Yellowstone National Park

Last week was Yellowstone's birthday.  At 140 years old it was our first national park.  As most of you know I'll be returning to Yellowstone this summer, again working at the Lake Hotel Front Desk.  I'm looking forward to another summer with old friends, making new friends and of course capturing the beauty of Yellowstone in pictures.  As I begin to plan my trip I wanted to post a few of my favorite pictures from previous summers.

Of course the Bison is the iconic symbol of Yellowstone.  Spring time brings the birth of new "little red dogs".

and this new Mule Deer fawn.

As the snow begins to melt the bears emerge from hibernation.

Days off from the hotel often mean a trip down to Teton Nat'l Park to hike and look for Moose.

And last the lower falls of the Yellowstone River.  On a bright sunny day you may be lucky and see a rainbow in the mist of the falls.

I'll be back out to Circle B this weekend and hopefully find several new Sand Hill Crane Colts that should hatch any day now.

Thanks for visiting,  David

Great Egret

This week we visited the Alligator Farm at St. Augustine, FL.  With us were friends from working in Yellowstone; Larry & Sue and Marie.  Marie was vacationing at Ferandina Beach and invited us to stay for a few days.  It was a fun Yellowstone reunion.  Our primary goal was to photograph the birds of the famous rookery there.  It is still a little too early to see chicks but the Great Egrets put on a great show for us.  We also saw Spoonbills, Snowy Egret, Wood Stork, and Black-Crowned Night Heron. Below are several photos of the Great Egrets.

Building a nest

Looking for a companion

Little Egrets and Spoonbills should be making an appearance in late March, early April.  Remember you can enlarge the picture by "clicking" on it.

Thanks for visiting, David

Circle Bar B Reserve

Great visit to Circle B last week.  Friends Larry and Sue Pals were visiting from Colorado and got a chance to see the real Florida.  We saw Storks, Cranes, Herons, Egrets, Bittern, Spoonbill, Owl and of course a few large gators.  I usually post only 3 or 4 pictures but couldn't narrow it down so will post 6 today.  Hope you enjoy.

Sandhill Crane on her nest with 2 eggs

Otter

Tricolored Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Little Blue Heron

Barred Owl

We also visited the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  There is a large rookery there with nesting Great White Heron, Snowy Egrets, Spoonbills and Night Herons.  They are still in nest building mode but it was great to see the White Herons in their breeding plumage.  So look for my next post later this week with photos from St. Augustine.

Thanks for visiting.  David

Merritt Island Nat'l Wildlife Refuge

This week we visited Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Viera Wetlands.  You are able to drive through both locations, stopping for pictures.  Although windy and cool it was a good day with several new birds added to my picture library.  Probably the highlight of the trip was a large flock of Roseate Spoonbills that flew overhead.  We also saw Redish Egret, Northern Pintail, Ring-Necked Ducks, Northern Shovelers, White Pelicans, and the usual assortment of herons.  Here are a few pictures from this trip.

My first Red Egret

My first Northern Pintail

Juvenile Northern Shoveler

Mature Northern Shoveler

The final picture is from Bill Little who got several nice photos of the flock of Spoonbills as they flew overhead.  Good Job, Bill.

It was a great day and I hope to return soon.
Thanks for following my blog,  David

Alligators at Circle B

This post is for my non-Florida friends and those of you in Florida that still get a thrill seeing gators.  Sunday morning was warm and sunny and we weren't looking for gators but found several that we could not pass up photographing.  This first one was just off the trail keeping a keen eye on us as we snapped a few pictures.

This fellow was also along the trail and stopped to watch us pass by.

This is my favorite with mom keeping an eye on one of her babies.

Of course we were also looking for birds along the way.  Early on the hike we found this Purple Gallinule   brightly lit in the morning sun light.  Gallinules are somewhat rare so this was a welcome find.

Last is the Sora that we've seen for several weeks along Wading Bird Way.

All pictures in this post are made with my Canon 7D and Canon 500mm lens.  All shots are not cropped and only edited for exposure and tonal quality.

Thanks for looking.   David

Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland, FL

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Circle B two weeks ago.

The first is a Sora, a member of the Rail family.  They are found in wet marshes mainly along the shore line with tall grasses.  (remember to "click" on a picture to enlarge)

Next is a Turkey Vulture.  I would not normally stop to photograph a vulture, but found his open wing pose to be interesting.  Maybe he thought he was a Cormorant.

Last is a head shot of a Roseate Spoonbill.

Thanks for following my blog.  David

Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland, Florida

Visited the Circle B Reserve early Sunday morning to find that activity has picked up considerably.  On first arriving a group of eight Roseate Spoonbill flew overhead and landed in a small pond right by the trail.  In the same pond were cattle egrets, snowy egrets, glossy ibis and several sandpipers.  Below are a spoonbill and snowy egret from this pond.  (For best viewing please visit the blog site and "click" the image to enlarge.)

We stayed at this pond for about an hour before moving to an area known as Wading Bird Way.  Along the way we spotted several American Bitterns and a Sora.  I also stopped to photograph this Blue Heron perched high in a tree.  Early morning lighting was a real benefit to this shot.

Along Wading Bird Way we photographed several ducks but I liked this ring-necked duck the best.  The reflection in still water resulted in a mirror image.

It was a great outing producing some nice pictures.  Hope you enjoy.
Thanks for visiting.  David