Saturday we led our
last of the season photography hike at Brooker Creek Preserve. The cool front
that moved through Thursday and Friday left us with a pure blue sky, bright
sun, and pleasant temperatures. Our group of enthusiastic photographers and
nature lovers enjoyed a hike full of photo opportunities. At the bridge a
juvenile hawk sat on low branches in plain sight, while several Black Vultures
posed in the branches overhead. Suddenly the resident Anhinga pulled himself
out of the water to a branch, and began preening and drying his wings. The side/back
lighting perfectly showed off his wet feathers and cast a precise shadow on the
spangle fern covered water.
Karl thought he
spotted an alligator, and checking with my binoculars I saw one of the smaller
gators with only his head showing. As we watched he began gliding toward us,
stopping midway. Behind him, a Great Egret stood motionless waiting for prey.
We practiced manual
focusing on some of the Golden Silk Orb weaver webs, played with the lighting
on the scarlet and purple flowers of the blooming air plants, and tried a bit
of ‘action photography’ with some bees and a butterfly enjoying the nectar from
the button bush flowers. As we approached one of the areas still containing
water after our very dry winter, we saw a Black-crowned Night Heron directly
below the boardwalk. Used to people walking by at that point, we all took a few
shots as we watched him.
As Karl always says
“It isn’t Disney”. In a nature preserve there are no guarantees of what you
might see, but that is part of the fun. This particular hike produced plenty of
subjects, likely due to a perfect blend of weather, time of year, and avid
photographers.
Our once a month
nature photography hikes start once again the last Saturday of September 2017. See
you then!
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