Stokes Birding and Photography Tour

Roseate Spoonbills

White Pelican

Reddish Egret

Pied-billed Grebes

 American Alligator

Brown Pelican chasing Double-crested Cormorant

At our annual Stokes Birding/Photography fundraiser tour for J. N. Ding Darling NWR, I had a tram full of photographers who I taught and we all had wonderful photo ops. Here are some of the photos I took with the Canon SX 50 camera. The tour occurs on friday when the refuge is closed to the public so we all had the refuge to ourselves. All funds raised go to the refuge.

Anhinga Prize!

Love the way Anhingas spear a fish, then maneuver it until they can get it down their mouth. Quite a skill! Cannot believe the way their throat stretches. They are sometimes called the"snake bird" for how they swim almost submerged with just their neck sticking above water. Often they come out and rest after a meal. Female Anhingas have brown heads and necks, males have black heads and necks.
One of the fun things about photography is to be able to examine the details of the action shots you take. Photographed on Sanibel, FL with the Canon SX 50 camera.

Black Guillemot, Yes! Very cute Alcid.

Black Guillemot, cute seabird off the coast of Acadia National Park

This is their habitat.

I had to climb out on the rocks and hope one would come closer.

I was in luck. Note their white underwing and top of wing.

They have red feet but who know they had a red bill!

After diving down this one caught a crab.

The white on the wings makes them visible from a distance.

Resting on the rocks.

Finally I got some photos of Black Guillemots after trying to photograph them a number of times when I have been to Acadia National Park, Mt. Desert Island, ME. Usually they are too far away to photograph, but this time one flew somewhat closer to the rocky shore. So I was thrilled but still had to climb out onto the rocky cliffs and my Canon SX 50 with its long zoom lens helped get the photo. Black Guillemots live in northern seas and breed in Maine, Alaska and along the coasts of Canada and Greenland. They forage for fish by diving underwater and can stay there for several minutes.
These are very cute little seabirds in the group known as Alcids. Alcids, which include Dovkie, murres, guillemots, murrelets, auklets, and puffins, spend most of their time at sea and breed on remote islands. Many have breeding and non-breeding plumages and the sexes look alike. Alcids use their wings to propel them during dives.