Circle Bar B Reserve

Have visited the Circle Bar B several times in the past weeks. Activity is really picking up with thousands of White Pelicans, hundreds of Wood Stork and Whistling Ducks. It is a great time to visit if you can. Be sure to visit the west end where the pelicans seem to be spending their morning hours.

On my most recent visit a friend pointed out a Wilson's Snipe hidden in grasses out in the lake. I could not see it until I loaded a 400mm lens with 1.4X extender for an efective focal length of 560. See if you can find it in this picture.

Now see the cropped version of the same picture. See him now?

White Pelicans along Wading Bird Way.

 

 

Circle Bar B Preserve

Last weekend friend Bill Little and I visited the Circle Bar B Preserve. Bill was trying out his new Canon equipment for the first time. When we first arrived the Wood Storks were moving from the marsh down to the lake providing good overhead activity. There were several large groups of whistlers and we saw a few small groups of early White Pelicans. The Red Shouldered Hawk below seemed to be enjoying the early morning sun.

Circle Bar B Preserve

Once again back to the Circle Bar B Preserve to try my luck at "in flight" shots. Saw numerous Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks as seen below.

Circle Bar B Preserve

Visited the Circle Bar B early Thanksgiving morning with the goal of getting some "in flight" shots. It was a beautiful morning with considerable activity. It was my first attempt at getting flight shots and I had some success but found most were out of focus so will need to continue to work on it. Here's a few photos from that morning.

 

 

Shortly after sunrise...

Circle Bar B Preserve

Visited the Circle Bar B Preserve this week.  There's not a lot going on yet but it was nice to be out.  Looks like we will have two nesting pair of eagles.  The pair on the eagle roost trail are usually not far from the nest.  There are several sizable groups of Wood Storks and the Sand Hill Cranes can be heard and seen over much of the property.

Cataloochee Valley, NC

Even though the weather called for rain all day we headed for the mountains to see the last of the fall colors. After a nice lunch in Sylvia we drove to the Cataloochee Valley in the northern end of the Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park. I knew the NPS had reintroduced elk into the valley some time ago. Even with constant rain we managed to get a few pictures. We found several large flock of wild turkey and a group of about 25 elk lead by a beautiful large bull.

Greenville, SC

I'm in Greenville, SC this week visiting my brother. We've had rain most of the week but did manage to get in a ride on the harleys through the foothills on Sunday. On Monday during a break in the rain we visited downtown Greenville's Falls Park and got a few photos of this beautiful park. I'll be returning to Florida on Friday.

Circle Bar B Nature Preserve

Limpkin

This morning I visited the Circle Bar B Preserve for the first time since last winter.  It was finally comfortable (71 degrees) to be hiking around looking for photo opportunities.  I was pleased to find that the eagle pair has returned to their nest in the upland sandhill area known as Eagle Roost.  There was a large group of wood storks roosting along Alligator Alley.  I followed a pair of limpkins as they walked along the water's edge on Alligator Alley. 

Great Blue Heron

My First Post..

Since this is my 1st post to blogger I'd like to preview just a few of my favorite photos. 

Stately Bison

While working in YNP one of my favorite evening past times was to watch the bison herds in the Hayden Valley. 

Moose Cow

On days off work one of my favorite trips was down to Teton Nat'l Park.  I always made the drive down Moose Wilson Rd. in search of moose.  I found this cow on two occasions.

Moon rising at sunset over Lake Yellowstone

In mid July a local photographer told me about a full moon rising over Lake Yellowstone at sunset.  I met him at Pelican Creek and came away with this photo.

Grizzly Bear Cubs

The summer of 2010 was a busy year for bear sightings.  Mom and these two cubs were spotted frequently on the back side of Mount Washburn.

New Born Proghorn

This baby proghorn was spotted with mom within just a few hours of being born.  They are on their feet within the first 30 minutes.

That's just a few of my favorites.  To see more of my photos please visit www.pbase.com/ddouglas