Recalling the winter birds

I shot this egret at Saracen Lake late 2015, a good year for water birds at Saracen Lake here In Pine Bluff, Arkansas – the last good year for birds. Click here or on the egret above and see our December 7 post with lots of pelicans, grebes and egrets.

During the winter of 2014-2015, here in Pine Bluff, Arkansas at our in-city impoundment, Saracen Lake, we enjoyed a substantial in-migration of water fowl including pelicans, grebes, some unusual ducks and other species which made for good shooting for those of us who find enjoyment photographing wildlife.

By comparison, the nicest thing we can say about our 2015-2016 winter in-migration is: “lousy.”

My duck hunting buds tell me that lack of sustained cold weather up north and too much water down here are the contributing factors. Wild critters are smart, if they don’t have to travel to survive, they don’t. With all the water, the ones that did make the trip are scattered. All that said, since we have no new winter bird shots, we’re taking a look our December 7, 2014 post which shows the last successful batch of winter water birds.

Click on the pelicans and see a bunch more at Corndancer dot-com.

We captured a lot of American White Pelican photos at the lake during that period. There was a substantial winter population of these big birds (they have a six-foot plus wing span), and they hung out at a location ideal for long-lens photography.

See those photos at our Corndancer Photo of the Week . The pictures are a collection of the picks of the litter from several visit to the lake, including in flight shots and a frenetic feeding frenzy.

Thanks for looking,
Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

 

Advertisement