Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Thursday, February 23, 2017

Forty Entries, Three Speices, My Best Efforts~



Of the many places that I visited with my daughter and son-in-law two years ago, the top place I wanted to return to was the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach, Florida.  The diversity of birds, the huge numbers, the exceptional layout of the boardwalk that enables you to get close enough to the birds for great photography, but also allows these birds their ease with which to act as they do in normal situations outside of this sanctuary of sorts.  The first week in February is a great time to visit.  The week I was there, many of the birds were hustling about gathering twigs for their nest.  While many were in the nest preparation stage, others had already began the brooding process, and some of the Wood Stork population to be shared in an upcoming post were still in the choosing a mate  stage.  In this post entry, I have shared my best of the Great Blue Heron activity, and Anhinga.  Regrettably the best images of the Anhinga, also have a nice twig across the face of one in several photos, but it is the wild of nature after all ;)
I hope many will enjoy this set, it is one of my favorite so far.
Happy Weekend~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after                                                                you have read the narratives~

I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:
Saturday's Critter

Anni at:
http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 
I'd Rather Be Birdin'
 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'

    
Maggie's  MOSAIC MONDAY
                                              https://normandylife.blogspot.com/


Stewart for:










The images above were taken about thirty minutes before the set below~
































I was first introduced to the Anhinga on my first visit to the Wetlands two years ago and love them~







































The buff colouration on the bird below shows it to be a first year bird~







20 comments:

  1. awwwww, so many beautiful creatures. You help put a smile in my day.

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  2. That nest make moments are amazing.. you've captured almost every moment.. that and awesome job..

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  3. 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

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  4. Thank you very much my beauty. Love you bunches!

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  5. Super images Mary, especially of the Stork activity.

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  6. Dear Mary, Your patience has paid off. These photos are beautiful.

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  7. Your photos are absolutely stunning! I really love the storks.

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  8. Oh wow, Mary, what amazing photos of the nest building Great Blue Herons. And your Anhingas are awesome too. Thanks for sharing. Thank you too, for visiting my blog today. I was wearing gloves when I picked up the litter - I wouldn't dare do it otherwise, LOL. Good for your arranging to have the litter collected on your corner too. Greeting Jo

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  9. Hi Mary, your photos of the Herons are brilliant, well done.

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  10. Hi Mary. I got to thinking how many times I would press the shutter if I was along that boardwalk with all that activity taking place. I must admit to always having at least two charged up batteries ready for any eventuality but I never think to take a spare card along. I'm sure I would need that too in Florida. Yes, the series of the herons and their nesting and courtship activity is fabulously so much better than one or two pictures in seeing the full sequence of events.

    I am so pleased you used the word Ahinga in place of "snake bird". The former gives the bird a touch of class which it clearly has.

    We survived Storm Doris and it lasted just a day. Now the weather people over predict everything for fear of being caught out with egg on their faces. Looking forward to a few days of sunshine now - I hop.

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  11. Hello Mary, I love your GB heron photos and the gorgeous anhinga. Great captures. I know you enjoyed your Florida trip. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  12. Oh my gosh Mary...where do I begin? First off I've been keeping tabs on two anhingas here close to where I live, still no breeding plumage. I would LOVE seeing that in real time! Aren't they gorgeous birds?

    2nd...the heron...the display the nest building the courtship...all magnificent.

    I'm sure glad you stopped by to add your link with us birders at I'd Rather B Birdin this weekend. One exceptional series of Floridian activity!!

    [ps...I'm in my personal blog admin so that's why you see "Hootin' Anni" instead of Anni at I'd Rather B Birdin'. You figured that out without me pointing it out by now, I'm sure.

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  13. Magnificent shots
    Happy Mosaic Monday

    much love...

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  14. Stunning images, Mary, I particularly enjoyed seeing the nest building storks. Before today I'd never heard of an Anhinger and now I've seen two posts featuring them for Mosaic Monday.
    Have a great week.
    Maggie

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  15. Dear Mary,

    Your best effort is clearly evident in these amazing results of the great blue heron and anhinga entries. Interestingly, it is the second time today that I have visited a post about anhingas - I had never heard of these birds before!

    Your description of the conditions under which you captured these birds can be understood through your fantastic photos; i.e., the fact that you were quite close to get the details you wanted but still at a distance where they could go about their routines and not be threatened or disturbed.

    Both series, if scrolled through quickly enough, can almost be viewed as a short film; the movement from one action to another has been caught so skillfully!

    Looking forward to the next bunch of beautiful birds!

    Have a lovely week, sweet friend!

    Hugs,
    Poppy

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  16. Wonderful images Mary. I've taken a million pictures of GBHs, but never any of them building their nest....just wonderful. Your anhinga is more beautiful than the one I showed this week...they really are fascinating birds aren't they!! Wakodahatchee is on my list of places we must visit.

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  17. Wow, Mary, those are beautiful! It must have been fascinating to see all of that. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  18. Your photo blog posts always give me a great thrill, but especially these nesting images!
    I would never see these amazing birds without your photos.
    Thank you Mary. ;)

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  19. Hello Mary, not sure if your meant to link up the same post as last week. I did enjoy your herons and the anhinga photos. Well done. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

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  20. These are absolutely amazing photos! I felt as if I were right there observing these fantastic birds!

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