For the next set of wildlife shooting, I took the advantage of the three day MLK weekend to head out on Monday, 1/16/2023 to a park I visit on occasion that's a little farther away to the northwest of me - about 30 miles from my home and closer to the Everglades - the benefits of going out there, especially when the weather is cool, is that there tend to be more species of wintering ducks that do not tend to frequent my wetlands - their migration takes them just south of Lake Okeechobee and near the middle of the state, rather than to the coasts.  These wetlands aren't quite as organized as my local spots, and mostly involve walking along dirt and grass levees rather than boardwalks.The birds there tend to be much more shy, so the 200-600mm is the lens of choice, all handheld on the A6600.  The weather was still playing nice that weekend, with temps remaining pleasant in the low 60s and abundant sun.All shots are posted at 2400 pixels on the long side if you view them in original size:Roseate spoonbills we get at my local wetlands too - but the ones up here seemed to be getting a good supply of crawfish and shellfish, which gives them richer pink colorationI see plenty of blue-winged teals at my wetlands, but rarely get to see the stunning green-winged teals.  This is the male, with that bold cinnamon and green headThe American wigeon is another wintering duck that rarely comes down to my wetlands - but can be found all winter in this part of the county.  As usual, the male has the more stunning colorationFor comparison, this is the female American wigeon.  Still a nice duck, but without the male's cream-and-green head colorsAnother roseate spoonbill standing in the shallows - with absolutely stunning colorsI didn't just get to see one or two green winged teals - there were a dozen or more hanging around in the shallow waters and duckweed.  I love that electric green stripe on their headAnd again for comparison, this is the female green winged teal - much more plainly coloredTwo male green winged teals showing off their colorsA spotted sandpiper was running along the muddy shore, searching for foodThis guy was super-shy - staying 250 feet away or more from me - it's a wintering duck I've only seen once before, about 12 years ago, until this winter (you may recall I posted a photo of a group of females spotted in November) - This time, it's the more boldly marked male ring-necked duckAnother thing I shared from that November trip was a playful river otter running into and out of the water.  Well this time, I came upon another otter, who was busy rolling around in the grass on the leveeOnce it spotted me approaching, it continued to roll around, but seemed to be purposefully refusing to leave the levee knowing I wanted to walk that direction.As I got closer, it would stare directly at me, then roll around a few more times.  I tried to head down low by the water to pass, but the otter decided to waddle over in my path to block, then proceed to roll around some more.  If I went to the high side of the levee, it would waddle over there and plop down in my path.After minutes of trying to get past the silly otter, another person came along from the opposite direction.  The otter started working overtime to block us both - we were dividing our tactics to each go in a different direction, but the otter was up to the game and kept blocking both waysAs I got very close, now pulled back to 300mm on the lens, the otter ran up and laid down in my path, so the other gentleman was able to get past - then the otter trotted down to the water side annoyed that the other person made it by, giving me my opening to pass.  The otter plunged back into the water, followed me for 100 yards or so, even getting back on the levee in front of me several times to pace in front, then back in the water.  Truly silly, playful creatures!Comments, questions, and critique welcomed as ever and always!!

The second pic of the Roseate Spoonbill is stunning! I've never seen one.We see plenty of Green-winged Teals though.A beautiful capture of the ring on the ring-necked duck. I wish they'd rename that to a ring-billed duck. Apparently, that's in consideration by the people to make those decisions.A great set as always.

Newbie Phewbie wrote:The second pic of the Roseate Spoonbill is stunning! I've never seen one.They are always beautiful birds in person with their pinks that really stand out from other birds (unless you happen to have a flamingo nearby).  In fact that's the bird they're most commonly mistaken for - I regularly hear out-of-town visitors calling out 'flamingo' while pointing at a roseate spoonbill.  But when they get their really rich, full colors like these, they get even prettier - with the dark rose pinks and reds, and yellows...plus hints of the pale blue head.We see plenty of Green-winged Teals though.You're lucky - they're beautiful ducks, but we probably get 500 blue-wingeds for every 1 green-winged.A beautiful capture of the ring on the ring-necked duck. I wish they'd rename that to a ring-billed duck. Apparently, that's in consideration by the people to make those decisions.A great set as always.I wish they'd let me get closer, but theyre fairly rare ducks to our area, so they're not like the others that are accustomed to being so close to people.  Most wintering birds are regulars, and they know there will be people walking around close to them that pose no threat...the rare visitors aren't that accustomed, so as soon as you arrive near the shore of the pond or lake, they go to the opposite side...which in this case was about 250 feet.  So even with the 600mm I needed mega-cropping.  But on my two past sightings, I always saw females - this was a treat to get to see the male.Many thanks for looking and comments.

Great set of images. I’ve never had a green winged teal in front of my lens. The second photo of the roseate spoonbill is particularly stunning. Funny story of the playful otter. I have hat otters following my canoe during wilderness canoe trips, but never on land

Joachim Wulfers wrote:Great set of images. I’ve never had a green winged teal in front of my lens. The second photo of the roseate spoonbill is particularly stunning. Funny story of the playful otter. I have hat otters following my canoe during wilderness canoe trips, but never on landThank you Joachim.  The green-wingeds are truly beautiful - wish I could see more of them, but they just don't come down my way very often.The spoonbills are really stunning especially when they get the rich reds and yellows mixed in with their pinks.  Their color comes from the shellfish they eat, so the better they feed, the more colorful they get (like flamingoes).I really love otters - just very playful, silly critters...they definitely enjoy interacting with people.  I know they can occasionally get territorial or mean and have attached or bit people, but in general I find them to really seem to have a personality, intelligence, and a playfulness.  Raccoons too are one of my favorites for the same reasons.