habitat and prey abundance. Its main foraging behavior is probing with its beak at the bottom of shallow water to feel for and capture its prey. It does not see the prey.
White ibis
These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.
Apr 19, 2020 06:43:11 #
Very nice collection set of egrets, ibis and ducks . Sharp and detailed . That combo of the 300 2.8 II with 2X III on 5D III is excellent. I am sure you could handhold this combination at 600mm and still get exceptionally sharp images without need for tripod.Thanks.
Apr 19, 2020 06:43:49 #
An excellent selection of wild birds with good definition give a 300mm lens with 2x converter.
Well captured.
Well captured.
Apr 19, 2020 06:44:04 #
Apr 19, 2020 06:49:27 #
Apr 19, 2020 07:13:00 #
Apr 19, 2020 07:18:52 #
Apr 19, 2020 07:43:42 #
Apr 19, 2020 07:48:58 #
Apr 19, 2020 07:53:27 #
Apr 19, 2020 08:29:22 #
Very nice. One of my favorite places in Florida. We have visited Merritt Island very year for the last 4 or 5 years, usually in December. Have visited the Viera Wetlands?
Apr 19, 2020 08:38:58 #
Wow !! Such beautiful captures. There’s just something about your first image that really captures your attention. The fabulous detail in the feathers....nice work !!
Apr 19, 2020 11:25:15 #
venkatesh_eng wrote:
Very nice collection set of egrets, ibis and ducks . Sharp and detailed . That combo of the 300 2.8 II with 2X III on 5D III is excellent. I am sure you could handhold this combination at 600mm and still get exceptionally sharp images without need for tripod.Thanks.
Thank you venkatesh_eng! I should have mentioned most of these are from a tripod / gimbal combo where I can focus on really pin-pointing an AF point on the bird's eye.
Apr 19, 2020 11:25:20 #
Hydro47 wrote:
Excellent set. The mottled ducks are blue winged teal.
Thank you Hydro47! I remember spending some time trying to ID the ducks, but now 4 months later, I don't remember / know why I picked this ID. I'll update my LR catalog and Flickr with this clearly accurate ID. Thanks.
Apr 19, 2020 11:25:57 #
bikerguy wrote:
Very nice. One of my favorite places in Florida. We have visited Merritt Island very year for the last 4 or 5 years, usually in December. Have visited the Viera Wetlands?
Thank you bikerguy! This was my first stay in the Daytona area in nearly 30 years. My sister and BIL retired there last summer and I came for their first Thanksgiving. I'll as the Viera Wetlands to potential ideas.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.