The St. Augustine Alligator Farm rookery during breeding season is an amazing place to photograph birds. Everywhere you look there is something happening that is worth your attention and a few frames. It is easy to come back with multiple 1000s of exposures from a day there. And you have to keep reminding yourself: despite being inside a zoo, these are not zoo animals. They are wild birds, communal nesters by nature, who have gathered on their own to create this amazing multi-species rookery. The Alligator Farm has just been intelligent enough to provide access for the wondering public and photographers of all levels. In fact, the Alligator Farm rookery is fairly unique in that even folks with Point and Shoot party cameras…even phone cameras…can bring back satisfying shots of the birds. The longer lens of a super-zoom or DSLR outfit makes truly intimate portraits possible.

And among the birds who nest there, the Little Blue Heron stands out for me. It is not the most numerous or even the most showy…that would have to be the Great Egrets…but it is certainly a striking bird, an arresting bird, in is breeding finery. The plumage, with is subtle blue-greys and purples, its wide range of feather structure, from hair like plumes to sturdy wing feathers, is interesting in any light. And the bird, like all herons, poses. Add the deep turquoise around the eye that is only there during breeding and you can understand why I have so many images.

Canon SX40HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.  1) 700mm equivalent field of view. f5.8 @ 1/400th @ ISO 200. 2) 580mm. f5.8 @ 1/320th @ ISO 200. 3) 340mm. f5 @ 1/160th @ ISO 200. 4) 840mm. f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 200. 5) 570mm. f5.8 @ 1/400th @ ISO 160.

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.