OK - New Year's holiday and weekend again pushed off my next wildlife post a bit longer than intended, but no worries - I'm finally putting the finishing touches on my catch-up project, and have closed to just a few weeks behind with this post!  Once again, I'll make it a double, just to keep me on target - this post will cover shots taken on November 26th, December 4th, and December 18th (the nice hop from the 4th to the 18th is due to my Disney vacation taken in between).This set will start off with the FE 100-400mm GM OSS lens to wrap up 11/26, then moves to the FE 200-600mm G OSS lens for the two December weekend days.  As usual, all shots are posted at 1800 pixels on the long side if you view them in original size:Starting out with the very uncooperative belted kingfisher.  This female refused to get any closer than 100 feet, which they often stubbornly do around here - but at least she was sitting up in good sunlight!The always-elegant great blue heron in flight as it passes by the trees, and an iguana sunning itself in the background.It's sometimes fun to include people in wildlife shots - in this case, the great blue heron was flying low over the water, and had to pull up to go over the boardwalk I was standing on - as it did, it passed right behind a wetland visitor taking a photo in the other direction and never knowing what passed right behind her headFrom this point on, the shots are taken with the 200-600mm lens...A male anhinga, finding a nice watermark post to sit on and dry off his wingsA tricolored heron getting down low to the water as it goes fishing, with its reflection along for the tripIt's a tough time to be a fish - the herons and egrets are hunting for them in the water and from the reeds, while the osprey is hunting them from far above in the skyGolden hour in the wetlands - in the hour before sunset, especially as the sun is starting to hide behind the treeline...the golden warm light caught this snowy egret standing quietly in the water, and catching some shadows from the reedsI just can't get enough of the funky nightjars - the chuck-will's-widow sitting just 8 feet from me.  I had to back up a bit, and was looking a bit down on him, and of course being in the dark forest, ISO 6400 was needed - neat to get the details of the colors and patterns, and those whiskers around the bill - a truly odd-looking and cool birdBy heading about 20 feet away, I could get a side-angle on the chuck-will's-widow - they really don't like to move during the day unless they really have to - so despite people within 8 feet, he just sits quietly with that excellent camouflage which means that 1 in 10 people actually even spot him - most walk right pastA great egret flying towards me over the reeds - looking for a good spot to landA female common yellowthroat, perched on a reed for a rare photo op, before she hops back into the dense cover where they usually lurkThis great blue heron seemed to have a confident strut as it walked across the levee - it had just chased off another great blue in a little territorial dispute, and was still a bit puffed up with adrenaline.The grey-headed swamphens are invasive, but well established...they are quite colorful and similar to our purple gallinules, but larger.  This one decided to walk over to an island of reeds rather than fly - though the water got a little deeper than I think he expected at first - his long legs are completely submergedA red-shouldered hawk came flying over at sunset - swooping down a few times as birds below scurried for cover, then heading in my directionI normally don't shoot birds from directly below, but thought it was kind of interesting as the hawk flew right over my headMore shots to follow in the first reply.As always, comments, questions, and critique appreciated and encouraged!

Another two-fer set, merging two wildlife posts into one, as the catch-up project is almost done!As with the last post, the first few shots here are taken with the 100-400mm GM lens, then I'll note when switching to the 200-600mm lens:This great blue heron saw another land nearby, and started running through the water and flapping its wings to drive off the trespasser - both were likely male as this is mating season and when they get very territorialA little bit later, one GBH decided to get out of that particular patch of water before a fight broke out - launching with legs, neck, and wings fully extendedNow switching to the 200-600mm lens for all remaining shots:Walking through the dark cypress forests, you tend to see a lot of warblers like this yellow-rumped warbler - but need to use the high ISO range with very little light in there - this is ISO 6400This female alligator looked quite content with her spot up on the grassy bank, getting some nice sunA glossy ibis standing out in the shallow water, looking for food - the bird and the blue sky were both reflecting nicely in the water late in the afternoonSpeaking of the purple gallinules - here's one! Note the colors are the same as the swamphen, but with a few differences - the light blue forehead patch, the yellow tip to the bill, and the legs are yellow instead of red. and they're about 20-30% smaller - and native to Florda!Different day, but the female belted kingfisher was still out there in the trees watching the waters below - and still staying 100 feet or more away from me!Three young black-bellied whistling ducks flying off just before sunsetA young male red-winged blackbird - still working on getting its full adult colorsA marsh rabbit, enjoying the selection of grasses on the leveeA great egret flying off towards the treesA green heron, perched on a bent reed over the water, the perfect spot from which to fishA glossy ibis, all spread back as it prepares to landA female blue-winged teal, cruising though the dark wetlands watersThat sunset red-shouldered hawk flying past - the gear was still down after an aborted dive at some birds belowComments, questions, and critique welcomed!

Lovely!Love your pics of the nightjars. I've never seen one. I just looked them up in Birds of the World and there are a ton of different species worldwide.

Okay, I can understand how you can tell the male and female birds apart (like I can tell a female cardinal from a male! I need it pretty obvious!) But how do you know that's a female alligator?

A great set of images with nice colours and exposure.  The snowy egret takes the first price in the nice warm light, as does the osprey and the puffed-up GBH. And I envy you for that king fisher catch. I am still waiting for one opportunity.

Newbie Phewbie wrote:Lovely!Love your pics of the nightjars. I've never seen one. I just looked them up in Birds of the World and there are a ton of different species worldwide.They are very strange and cool things - and pretty much every variety has excellent camouflage and can disappear in trees and on ground.  Probably the least well disguised are the nighthawks - but I've never seen one of those sitting still - the only time I see them is circling high above just before or at dusk.Around here, we have common nighthawks, whip-poor-wills, and chuck-wills-widows.  All of them are very difficult to see - at least until this chuck-will's arrived last year and decided it really likes it here - in the 20 years I've been visiting these wetlands, I managed to spot a nightjar 5 previous times - each for just a single day...since early January 2022, when this bird stuck around until the end of March, then left, and returned again in October, sticking around into mid-December so far - with sightings about 1 of every 3 weekends I visit on average...it's almost become a common bird now!

ParietalPenguin wrote:Okay, I can understand how you can tell the male and female birds apart (like I can tell a female cardinal from a male! I need it pretty obvious!) But how do you know that's a female alligator?It's an amazing skill I have.Actually there's really no way to tell with alligators unless you want to roll one over and stick your hand inside...but I had a lucky tell.  About 10 minutes before this shot, this alligator cruised up next to our resident giant male, George, and started arching her back and nosing up to him to see if he was interested - he wasn't, but the fact that she didn't get chomped or chased off means it was a female - an adult male wouldn't have gone near George unless he was up for a tussle!

Always fun browsing your wildlife photos!Thanks!Jim

Ah, hah! I knew you were awesome, but now you're taking a flakes off your magic!! Thanks, Justin, that had me stumped!!

Joachim Wulfers wrote:A great set of images with nice colours and exposure. The snowy egret takes the first price in the nice warm light, as does the osprey and the puffed-up GBH. And I envy you for that king fisher catch. I am still waiting for one opportunity.Strangely, I see or hear kingfishers regularly - at least once every 2 trips - but they're often so far away or even out of sight, just laughing their little cackle somewhere behind the trees.  This time, it was very far away, but at least out in the open and in good light.