(c) 2010 Lydia Hinshaw
Bittern munches a crustacean
Wood stork and ibis: similar genes, similar poses
Teals in a pacelineDE LEON SPRINGS, FL -- The weather here has improved significantly over the past few days, so Prince Charming and I set out early Saturday for the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. Good decision!
There were birds everywhere enjoying the sunshine, including the rarely seen American bittern, top. In five winters of haunting Florida wildlife refuges, I had only spotted one other bittern, and he disappeared two quick frames into our photo session. Saturday's bittern hung around longer than I did, while four passing photographers stopped to fire away.
He even captured breakfast for us, crunching on what looked like a crawfish, and later a minnow.
Earlier I'd caught a wood stork and a white ibis posing as if for a family photo, and why not? They are fairly close relatives in the waterbird clan.
In the bottom photo, five blue-winged teals line up in a mirror-smooth canal. The two with the white crescents in front of their eyes are the boys.
There were birds everywhere enjoying the sunshine, including the rarely seen American bittern, top. In five winters of haunting Florida wildlife refuges, I had only spotted one other bittern, and he disappeared two quick frames into our photo session. Saturday's bittern hung around longer than I did, while four passing photographers stopped to fire away.
He even captured breakfast for us, crunching on what looked like a crawfish, and later a minnow.
Earlier I'd caught a wood stork and a white ibis posing as if for a family photo, and why not? They are fairly close relatives in the waterbird clan.
In the bottom photo, five blue-winged teals line up in a mirror-smooth canal. The two with the white crescents in front of their eyes are the boys.
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