Nature Walks – From There to Here

Nature Walks – From There to Here

Here is South Florida, there was Walla Walla, Washington — two parts of the nation that could not be more dissimilar, and yet here I now am. I’ve been adapting to my new temporary home, to the really different surroundings including hot humid weather, palm trees, burning beach sands, lots of birds and more interesting and strange people. The accents tend to be from New Jersey or New York, the folks drive fast and there are gated communities everywhere. It’s not what I would call a “natural” environment. Yet, here I am making the best of it, taking photos of birds. Not people, not places or buildings, birds.

Had a short chat with a local professional photographer. He liked my little camera. Said it was one of the best light-weight cameras for taking close-ups. I’m certainly happy with the photos I get with my little Nikon. Of course, the pro was lugging around a huge camera with a gigantic macro-zoom. I’m not interested in carrying around all that weight and am not currently printing any of my photos.

The gang was all present at Wakodatchee, including sighting two adult gators, one who slipped into the reeds near the feet of a vigilant Great Egret and a noisy blackbird. While Wakodatchee offers the highest density of wildlife per square foot, it still requires some diligence to spy out the critters. I spotted two iguanas who were frozen in place, using their natural camouflage to escape the eyes of humans walking by.

There were the usual posers… birds perching on the railings of the boardwalk and some really squawky youngsters pounding on their parents for breakfast. Wakodatchee is an interesting place to wander through. The wetlands preserve is open from 06:30 to 18:00 EDT in the evening. The visiting crowds have diminished quite a bit since season ended.