Viera Wetlands

Jody Melanson

Took this batch at Viera Wetlands. Fabulous place for shooting boids! :photo

Loggerhead Shrike. Tried to get him in flight, but he wasn't cooperating. :wxwax

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This Green Heron was so approachable I thought he was going to climb on my lens! :lol3

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There were lots of Blue Winged Teals there.

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I don't know if you are familiar with a Wilsons Snipe, but they are just little guys. About the size of an American Robin, they stay motionless until you enter their comfort zone and then burst off at a high rate of speed. Here is one sitting. (my first time seeing one of these guys)

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And one in flight.

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There were "Islands" of Coots there. We are lucky if we see 3 at one time!

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AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! It's a Canadian! RUN AWAY!!! LOL

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There was also a bunch of Moorhens there. My first time seeing one.

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Another first for me - Crested Cara Cara.

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Least Bittern. Tiny little guy, another first for me.

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Once again another first, Black Skimmer. Unfortunately he only skimmed on the far side of the pond. Very cool to watch however.

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American Bittern. These guys are bigger, 'bout the size of a Great Blue Heron for body size, but shorter.

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They blend in well. I was happy getting him in the open like this.....

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When he all of a sudden takes off and circled us to heard for another pond. Bonus! I got 22 frames of him in flight. Here are some of the best.

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ShepsMom

WOW Jody! Very very nice shots. bow

Andy

ShepsMom wrote:

WOW Jody! Very very nice shots. bow

Froggy

Hey Dude you get Lost, this is Steve A from FM, nice work as usual, you are the master.

I put in my order for a MK111 today, sammy's in Los Angeles is taking pre orders, can't, should get just in time for Katmai.

Steve

Maestro

Great set! I love the coots and the bittern especially.

kdog

Great series, Jody. You need to enter that caracara in our butt-shot thread.

You seem to have a nack for difficult focus situations. Like this one.



Was that manually focused? I doubt my 20D could AF in a hole like that without locking on the plants in the foreground.

Thanks,
-joel

jwear

great series as always

Trish323

Very Nice representation of my home away from home:D

bfjr

nice

JillG

Wow, wonderful series.
Jill

Harryb

Excellent set,e specially the bittern flight shots. Glad you enjoyed my home turf.

dbaker1221

GEEZZZZ..........fantastic captures!!!!!!!!!!

raptorcaptor

Great work Jody! Congrats on the Snipe shots and the Bittern!

Jody Melanson

ShepsMom wrote:

WOW Jody! Very very nice shots. bow

Thank you Marina!

Jody Melanson

Andy wrote:

Thanks Andy!

Shasoc

It is always a pleasure to watch you series, Jody. You never disappoint.
Glad to see some known faces:D

sskoutas

The series itself is just amazing, Jody... really fantastic. I think the blue winged has to be one of the more beautiful ducks out there, and you've done a wonderful job with yours.

I love the American Bittern against the tree... it's amazing how effective their camo is. The flight shots - standard "Jody Melanson" - absolutely perfect.