Egret lesson #1

I have photographed over the years 4 different kinds of egrets. 

Here you have the Great Egret on the left and the Snowy Egret on the right.

Notice the different size, different color feet and beak.

They are both adult breeding egrets.

And this is the adult breeding Cattle Egret.

Buff colored head and chest.

This gorgeous guy is the Reddish Egret.

Blue legs, pink and black beak, bronze neck.

Beautiful right?

one of my favorite birds

American avocet. 

They feed by sweeping their bills side to side in the shallow water or mudflats.

See how their beaks are slightly tilted upwards at the tip.

side tracked

Music playing, Tully snoring, and I am knee deep in editing my egret images.

But out of the studio doors I hear him...

So off to the back of the car to grab my camera I go.

Now the hunt is on.

I found him in the tree by the side of the studio.

But of course while I'm out there our resident turkey vulture flew by

 to see what all the fuss was about.

Now I'm back to the egret images, you should be seeing them soon.

A Ballet

They danced down the river.

Feet barely skimming the surface of the water. 

And then down went their beak and up went their snowy feet .

And voila dinner was had!

The dance of the snowy egrets.

A true yogi

Get a cup of tea and put your feet up, I have a story to tell.

Meet Clyde, he is a yogi.

This is where he practices yoga, or should I say where he teaches yoga.

He waits by the steps every morning to make sure we show up on time.

Clyde is a stickler when it comes to being on time.

He checks his reflection as he reflects on his own inner strength. 

He is strong and flexible.

Check out his feet.

He likes to greet the friends he's made along the way of becoming real.

This is where he teaches us to breathe.

Clyde makes sure all the props are in place.

First asana, downward bird.

But as a true yogi his heart is in the trees, in the place where life seems the best,

 among the wild things.

But before he leaves he reminds us to be kind and love ourselves so we can love others.

He is a very beautiful vulture, inside and out.

Namaste

A little Brahman

We were on our return trip from the zip line in Costa Rica.

 The dirt roads had magic on either side. 

But this magic gave me a thrill. 

The zip line paled in comparison.  

Right before our eyes this sweet newborn Brahman arrived and proud mom licked her clean.

But the joy had just begun as the newborn attempted to stand.

She worked with an inherent ease.

While mom gave an encouraging assist.

And up she goes..

This all took place less than two minutes.

I'm thankful for my iPhone.

I'm thankful the van stopped and let me shoot out of the closed window.

I'm thankful to have been a witness to all of it.

A love affair

Can you better understand why I love the birds?

Glossy Ibis feeding on a crab in Merritt Island.

Costa Rica

My neck hurts from looking up for a week.

 

 The Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica was filled with howling monkey sounds and throaty calls of the Scarlet Macaws and Toucans.

My heart was in those trees.

 Always trying to discover who lived up there hiding within the deep canopy. 

Wishing I could be a hummingbird and dive into the center of it all...