Tell Me a Story: October 2014

Its the end of the month and it is time for the Tell me a Story blog again. At then end of my blog, please take time to go and check out the stories from the other bloggers in this group. Following me is the talented Renee Eaton/Everyday Beautiful Photography

October has been a busy month for me.  I photographed my first wedding, am currently finishing up the editing, and and now moving onto the seating arrangements for a 1200 person fundraiser.  I am the seating coordinator.  It gets a little hectic around Monday next week, and then Thursday evening the event happens, and I am done for the year....

In preparation for this blog, knowing that I would be busy, I took a walk through the wetlands in case I did not get out to see anything else.  Added to that I had heard there were new babies at the wetlands and I wanted a look see.  

As I walk down the ramp into the wetlands the first bird I see is the Green Heron.  The Green Heron is a relatively small bird and it's colors always amaze me. They are normally found in North and Central America.

The bird life is pretty slim right now.  Fairly soon though, they should start migrating back to the wetlands to begin to build their nests and once again the excitement of watching new life begin will happen.  Today though this Tri-colored Heron is just happy to hang out.  

Further around the walkway I found this Tri-colored Heron fishing.  What I loved about this photo was that I was able to get it's reflection and it's shadow at the same time.  

I have shared this butterfly before.  It is called a Skipper Butterfly and for all intents and purposes really looks like a moth.  

These two Mallards have gone fishing.  I love these ducks and similar ducks come to my home every morning and evening.  However, over the years of living on the edge of the Everglades, I have learned that even these sweet little ducks have a nasty streak.  If other ducks come into their feeding territory we have duck wars on the back canal.  They spend more time chasing each other up and down than actually eating the food.  

The American White Ibis is another common bird that I find on our back canal.  They are pretty common all year around in the wetlands as well.  Not unlike me, crayfish is its preferred food. I mean who does not like crayfish!

This tri-colored heron was staring at the water and I waited and I waited and I waited.  The minute I looked away it darted forwarded an caught a fish.  However, the fish was so small that it was gone before I could take a photo.  

These particular flowers are common in the wetlands.  The  Duck Potato, Sagittaria Latifolia attracts bees, dragonflies and other kinds of flying insects. They are really pretty and when the field is full of them it makes a gorgeous sight to see.  

And here are the babies that I went to see.  Tiny little Alligators.  The biggest threat to a baby Alligator is ironically bigger Alligators, and the mother will protect the babies for up to 12 months. The hatchlings will eat mainly small fish, insects snails etc.  As they mature so does the size of their prey. One of these brave and adventurous Alligators decided to go for a walk along the boardwalk and a colleague of mine happened to photograph it.  From all accounts it managed to find it's way back to the mother.  

Talking mothers, I am not sure that I want to get on her bad side.  She is rather large.   I read and interesting fact about Alligators.  Apparently the jaw muscles that they use to open their mouths works slowly, but once they chomp, the muscles they use to keep the mouth closed, well they are plenty strong.  The Alligator is not letting you go once he has got you.  I say that, but Alligators, unlike their African cousins, the Crocodile, tend to shy away from humans, and generally do not attack unless they are threatened.  That said, I will respect the Alligator.  

This was a sweet sight and not one that I see that often.  Tropical swamps are the breeding grounds for the Reddish Egrets. They also stalk their prey in the waters and their diet consists of fish, frogs, insects etc.  

The one thing you find in the wetlands is that the birds have become somewhat used to humans walking through and quite often will stand their ground as you quietly approach.  I keep to the opposite side of the boardwalk that the bird is on, and take one step at a time. Sometimes the bird will fly off if I get too close. Other times I can step right opposite it and it will not move.  This one did fly off but I managed to get fairly close to it before it took off.  

An interesting sight at the wetlands is the soft shelled turtle.  Unlike a normal turtle that has a beak, the soft shelled turtle has a snorkel like nose.  While their bodies stay submerged under water, their nose sticks out allowing them to breathe.

I love the Cormorants.  These birds seem to sit on their nest all year long. Reading up on them there appears to be a number of different species of Cormorant and I am not sure which one these are.  They could be the Double Breasted Cormorant, the Florida Cormorant or the Great Cormorant.  I have no idea how to tell them apart, so I will just say that they are of the family of Cormorant.  We quite often get these birds out on the back canal as well.  

Last but not least I have walked the loop and I am back to the Tri-colored heron I started with. The setting of this bird makes me think of the Simon and Garfunkel son "I am a rock, I am an island"  

The walk was not long but it was nice to get out from behind the computer for an hour.  The weather is starting to cool down, and get a little breezy.  Not cool like up north, but the intense heat of the south has eased somewhat and I am looking forward to some days when I can walk around and not be dripping wet by the time I get back to the car.

"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder"

~ Ralph W. Sockman

I hope that you enjoy my day's event's in Tell me a Story.  Please remember to click on the link at the top of the page to view the blogs by the other photographers in the group.  

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page.