Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[stargatedalek]

For me spring is when the majority of the gulls leave and return to the waterfront, but that's a rather localized thing.

[Doug Watson]

Robins are our first visual sign of spring but Redwings are our audible sign. If Robins were to gather in our forests in winter they would be Robinsicles.
Here are a couple shots looking out at my front yard, this and the cold if why so many birds fly south. If I had wings I'd join them. It can be like this end of November to beginning of March and there are places in Canada that get it worse.

[Newt]

You northerners and your Pleistocene-style winters...

Oh well, you'll be laughing up your sleeves in the summertime, when we southerners are stewing in our own juices. 100 degrees and humid...actually sounds pretty good right now.

[Doug Watson]

Just so no one gets the idea that we huddle in our homes from November to March only to come out from time to time to make a sacrifice to the Sun God. Most winters once we have enough snow my wife and I are out cross country skiing on our local trails where we see all kinds of birds and mammals that don't go south or hibernate. Heck when the temperature reaches just above freezing we even get Snow Fleas on the snow. This winter because of my operation I have missed the skiing but we will be back at it next year and I'll share some winter wildlife shots.
Here is a shot from last year on one of our ski trails where the Chickadees are so used to the skiers and hickers they will land on your hands, heads, whatever and take sunflower seeds from us.
In this shot I have 2 in the hand so I guess that is worth 4 in the bush. Sometimes it is like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds only less violent. We even get the odd brave Nuthatch that will swoop in and grab a seed.

[Gwangi]

I have also mastered the art of hand feeding chickadees, it's actually not too difficult when it's cold and they're hungry! I have an old pictures somewhere that I took when I was like 14 or something. I know I can find it somewhere.

You look about as snow covered as we do Doug, not surprising for Canada or NY but I venture to guess you generally average more snow than we do.

Apparently robins don't mind the winters in the U.S. but Canada just isn't worth the hassle of sticking around!

[Doug Watson]

I have also mastered the art of hand feeding chickadees, it's actually not too difficult when it's cold and they're hungry! I have an old pictures somewhere that I took when I was like 14 or something. I know I can find it somewhere.

Apparently robins don't mind the winters in the U.S. but Canada just isn't worth the hassle of sticking around!

If you go a little further North than me we have the Grey Jay or Canada Jay, a much larger bird and it will do the same thing with little prompting.

Yes, I don't blame them.

[Gwangi]

I've heard about the grey jay and their inherent tameness. They occur in the Adirondack region of NY I believe, but not this far south.

[Doug Watson]

I posted these two shots originally in one of triceratops83s threads talking about crocodiles but I thought I would put them here as well, hope you don't mind.
I got these two shots of an old female American Crocodile at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge in Florida in 2007. The volunteers told us she was a real sensation because she was 70 to a 129 miles north of where she should be, she was the northernmost American crocodile recorded in recent history. She first showed up in the 1980s and Wildlife Officials wouldn't believe the staff when they called and said they had a crocodile. They would just say it is probably a big alligator. When the wildlife officials finally showed up and admitted to the Refuge staff that they had a croc they caught her in 1986 and relocated her to Collier-Seminole State Park, 70 miles south of there and home to the nearest breeding crocodile population. They removed a scute from her tail to mark her. Six months later she was back up in her favourite spot. They figured like a lot of Floridians she was retired and wanted to get away from family so they let her be. The canal she is sunning on was about 12 feet across and she also looked every bit of 12 feet. I was about 5 feet from the edge of the water so I had one foot at the ready pointing away from her if she decided I looked tasty.  I had some brush between me and her to slow her down hopefully. Her being an ambush predator I figured I was safe. There is a shot online of her chomping down on a small alligator. It was thrilling to be this close to something wild and so magnificent.
Sadly I just read online that she passed away in 2010 apparently from cold stress and the refuge was supposed to have the skeleton for display in 2011. Her skin was going to be used by a forensics lab in law enforcement for comparative purposes. In death she measured out at 11'8" so I wasn't far off with my estimate. 200 people showed up for a memorial they held for her. It is so sad she is gone all I can remember is the amazing thrill I had standing so close to her in the wild. I have been closer to alligators in the wild but seeing that croc was a totally different experience, it was almost spiritual and I am so glad I could share it with my wife and especially my 15 year old daughter. I wonder how old she was and what she had seen in her life?

[triceratops83]

200 people showed up for a memorial they held for her.

That's really nice to hear. A lot of people are really cold towards reptiles and that so many turned up for a memorial dedicated to one is wonderfully heartwarming.

[Gwangi]

That's a beautiful animal, crocodilians are some of my favorites hands down. You're so lucky that you got to see her! I would love to see one in the wild, even an alligator!

[Doug Watson]

That's a beautiful animal, crocodilians are some of my favorites hands down. You're so lucky that you got to see her! I would love to see one in the wild, even an alligator!

I'll post some shots later from our last trip to the Everglades in 2012 I got pretty close to some big beautiful alligators on that trip.

[Tyto_Theropod]

Everyone's wildlife photos are so pretty! I must upload some of my own.   Here in Scotland it snowed last week, but now the daffodils are nearly out. Yup, the weather here can be quite... sudden. Still bitterly cold, though.

[Doug Watson]

Speaking of snow we still have 1 to 2 feet on the ground up here, it has finally started the melt but now they are calling for a cold weekend and more snow. March 12 is the earliest I have seen a returning Robin but I doubt I will see one today.
As promised here are some shots from our last trip to the Everglades. We have been going down to South Carolina and Florida since 1976, I love the South and it's wildlife, if I had the means I would live there for several months in the winter. In 2012 we drove down.
For this group I'll concentrate on the reptiles

We stopped at Shark River Everglades National Park. If you want to see alligators this is where to go. There is a 13 mile loop that you can either walk, bicycle or take a tram with a guide. We cycled our way around and there were so many alligators I had to stop taking pictures of them. These are only a few of my shots.

This was a mother with babies.



A much bigger alligator.



This one is nice and relaxed.



The business end.



This was the biggest alligator I saw on the trip, it was massive!



After the Shark River Park we went to a more out of the way backwoods trail to specifically look for venomous snakes but just as we started on the trail we were blocked by this 8 foot alligator. I ran right up to it to try and scare it off and it just smiled at me. I could have got by it but my wife was having none of it and either side of the trail was swamp so I couldn't talk her into a detour so that put an end to our snake hunt. The Ranger later told us that this gator blocks people all the time and won't move for anyone. Notice it has it's tail cocked at the ready to whack me.



This is a close-up of the same gator. The good thing about a stubborn alligator is you can get close shots.



This was another alligator from the swamp.



An alligator shares a log with a Peninsula Cooter.



This is an Everglades Racer I spotted on another trail.



Close-up of the same Racer.



This Mediterranean Gecko was outside on a wall near one of our motel rooms. This Gecko is an introduced species originally from 1910.



A Cuban Anole

[triceratops83]

I love shots of baby crocodilians atop their mothers' head, it's really endearing. In that first photo it looks like two other hatchlings were trying to climb down some branches before they are scolded for playing too high.

[Doug Watson]

Here are shots of birds, mammals, fish etc for our 2012 Florida / South Carolina trip.

American Wood Stork at Shark River Florida



An Anhinga drying its feathers.



Anhinga on its nest.



Cormorant.



Glossy Ibis



Gallinule



Gar and minnows in a very muddy creek.



Me Kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico. I liked that kayak so much I bought one when I got back. So stable you can stand in it.



A big nasty Red Wasp. I have seen enough episodes of Billy the Exterminator to know not to mess with these guys. He seems to be eyeing me.



Two endangered Key Deer in the Florida Keys. They are a miniature subspecies of our White-Tailed Deer.



Southeastern Fox Squirrel at Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina.



Not wildlife I know but I fell in love with this boxer named Powder at Mansfield Plantation where we stayed in Georgetown South Carolina. Powder wasn't normally allowed in the dining room but we got so close an exception was made. I wanted so bad to take him home. That is the caretaker to the right. The plantation has been used in many movies including The Patriot.



Back in the Florida Keys. I took this because it cracked me up.

[Doug Watson]

I love shots of baby crocodilians atop their mothers' head, it's really endearing. In that first photo it looks like two other hatchlings were trying to climb down some branches before they are scolded for playing too high.

There are five babies in the shot, did you spot them all? 

[triceratops83]

There are five babies in the shot, did you spot them all? 

Not sure, but maybe I spy a stripy little tail in the top left?

[Newt]

Great pictures, Doug! I haven't been out to the coastal south for a couple of years; I need to remedy that.

Here in middle Tennessee, the daffodils and crocus are opening up, as are the first few brave wildflowers; I spotted some bittercress and spring saxifrage blooming on a rock outcrop over the snowmelt-swollen Red River behind my house. The spring peepers, chorus frogs, and leopard frogs are setting up quite a racket.

I've got four of the big sugar maples in my yard tapped. The sap was flowing like Niagara (or, more appropriately, Cumberland Falls) earlier this week, but as the temps stay above freezing, it's slowed to a trickle (cold nights and warm days make for the best flow). I've collected almost 90 gallons of sap so far, but I think the trees will bud out soon, which marks the end of the collecting period. Then it's time for boiling!

Hopefully I can snap some photos this weekend. Until then, here are some wildflower photos from last year:

Augochlorin sweat bee on spring beauty


Toothwort


Phlox


Rue-anemone


Bloody butcher


Smooth yellow violet


Common blue violet


Confederate violet

[Doug Watson]

There are five babies in the shot, did you spot them all? 

Not sure, but maybe I spy a stripy little tail in the top left?

That's it! You can see the head further up.

[Doug Watson]

Great pictures, Doug! I haven't been out to the coastal south for a couple of years; I need to remedy that.

Here in middle Tennessee, the daffodils and crocus are opening up, as are the first few brave wildflowers; I spotted some bittercress and spring saxifrage blooming on a rock outcrop over the snowmelt-swollen Red River behind my house. The spring peepers, chorus frogs, and leopard frogs are setting up quite a racket.

I've got four of the big sugar maples in my yard tapped. The sap was flowing like Niagara (or, more appropriately, Cumberland Falls) earlier this week, but as the temps stay above freezing, it's slowed to a trickle (cold nights and warm days make for the best flow). I've collected almost 90 gallons of sap so far, but I think the trees will bud out soon, which marks the end of the collecting period. Then it's time for boiling!

Hopefully I can snap some photos this weekend. Until then, here are some wildflower photos from last year:

Beautiful flowers Newt! Maple syrup in Tennessee, who'd have guessed! We are still missing the warm days part of that equation, but hopefully our trees will start producing soon.