Anhinga 102

The American Darter is a large waterbird that is fairly common to central Florida and reportedly also common in the south east United States as well as a large part of central and South America.

Anhinga 101

I most frequently see only the head sticking up out of the water as it swims in search of food. When the darter is not swimming it is most frequently observed with it's wings spread to help warm or cool itself, depending on the day's temperature. I believe that the water turkey shown here is an adult female based on the size and coloration along with the hairlike covering on the neck. It is possible that it is a large, immature male devil bird, though.

Anhinga 100

Wikipedia says that "the word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhinga. It is also known as a darter, water turkey, devil bird, snakebird, Anhinga anhinga, and American darter. Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/anhinga/id describes the Anhinga anhinga as a large waterbird.

Shady Oak Trail 000

In a continuation of yesterday's post, you will see what a difference in perspective can produce. Sometimes the changes are hard to see and sometimes they can be dramatic. In this case I would call the differences fairly dramatic. For one thing you can now see that the trail does not end in the grass, you can see that it actually curves to the left. For another thing you can see that the dirt is actually a hole that is several inches deep. The impressive thing about the hole is that the boar did that using only his nose to excavate it.

Shady Oak Trail

Today's picture is a landscape type picture of the Shady Oak Trail at the Circle B Bar Reserve. It is also the first part of a very brief lesson in perspective. If you look closely at the right hand side of the trail you will see an area that appears to be dug up. It was most probably made by a wild boar or a whole lot of squirrels on steroids. You will also see the trail appear to end in the distant grass. This picture was taken with the camera approximately four feet above the ground. In tomorrow's post you will see the same scene taken from the same location with the difference being the camera being about two feet higher and at a slight downward angle.

Lake Howard Squirrel 002

This wildlife photograph of an sciurus carolinensis (eastern grey squirrel)eating a mushroom stem says it all about capturing wild animals with a camera.

Lake Howard Squirrel 000

I captured this image of a grey squirrel at the South Lake Howard Water Reclamation Park in Winter Haven, Florida on July 29, 2013. This gray squirrel was eating the stem of a wild mushroom at the time I took this wildlife photograph. The eastern grey squirrel is very common in the central Florida area and indeed throughout the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Lake Howard Squirrel 001

This wildlife photograph of a gray squirrel was taken at the South Lake Howard Water Reclamation park on July 29, 2013 as part of a series of wildlife images. This eastern Grey Squirrel was busy eating a mushroom when I captured this image. Wildlife photography can be practiced anywhere you can find a wild animal to photographed

, be it "in the woods" or in an urban setting.

Fence Post Squirrel

I captured this wildlife photograph of an eastern Gray Squirrel posing on a fence post about the end of January, 2013. A grey squirrel is also known by it's latin name of sciurus carolinensis. Squirrel pictures are common because nearly everyone loves to watch them play. The gray squirrel is very common and easy for even the most Amateurish Photographer to capture high quality images of.

Squirrel 025

This photograph of a Gray Squirrel was taken on April 5, 2013 at the Circle B Bar Reserve. I caught the squirrel just peekig around the edge of the tree to see what I was doing. The Circle B Bar Reserve is probably one of the best places in central Florida for wildlife and wildlife photography.

Squirrel 005

I captured this wildlife photograph of a Gray Squirrel in a park in Tampa, Florida on February 8, 2013. I was just sitting on the ground under the tree when I heard a noise above me. I looked up and started taking a series of pictures of the squirrel. It was as much fun trying to get the pictures as it was watching the squirrel try to figure out what I was.

Great Blue Heron 040

This Great Blue Heron is one of the largest of the Heron Family (Ardeidae) and is a commonly observed bird here in central Florida. From my experience, it is a year round resident. This image was one of several I took of this bird perching on the support of a dock at the Circle B Bar, but when I tried to sneak over top of the bird he spooked and flew away squawking as you can hopefully see from the open beak in flight.

Flashed Alligator Eye.

I captured this image of a small American Alligator in the canal along side the Alligator Alley Trail of the Circle B Bar Reserve. It was still relatively early in the morning and the gator was in shadow. As part of the series of pictures I took of it I tried using the onboard Flash of my GE X2600 Digital Camera. For some reason it made the photo come out dark enough to pass as a night time photo. The eye of the Alligator actually reflected the light flash and looks almost like a candle flame to me. All in all I am pleased to call it an interesting image from Saturday, July 12, 2014. This is also a copyright image by me, Chris Mercer.

Osprey 104

Well this is the last of the Osprey images that I have prepared for this weeks blog. I am out of inspiration and words to describe this beautifully awsome bird. I will always encourage you to visit the Circle B Bar Reserve in central Florida for some of the finest wildlife viewing available. Even in the high heat of summer it is highly probable that you will see hundreds of animals or insects just by taking your time strolling and looking closely. I am most definitely blessed to live less than ten miles from it.

Osprey 103

And here is yet another copyrighted image of an Pandion Haliaetus (Osprey) that I took on Saturday, July 12, 2014. Did I mention that at the time the weather was HOT ( about 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and humid to boot.

Osprey 102

This is another in a series of Osprey photos that I took on the Alligator Alley Trail of the Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. This species of a bird of prey is common at the Circle B Bar Reserve and throughout the central Florida Area. Can you hear it calling to it's mate, here? In my opinion, it is every bit as majestic as the American Bald Eagle and probably more commonly seen by the average person.

Osprey 101

This awesome Fish Eagle spent more than a Few minutes posing for me on the Alligator Alley Trail at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Saturday, July 12, 2014. I appreciated him allowing me to make several copyrighted photos an Osprey. In their own way, these birds of prey are as impressive as any bald eagle in my opinion.

Osprey 100

This image of an Osprey was taken at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Saturday, July 12, 2014 and is protected under Chris Mercer's 2014 copyright. It was a typically hot summer day when I saw this Fish Eagle perching in a Cypress tree along side the Alligator Alley Trail. This awesome bird of prey is frequently known variously as a sea hawk, osprey bird, fish hawk or fish eagle. The taxonomic name is Pandion Halietus and it is one of the larger birds of prey.

Circle B Bar Alligator 004

This photo of an alligator was taken at the Circle B Bar Reserve over the 2014 Fourth Of July weekend while I was taking pictures of animals in the area. I got more than a few pictures of alligators and other wild animals. It was a great weekend for taking pictures of animals with a moderate amount of wildlife visible for photography. This reptile was calmly floating in the canal water with the lighting giving rise to great opportunities to photograph varying reflections from the gator eye area. The on board flash unit on my camera enhanced the reflection in the water and highlighted the eyeball at the same time.

Circle B Bar Alligator 000

The 2014 Fourth Of July weekend was a good weekend for getting pictures of gators the Circle B Bar Reserve. Though it was fairly hot even at seven thirty in the morning and got hotter later, the shining sun made for some truly spectacular photographic opportunities. I fully took advantage of the opportunity to get pictures of the wildlife in their natural habitats. This Alligator fell victim to my photographic zeal as it was swimming peacefully in the canal next to the Alligator Alley trail.

Circle B Bar Alligator

While I was at the Circle B Bar Reserve over the 2014 Fourth Of July weekend I saw this small to medium sized American Alligator that was approximately three to four foot long swimming in a canal alongside the Alligator Alley Trail. I had a good opportunity to capture it with a lot of differing reflections on the clear water. I particularly wanted to catch the reflection of it's eye ridge in the water. It looks like I did a fair job of capturing that image. When I did a keyword search for Alligator recently I came up with a top twenty list containing animals, Photo, Alligator, Reptile, gator, Wild Animals, stock photo, stock photography, Animal pictures, pictures of animals, alligators, animals pictures, wildlife, wildlife photography, animals photos, american alligator, alligator pictures, pictures of alligators, alligator mississippiensis and alligator images.

Circle B Bar Green Heron 000

I was at my favorite place for a photo shoot over the 2014 Fourth of July weekend, the Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, Florida. Because it is summer I did not see as great a variety of wildlife as I anticipate seeing in a few months from now. Still I saw what seemed like hundreds of individual animals and came away with nearly one hundred fifty photographs that I felt were worth keeping. This was all in less than four hours. This green Heron was hunting in the canal alongside of the Alligator Alley trail not far from the intersection with Marsh Rabbit Run. Here are some possible keywords to help you search for more information on green Herons: green heron, Butorides virescens, small Heron, green-backed Heron, Con-specific with striated heron, Butorides striata, green Heron hunting,

Circle B Bar Green Heron

I was about fifty yards away from the intersection of Marsh Rabbit Run on Alligator Alley when saw this Green Heron hunting in the canal beside the pathway. I took a series of photo's of which this is one that I thought came out well.

Circle B Bar Snowy Egret 001

This is another view of the Snowy Egret that I captured on Saturday, July 5, 2014 while I was at the Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. It was hunting on and around tree branches sticking out of the water.

Circle B Bar Snowy Egret

I apologize sincerely for not having posted for a week or more. I have more irons in the fire than I have hours in the day and several other projects along with family things kept me from posting. This picture is however a very fresh shot taken on Saturday, July 5, 2014 at the Circle B Bar reserve near the Intersection of Alligator Alley and Marsh Rabbit Run. I hope that you find it enjoyable.