Well, poopie!

There is a state park near here with abundant opportunity for capturing images of birds, insects, and many larger animals in a protected habitat. I started going out there with the camera in the fall a few years ago to capture the monarchs on the migration through the area.





There are dragonflies in abundance at just about any time of the year.







The dragonflies can be caught in flight with a lot of patience and quick hand on the focus knob, as they like to fly little circles, usualy with a hover in a specific spot every time around. Find the hover, hope they stay there for 3 or 4 seconds, and see if you can get them.







Lots of furry critters, too:





There's a pond in the park with an island in the center, and the island is used as a nesting area by large wading birds, egrets and herons. Very busy in the springtime!





The birds fly back and forth from the island to the tree surrounding the lake, fetching nesting material.











There are plenty of smaller birds, too, but they tend to be harder to capture, being all quick and flittery and stuff, and most of the trees have leaves big enough to hide them.





We call these skimmers. I don't know why, exactly....



The thread title comes from this picture:



which before Photoshop was this picture:



Oh, yeah. The lake is called Gator Lake. Again, I'm not exactly sure why.







Gators need naps, too.



Tourists and cameras:

Wow, I'm not even sure how you managed to get a flying dragonfly in frame! Great shots!

Great shots! :clapping:

Are you and our Tom Edison brothers ... our maybe you just use the same cameras.

Tourist season already?

What's the bag limit this year?

wfooshee said:

Oh, yeah. The lake is called Gator Lake. Again, I'm not exactly sure why.

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Dude! That's no gator - it's Petey doing his ninja shit.

big deal, obviously he scanned National Geographic

airboss said:

Tourist season already?

What's the bag limit this year?

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Well, no danger of them going extinct, but WTF do you do with 'em after you bag 'em? And where do you get bags big enough anyway?

Body Bag Linky

Whatever ya want to do with them, it's up to you.

airboss said:

Body Bag Linky

Whatever ya want to do with them, it's up to you.

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Why do you need body bags? There's a lake full of 'body disposing machines' right there in front you. After a few years, they can change the name of the lake to "Giant Gator Lake."

HotRodZilla said:

airboss said:

Body Bag Linky

Whatever ya want to do with them, it's up to you.

Click to expand...

Why do you need body bags? There's a lake full of 'body disposing machines' right there in front you. After a few years, they can change the name of the lake to "Giant Gator Lake."

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Surprised one of them wasn't trying to feed the gator

The pictures in the first post are gathered from many trips over the last 3 or 4 years. Here are some from today:

Birdwatching:







Great Blue heron, normal flying position, neck folded back:



Smaller reptile:



First fish picture I ever took out there. No clue what it is, not bing a fish person. It was about 2 feet long.



Another dragonfly:



Blue Heron landing sequence. First the neck extends, then the feet drop as the head raises, and he lands smooth as you please.









Some nasty-looking wasp thing:



SQUIRREL!!!!!



Tiny little frog, maybe less than a half inch:



They have to put signs up to tell stupid people (you know, the ones that can't read) that alligators might hurt them.



So ignoring the sign, I walk down to the water's edge to get a close-up:



Egret, slow shutter and got some blur in the wingbeat:

wfooshee said:

The pictures in the first post are gathered from many trips over the last 3 or 4 years.

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Thanks for that bit of info. I was wondering if this was a day trip or taken over time. Heck of a photography day if it was all in one!!!

NIce pics, and what ya have there is a Paddlefish.

First fish picture I ever took out there. No clue what it is, not bing a fish person. It was about 2 feet long.

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wfooshee said:

The dragonflies can be caught in flight with a lot of patience and quick hand on the focus knob, as they like to fly little circles, usualy with a hover in a specific spot every time around. Find the hover, hope they stay there for 3 or 4 seconds, and see if you can get them.

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I like this Dragonfly Macro shot the best I think. TFS!

All terrific shots! Nature photography is so relaxing and is a terrific de-stresser.

What park is this? We'll be down staying at Grayton Beach State Park in a few weeks for Spring Break. I'm def. bringing my camera.

GeorgiaRoller said:

What park is this? We'll be down staying at Grayton Beach State Park in a few weeks for Spring Break. I'm def. bringing my camera.

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St. Andrew State Park, located at the entrance to St. Andrews Bay, Panama City Beach.

Hey! I was in PCB for vacation last summer! The alligator pond was a must-see! Although, I ended up being a definite stupid one.

While shooting birds with one leg of my tripod actually in the water, I went to check a pic on the LCD and almost shit myself when I saw this:



I did back up several feet before taking that one! Here's one I saw BEFORE taking photos of:



Spotted this Osprey while on a fanboat ride:



Lots of these pelicans flying around:



And in the summer time, these little buggers will keep you up with their noise at night:



Man would I love to have the photo opportunities of being there year-round!

You haven't lived till you've chased a couple of those slimy green tree frogs around your house trying to get them outside before the cats or dogs get to them.

I like that dragonfly on the gator. I've got one of those myself!

The fish picture is what we call a Gar.

They have a mouth full of teeth and another species of the same fish but can get up to 5 feet long is the Alligator Gar.

Those particular Gar usually get about 3 feet long.

Really nice pics Woofsee. When I was a kid down in Florida we called pelicans Florida Turkeys.

TomInCA said:

NIce pics, and what ya have there is a Paddlefish.

First fish picture I ever took out there. No clue what it is, not bing a fish person. It was about 2 feet long.

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No, what you have there is an alligator gar. As trimmantom says they get up to 5 feet long, sometimes a little more. Note the wide flat snout, that is where it gets its name, its resemblance to the alligator. The needlenose gar has a much more slender snout and they don't get as large, 3 feet would be a very large specimen. They have a hide rather than a skin and lots of tiny bones. In South Louisiana we take the meat and mix it with potatoes, onions and other seasonings to make "gar balls" or "gar patties". Then we fry them and the result is similar to a crab patty or crab cake.