Pic of the Day

Great Egret, Ardea alba -- Celery Fields;  Sarasota, Florida

     I recently attended the North American Nature Photography Association summit in Jacksonville, Florida.  It was a great conference with more than four hundred nature photographers attending.  While there I heard about a location for bird photography near Sarasota, Florida, called the Celery Fields.  The Celery Fields are a four hundred acre storm water collection area for Sarasota County that harbors a large number of bird species.

      Early morning is the best time to visit, and the morning I arrived I found two-dozen or more Great Egrets feeding in the reeds.  As I photographed the group, one or two birds at a time would fly off, and in doing so they were winging past me.  It was a great opportunity to shoot some flight shots.

      I saw numerous species of birds at the Celery Fields that included Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Osprey, and Red-shoulder Hawk.  Though I did not spend much time at the Celery Fields on this trip, it is a location I will visit again.  I believe it holds great potential for bird photography. 

Both images:  Nikon D800 in DX format, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/4,000 sec. @ f8, ISO 400, Tripod