Viera Wetlands (a few images)

bhowdy

I was able to spend part of a day at Harry's revered Viera Wetlands.
I now understand why the place is so special to him.
Truly a wonderful place for a bird photographer (or wannabe in my case). And most interesting to me ....
Viera is a wastewater treatment facility!

The images are of birds that are "ho-hum" regulars for many here at DG.
I am working on figuring out both a new camera and a new lens, comments and pointers appreciated.

Anhingha


Belted Kingfisher


American Bittern


Great Blue Heron


Hooded Merganser (male)


Hooded Merganser (female)


Blue-winged Teel


Mottled Duck

dbaker1221

excellet series Bob..:ivar .........jeez , do you just walk up to the birds there??

Ric Grupe

Wonderful variety and good shooting with new gear.

That first one is very nice and a good indication of what you should expect on a regular basis with your setup...as long as you do your part.:D

dlplumer

Great set Bob. Is that the same Kingfisher that Harry had so much trouble capturing? I'm planning on getting down there in Feb. for the MI shoot with Harry and co.

Dan

bhowdy

Thanks Dave .... Actually at Viera you drive up to the birds, slowly get out of your vehicle and then move down the bank to get a better photo angle! The birds seem to be very used to people.

Ric, I appreciate the comments. I have decided that I will be able to take many more poorly composed and OOF images with my new 10fps capability! Ha

Dan .... It may have been the same Kingfisher but on this day she was very cooperative. She was perched on a palm stump just as you enter the wildlife drive. You will enjoy MI, on the two days that I was there I preferred Viera to MI, but each have different perspectives and a few different birds, etc.

Harryb

Hey Bob,

Glad you had a chance to visit Viera. The wetlands are one of the best palces I'v found for wildlife photography. I prefer them to MI also. Mi can be fantastic on some days but day in, day out Viera is teh palce to shoot.

You got some good captures of our regulars.

Maestro

I am sooooooo envious of that belted kingfisher photo and I love the anhinga image!

NorthernFocus

Really nice set. All good but the snake bird is my favorite. And the hooded ganzer. They look like they're wearing an ancient Greek helmet

That added little bit of information that the wetlands are a sewage treatment facility might explain why people who spend a lot of time there could have a rat phobia

jonh68

Nice set. I too like the kingfisher. Those little suckers just taunt you into stopping the car and trying to get their pic.

raptorcaptor

Not so ho-hum for most of us! I would be happy getting any one of those birds on a good day!

You did and excellent job with your new camera!