Last Friday and Saturday, I went to the FCCC Conference in Fort Meyers. It was my first time to go and the theme was geared towards nature and wildlife photography. They had several outings on Friday morning and I went on the one to Little Estero Lagoon, right by Fort Meyers Beach. It was my first time to go there as well. It’s a shallow body of water right near the beach that Arthur Morris made famous for bird photography. There weren’t many birds that morning so I hope to go back again when there are more, but it was a lot of fun and this past weekend, I added three new birds to the list of ones that I’ve photographed: the reddish egret, the willet, and the ruddy turnstone. I also got to photograph a little blue heron in the white morph (stage) which lasts through the bird’s first year (it’s not in this post).
Here’s the reddish egret. They are beautiful and fascinating birds to watch as their fishing method includes an unusual dance of running around and flapping their wings.
A snowy egret:
We also saw dolphins quite close to the shore (in the ocean, not the lagoon). It was an exciting trip. Below, a great egret in the lagoon with the high-rise hotels reflected in the water. If you stand in the right spot, you can get these reflections – not usually desirable but interesting!
On Saturday evening, after the conference, my Daddy and I decided to go back to the lagoon by ourselves and we were blessed to see more opportunities for images. Most of these were actually taken on the beach, right near the lagoon. Below is a willet along the shoreline.
Ruddy Turnstones searching for food in the barnicles on this piece of driftwood:
And last but not least an image sequence of a silhouetted black-crowned night heron eating a crab from the lagoon. What blessings God has bestowed upon us all by being able to observe His creatures!
