Dragonfly in Flight
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This Common Green Darner kept buzzing around me, then it would hover about six feet from me. Then take off and come right back and hover.
Too tempting! Yes, I spent several minutes trying to photograph it. Out of oh-so many, I scored five photos of this large 3-5″ dragonfly.
I’m sharing all five, showing the different displays of its wings caught in the shots. Pretty cool!
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Hovering Green Darner (male) #01
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Hovering Green Darner (male) #02
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Hovering Green Darner (male) #03
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Hovering Green Darner (male) #04
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Hovering Green Darner (male) #05
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Perfect Pond Perch
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Give me a perfect perch at my site, and I am one happy camper!
Not only did I have a beautiful Great Blue Heron buddy visiting alongside me daily, there were other things to watch in the water and overhead.
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Of course, alligators lived in the pond. The camp host told me they had three alligators. After my week there, I know there were at least four.
When I hung out on the pier for any length of time, at least one of the gators would appear off in the distance and swim over to pass by me or literally stop and just stare at me.
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The pond was also stocked with five species of fish, for anyone’s fishing pleasure.
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Not sure what species, but it’s about 2 feet long
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And then there was this one creature that I spotted. It didn’t surface any more than shown in my photos below.
From the eyes to the end of its snout was about six inches long.
It wasn’t a gator. Was it a snake or turtle? A creature washed inland from the Gulf of Mexico during one of the previous recent hurricanes?
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Well, I knew one thing, it bugged me not knowing. So I contacted an Alabama reptile facebook page that helped with IDs.
No creature from the depths.
No snake, no gator.
Just one very big softshell turtle.
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Softshell Turtle
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The photo was a hit on their facebook page with the odd-looking photo, confirmations galore on ID, as well as guesses joking that it was a baby hippo.
Baby hippo? I see that! 😉
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Great Blue Buddy
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My last post of a sunset and cloud reflections also shared my daily late afternoon/evening visitor, a Great Blue Heron, hanging at the pond alongside our little fishing pier perch.
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My Great Blue Heron Buddy
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Foraging the water, snatching a frog
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“Look quick, take a photo!”
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“GULP”
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Boy, s/he really didn’t give me much time before the gulps! 😉
Golden hour shots…….
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Great Blue Heron at Golden Hour
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We both kept our eye out for the alligators hiding in the waters around us.
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Here he comes……
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King of the Pond
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“I see you, Mr Alligator”
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As the sun went down each evening, the barrage of bugs eventually forced me inside. I hoped my buddy continued to keep track of those alligators before leaving for its night’s sleeping grounds!
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Cloud Reflections
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Talk about arriving to an awesome RV site in Orange Beach, Alabama. Ours included a fishing pier over a small pond where I had the perfect perch with my camera.
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I know, ridiculous….but cool!
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One evening’s sunset afforded a spectacular light-up and reflection of the eastern clouds high in the sky.
Notice, if you will, someone else enjoying this view alongside me on my perch.
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Final minutes before sunset, Great Blue Heron
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seven minutes later, the sunset
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five more minutes
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seven more minutes
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Although we were to stay at this RV resort for several weeks, on our 5th day we had to pack back up and hit the road, to get out of the path of category 2 Hurricane Zeta. I have a few posts forthcoming to share from Alabama, and I still miss that fishing balcony perch!
Having relocated a week now in Port Charlotte, Florida, wouldn’t you know it, today we were issued the warning for Tropical Storm Eta. Because of its unpredictable wide cone path, we decided to stay put 15 miles inland and ride it out instead of trying to outrun and predict what it will do. Hoping we made the right decision.
Lesson learned for sure. No more scheduled coastal camping in the fall in the U.S. southeast!
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Great Blue Heron
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I headed down a dirt road trail on Bodie Island for the first time and passed an oncomin in tow. “Not much back there, just a Great Blue.”
I was okay with that. I hadn’t seen any Great Blue Herons except at a distance since arriving at the Outer Banks.
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A distant Great Blue Heron and Great Egret at Pea Island NWR
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So I continued on to the end, and there it was.
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Great Blue Heron fishing
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A fish strike is a miss…..
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And then I was spotted.
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Great Blue Heron closeup
Great Blue Heron on alert
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And with those last two shots, I gave a nice thank you and left, letting the heron get back to its peaceful fishing.
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A Willing Willet
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I had a fun time with this Willet as it ran the water’s edge, hunting for a crustacean in the wet sand to eat.
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“Willet On The Run”
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“Run Willet Run”
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“My Shadow”
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“Long Legs and Long Toes”
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“Smiling for the Camera”
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“Crustacean Down the Hatch”
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“A Perfect Pose”
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Always rewarding when you have a willing Willet performing a photo shoot!
Cool fact: Although both parents incubate the eggs, only the male Willet spends the night on the nest.
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Reflecting Pond At Golden Hour
This pond reflection was shot during the morning’s golden hour along Cape Hatteras National Seashore last month.
Sharing it in two compositions from two photos. 😊
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Morning’s Golden Hour
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Morning’s Golden Hour
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Series: Take A Moment and Enjoy A Sunset
Time to feel a sense of peace, even if just for a moment.
Sunset over Pamlico Sound, Cape Hatteras National Seashore
“I wish you the peace that sunsets can bring. As the sun sinks, and skies grow dark, we can be alone with our thoughts. Trying to push away the fears and anxieties crowding us — sickness, civil strife, burning, and incredible heroism. So much is incomprehensible.
Let it all recede into the night.
Rest.
Think only of blessings now.
Courage will find us all in the morning.”
― Margaret Moss
Birds in Flight at OBX
What a fabulous time I had birding in the Outer Banks last month.
You know I love the challenge of birds in flight! Here are more of my favorites.
Canada Geese
Brown Pelican
House Sparrow
Belted Kingfishers (Northern Shovelers in background)
Marbled Godwits and Willets
American Wigeons
American Wigeons
Canada Goose
Yellow-rumped Warbler (nicknamed “Butter Butt”)
Tricolored Heron
Tricolored Heron
Willets
Forster’s Tern
Forster’s Tern
Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
Shorebirds at OBX
I’ve had a lot of fun trying to capture shorebirds around the Outer Banks in the past month, but many times it was quite challenging trying to ID them in their non-breeding plumage, especially if shot at a distance.
Those interested in a great shorebird ID book, I recommend “The Shorebird Guide” (O’Brien, Crossley, Karlson). Also any help you can obtain from a pro-birder is a plus. (thanks HJ! Avian101)
Now on with the shorebirds. (And three new lifers for me!)
Killdeer (a plover)
Semipalmated Plover
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Herring Gull (juvenile)
Forster’s Tern
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper (new lifer #215)
Stilt Sandpipers (new lifer #216)
Greater Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher (new lifer #217)
Marbled Godwits and Willets
Close-up Marbled Godwits (pink/black bills) and Willets
Marbled Godwits and Lesser Yellowlegs
And finally, a funny shot of a Sanderling kicking sand, chasing another away from his little area.
Sanderlings – “This is my beach turf!”
Bay Photos by Donna 