Peacock’s Pocket
Peacock’s Pocket is a stretch of dirt road leading back to a beautiful wetland where wildlife abounds. Today, we traveled out to the pond at a leisurely pace hoping to view avian species as well as an occasional bobcat. No bobcats today, but we did have close to 50 species of birds along the road and out in the wetlands.
One of our first shots out along the dirt roadway was one of the smallest birds of the day, the Common yellowthroat. The Common yellowthroat is so named not because it is seen everywhere you look, but because it is found throughout the United States wherever bodies of water exist. The bird is quite voquacious and is more often heard rather than seen. Its call of “whichity, whichity, whichity” , tells the knowing birder to be on the lookout for this colorful warbler hopping about in the brush close to the water. The colors of the male are striking, with a dark black mask positioned over its bright yellow throat. With a bit of patience, it did not take us long to spot the bird and he presented himself nicely for a decent photo.
Continuing down the road, we eventually ran into a stretch of habitat which for whatever reason was heavily populated by a variety of herons and egrets. Being much bigger and bolder, these birds do not requre any patience when waiting to photograph them other than waiting for the most ideal lighting and pose. Snowy egrets, Tricolored herons, Great egrets and Great blue herons were all perched side by side offering us a myriad of opportunities to capture images of these majestic birds.
Tricolor heron and Snowy egret perched in front of a White ibis. Nikon Z9 with Z180-600 mm, 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 180
When we arrived at the wetland site at the end of the road (presently blocked from traffic due to storm damage), we were pleased to find that the recent heavy rain provided the wetlands with an abundance of water and had attracted many species including Stilt sandpipers, Anhingas, Blue-winged teal, Willets, Yellowlegs, a large gathering of 50+ Avocets, and a bird which is always great for photographers, the Black skimmer. We spent more than an hour just photographing the wide array of subjects offered here, but as is usually the case when skimmers are present, trying to get the iconic shot of the bird doing its thing…..skimming!
While the skimmer made numerous passes over the pond, most were in open water and while fun to watch, they did not offer much background to contribute to the shot. Finally, I did manage to capture an image of the bird with nice foliage in the background. I’ve photographed this bird may times, but this is one of my favorite images because of that background. Once again, patience is the name of the game in photographing wildlife. This time it paid off.
Black skimmer - Peacock’s Pocket Nikon Z9 with Z180-600mm lens
1/2000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 500
