Posts in Category: rookery
Odd Couple
Colonial nesting brings several species that might otherwise only share general feeding grounds into very close proximity. The Rookery at High Island is mostly Snowy and Great Egret, and Spoonbills. Rookeries in Florida generally add the smaller Herons, Ibises, and Wood Storks to the mix. At any rate, shots like this are easy to get at any rookery worth the name. A Great Egret and a Roseate Spoonbill just hanging out together at Smith’s Oaks Rookery in Texas.
Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. Shutter preferred. -2/3rs EV exposure compensation. 1/800th @ ISO 200 @ f10. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
Spoonbills in Love!
It is not hard to observe mating behavior at the Smith’s Oaks rookery on High Island Texas. Just stand at one of the overlooks in April for few moments and you are bound to see some mating action. This pair of Spoonbills had not started a nest yet but were clearly contemplating one. If they had gotten that far in their thinking. If they were thinking.
Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. Again, I had the camera in my preprogrammed “flight” mode and did not have time switch back. 1/400th @ f8 @ ISO 200. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Assembled in Pixlr Express.
Egret Brings the Branch
Despite suffering my worst bout of Acid Reflux ever, the trip to Galveston Texas for Feather Fest, and then on to Arcata California for Godwit Days, was, photographically, one of the most productive 14 days of my life so far : ) I was able to capture behavior shots that I have always wanted and never gotten before…and more behavior shots that I just can’t seem to get enough of. Terns hovering in mid-air. Closeups of Spoonbills in full flight. Reddish Egret canopy feeding. Pelicans gliding by at point blank range. Egrets bringing in nest materials. And, of course, that is what we have here. The Great Egrets at Smith’s Oaks rookery in High Island Texas had chicks in the nest, but Egrets never really stop building a nest once they start, and the males were still bringing branches. This handsome fellow is just landing.
Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. I used my custom “flight” program (9 spot, center, continuous focus. Auto ISO.) f9 @ 1/640th @ ISO 200.
If you have never visited High Island in the spring, the rookery will make the trip worth your while, even if, as on this day, there is no “fall out” of trans-gulf migrants. On day when the the Warblers and Orioles are dripping off the trees, you might not be able to spare a glance for the rookery. : )
Purple Gallinule!
The Purple Gallinule is not particularly a hard bird to see. You just have to be in the right place in its limited range at the right time. It is just that I never seem to be there. I saw a male in Florida on my first birding trip there 11 years ago, and a female two trips back, but other than that…nada. So to say that I was excited to see one at the Smith’s Oaks rookery on High Island Texas is an understatement. I got some shots of it peaking and poking among the vegitation, but just before I left, it popped up on top for just a few seconds and I got off a few full body shots. I did not have time, even, to shift the camera out of flight mode, so the rapidly moving bird is not tack sharp. Not the best, but my best so far!
Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. ISO 400 @ 1/250th @ f6.7. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
Smith’s Oaks Spoonbills
We will drop back this morning…a week and a bit…to my visit to the Rookery at Smith’s Oaks on High Island in Texas. I have seen Spoonbills nesting before but never in the numbers that frequent High Island. I took the opportunity to practice my flight shot techniques, since I had numbers of cooperative subjects. There are really few birds as striking as a Roseate Spoonbill in full breeding plumage. Odd. But still striking. 🙂
Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. My custom flight program. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Assembled in Pixlar Express.