The Last Picture Walk

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

April 5, 2019

Yesterday I took my last picture walk of our Florida vacation. Today, we packed up our things and tomorrow we start on our long journey back to Michigan. I had needed one last picture walk before we left so, at the end of a very long day yesterday, I drove down to the beach hoping to find some of the shorebirds I had seen a few days ago–when I didn’t have my camera in tow.

The lighting on the water was perfect and the birds were plentiful. It was amazing, I thought, just how many different birds were actually gathered in one small stretch of beach near downtown St. Petersburg. At first glance, all I saw was this big mess of little brown birds! But as I started taking pictures, it became abundantly clear that there were actually several different varieties of shorebirds running about.

A big ‘mess’ of little brown birds!

By day’s end, I had seen Mottled Godwits, Sanderlings, Semi-palmated Plovers, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Ring-Billed Gulls, Laughing Gulls, Black Skimmers, Lesser Scaups, Cormorants, Reddish Egrets, Pelicans, and a Great Blue Heron. But since I’m more of a photographer than a birder, I welcome any corrections if my labels on these birds are incorrect!

  • Semi-palmated Plover
  • Least Sandpiper
Willet
  • Western Sandpiper
  • Sanderling
Mottled Godwit
  • Lesser Scaup in the grassy shallows
  • Short-billed Dowitchers

I was trying to ‘shoot’ everything I saw—the swimmers, the waders, the dabblers and the skimmers. It was so hard for me to stay focused on just one!  Then, I tried to get the flyers! But, oh my goodness that was hard to do! They’d zoom in and zoom by so fast that I ended up with a lot of pictures that were out of focus! Surprisingly, though, a few actually turned out– and I was quite happy about that!

  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Ring-billed Gull
Brown Pelican
  • Laughing Gull
  • Black Skimmer

My biggest thrill for the day, though, was seeing ‘my’ Reddish Egret again. I had gotten some really good shots of him a few weeks ago along this same shoreline, but yesterday the lighting was even better than before and his antics even sillier—twisting, turning and jumping erratically like a ballerina on steroids as he tried to catch a fish. What an entertaining performance to watch!

… and he finally caught his fish!

Eventually, though, my ‘golden hour’ of sunlight faded and I reluctantly headed back to the house faced with the daunting, but exciting, task of sorting through the nearly 800 pictures I had taken!

  • Great Blue Heron
  • Mottled Godwit
Reddish Egret (Juvenile)
  • Reddish Egret (Juvenile)
  • Reddish Egret (Juvenile)

Published by Jeanne Church

I am a 76 year old retired teacher with an avid interest in hiking and photography. I am not a professional photographer, but spend almost every day exploring the natural world, taking pictures and honing my skills. When I review the pictures I have taken, I love researching information about the things I have found-- and then sharing my results with others. The time I have spent walking in the woods (including 4 months on the Appalachian Trail at 68) has always been somewhat therapeutic. When I added photography to the mix a few years ago, it quadrupled the therapeutic effect! Opening pictures on my computer at the end of the day is like opening presents. There are always surprises! It allows me to see so many details that were not visible to my naked eye! I have learned so many new things about birds and bugs, reptiles and mammals that I never knew before--and I have also found, that when I share with others, I invariably learn something new!

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2 thoughts on “The Last Picture Walk”

  1. Safe travels! We have lots to take pictures of on Crooked Lake!!! Don’t be strangers!!

    Reply

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