Saturday, March 21, 2009

I love the wetlands......

In case you hadn't already figure that out. It is my favorite place to go to take photos. It amazes me that I just found this place a year ago and now I go a couple times a week, at least. There are always wonderful things to see there! I caught the Great-Blue Heron as it was landing in the water.
This was the first one I've seen there so far this year.

Stalking in the water.
I love to watch geese when they start twisting their necks to groom. Such interesting shapes they make when they turn themselves into a colorful ball :-)

It makes my neck hurt just to watch them!
I think this stare means that I'm suppose to move on now.

A Killdeer out in the dried up marsh area. I keep waiting for this area to fill up with water again. It was teeming with life last year.

I apologize for the overexposure of this, but it was the only way I could get the Flicker to show up at all. The light was all wrong for where I had to stand. I could tell there was a woodpecker up there and that it appeared to be sticking its head in a hole, but until I got home, I could not even see what bird it was!

I did finally see it peek around the other side of the tree. It didn't seem too upset by our presence.
The geese again....but I didn't see the turtle until I got home :-) Nothing like having an audience while you are grooming.
Having a conversation?...a bit of watery gossip?
A Gadwall! I don't usually see these at the wetlands. Maybe passing through?
I've only seen a couple of these before, so it was a welcome sight.

I was trying to decide if Mrs. Mallard was on a nest or just resting on the bank. Mr. Mallard was keeping a close vigil.
Plants are springing up all over. This fuzzy weed was pretty up close.
A nice orange fungi on a tree....very small.
Many little plants beginning to cover the forest floor.
And of course.....lots of turtles! This one was all alone and posing.
Most of them were piled along logs in rows like this.
If you have a wetlands area near you, go visit it! The variety of wildlife is amazing.

16 comments:

Don Wood said...

WOW Mary a fantastic day you blog makes me feel so good thank you XXX Don

DeniseinVA said...

I agree with Don, you had a great day with your photography. Great captures all of them.

Mary said...

Don: Thank you!

Denise: Thanks, also!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great photos, Mary.. Everytime you go, you see something new, don't you???? Gorgeous!!!! Love to see the geese twist their heads like that....

Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

WOW!This is certainly a plae I would spend lots of time at.I enjoy your images which show the area well.
Blessings,Ruth

Anonymous said...

I think we had figured that one out Mary.
Great shots of the Heron.

Jenny said...

I like wetlands too, there is always something good to see and water is always nice to be near anyway! (-:

Eve said...

I'm glad you enjoy going Mary cause we love it when you do!!

Anonymous said...

Wow Mary..what a variety you were able to capture. I love the heron, I haven't seen any here yet...

Becky said...

What a wnderful place you have to visit Mary. I just love the turtle shots, and all the ducks. My goodness you must be surprised each time you go there.
I came upon a big Herron 2 days ago, but I had my gloves on and couldn't get my camera out of my pocket in time. Drat! Another missed opportunity.
B.

Rose said...

Mary, all are wonderful captures...but the blue heron ones are simply fantastic. And of course, I get a kick out of all the turtles.

Trying to think of a squirrel caption, but I am not good at things like this.

Arija said...

The landing Heron is just spectacular and the turtle sit-in is fun.

Mary said...

I'm sorry I didn't do individual responses yesterday, but I was at a quilt event all day....see quilt blog....but thanks for stopping in and for all the nice comments! Maybe by Monday, I'll be back to normal :-) What's normal is the only question!

George said...

Thanks for taking us along with you to the wetlands. All the photos are great, but I especially like Great Blue Heron landing and all the turtles lined up on the log.

sandy said...

wow, that Blue Heron is great!!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Mary: I do love your landing heron and you got some neat geese posing shots.