This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
There is a lot of algae blooming in this newly-created lagoon at Drakes Beach. I hope the Park Service removes the algae before it leads to eutrophication of what is otherwise a benefit to the seashore.
I was out at Point Reyes National Seashore last week and photographed this great blue heron. It was fishing in what is a new lagoon next to the parking lot at Drakes Beach. I understand it was developed a couple of years ago as mitigation for the widening of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through East Schooner Creek, which is one of the few anadromous streams in the Seashore. A lagoon may have existed here long ago. It sits at the bottom of a drainage with a dairy farm, C Ranch, at the top of the drainage. The constituents of cow manure include nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which cause algal blooms when they get into watercourses. The water might also contain E coli. Unless something is done about the manure in the upper drainage, the whole lagoon will probably be filled with algae in another year or two. This heron looked like it was having trouble just wading around in the lagoon. This ranching shouldn’t be happening on Park Service-owned land in a national park.
When I saw this wading bird in Serengeti National Park I thought at first it was a great blue heron. But then I quickly noticed it was darker and more blue than the bird I know fairly well. This bird doesn’t have a black head in spite of its name, and the great blue heron does have a black top to its head. Anyway, they’re both handsome birds.
Just down the street from my house is an agricultural field. In the winter part of it floods. It drains into a large wetland which is connected to San Francisco Bay. It attracts herons, egrets and ducks. A couple of days ago a great blue heron was hunting there. I stopped and watched to see what it would catch. I expected it to catch small fish. To my surprise it caught several crayfish. It will soon dry up. If you would like to purchase a print of this image click here.
March is a great month to photograph birds nesting. This photo was taken five years ago this month at the Venice Rookery in Venice, Florida. It’s famous for photo opportunities of wading birds nesting. Nest building is a joint effort for the great blue herons. The male brings in a twig and the female accepts it as the photo depicts. When she takes it the male leaves and returns shortly thereafter with another twig and the whole ritual of passing the twig is repeated.
If you go to Florida to photograph wading birds at this time of year you should put the Venice Rookery on your itinerary. To purchase a print of this image click here.
