I had a wonderful morning at Huntley Meadows on Saturday. The highlight was watching a female Merganser parade around with her pride and joy. I also came across a Blue Heron who let me gradually get very close to take photos. I've tried to identify them, but having so little knowledge/experience often leads to a lot of frustration looking through books and searching the web. Mergansers (Hooded?): I had so much fun watching these two carry on. Between Swims: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59824693 Napping: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819684 Proud Mama: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819680 Glamerous: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819679 Got Lunch: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819676 Great Blue Heron: I was able to slowly creep quite close. Each time I moved it would stop and watch me. After I was settled it would go back to searching for snacks. With Lunch: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819670 Getting Closer: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819671 Real Close: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819673 Egret (Great?): Taking a Stroll: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819660 Showing Attitude: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59824524 Pair of Ducks (????): I setup and started taking photos as these two worked the shoreline. They slowly drew closer to me until I could no longer fit them in the camera frame. I found the female to be quite beautiful, but had trouble getting a good shot because her head was underwater most of the time. The male kept watch and was posed for better photos. Female preening: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819653 Moving on: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819657 Male keeping watch: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819654 Male very close: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819656 Barn Swallow (?): Such vivid coloring: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819651 Two's almost a crowd: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819649 Gosslings: Taking a peak: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819663 High Stepping: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819661 Greater Yellowlegs (?): Right side: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819664 Left Side: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59824636 Top side?: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819667 Hawk (Red-Shouldered?): There were several hawks circling around for part of the morning. I took a bunch of shots, but they did not turn out very well. In flight: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59824682 Here are a few non-bird photos... Jumping Spider: Found this guy crawling around my camera lens. Whenever I reached toward the lens the spider jumped onto my hand. The photos offer a good perspective of just how small it was. Front-side: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820006 Back-side: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820007 Turtle: As I approached it retreated most of the way into it's shell. Then I got down on the ground to have a closer look and it retreated all the way. After a few minutes it started to peek one eye to see if I was still there. Starting to hide: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820008 Anyone Home?: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820010 Peeking with it's left eye: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820011 Water Snake: When it's nose first broke the surface of the water I thought it was a turtle. Emerging: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820001 Over the top: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820002 It's a stretch: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820004 Off it went: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59820005 Ant with Grub: This ant slowly manueverd this grub through the debris on the forest floor: Has a prize: http://www.pbase.com/sayer/image/59819648 Sayer Seely Herndon, VA --------------- Sayer's Web: http://sayersweb.com
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